Arkady Martine is the pen name used by AnnaLinden Weller, a science fiction writer and academic specializing in the Byzantine Empire. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
A Memory Called Empire was Martine's first novel. It was followed in 2021 by A Desolation Called Peace, a sequel to her first book. Both books won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, with A Desolation Called Peace also winning the Locus Award in the same category.
A Memory Called Empire is a murder mystery set against a background of court intrigue and intergalactic conquest. Its protagonist is Mahit, an ambassador sent to the heart of the Teixcalaan Empire to represent Lsel, the space station on the outskirts of this empire. Residents of Lsel are in possession of a semi-secret "imago technology" which allows several personalities to inhabit the same body.
A Memory Called Empire reminded me of both Frank Herbert's Dune series and the recently reviewed Ninefox Gambit. The parallels between the Dune novels (minus the messianism) and A Memory Called Empire will be obvious, but these parallels might simply be a function of the larger histories which underpin both books. Dune and its many sequels were, in many ways, very Islamic books, while A Memory Called Empire invokes the glory of Byzantium (or Constantinople) at its height.
The resemblance to Ninefox Gambit relates to the two books' plots. In both books a female protagonist carries a male personality around in her consciousness, and in both books the female protagonists are elevated to the highest circles of power, where they must fall upon their own resources and training to survive. Where Ninefox Gambit is more focused on the military aspects of empire, A Memory Called Empire is more concerned with the political aspects. Both books work, even if A Memory Called Empire is a decidedly less visceral affair, trained more on the vagaries of courtly life and ambitious individuals seeking royal favor.
Ninefox Gambit resonated with me a lot more. A Memory Called Empire is an excellently written book by an author with an impressive command of words, but it's very slow in parts, and could have used more sex and violence to keep the reader invested. As it is it's a little too cerebral for its own good.
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