HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan) by…
Loading...

A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan) (edition 2019)

by Arkady Martine (Author)

Series: Teixcalaan (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,7531175,185 (4.06)167
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident--or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court. Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion--all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret--one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life--or rescue it from annihilation.… (more)
Member:Lahkesis
Title:A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan)
Authors:Arkady Martine (Author)
Info:Tor Books (2019), 464 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:to-read, toread2019

Work Information

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (Author)

  1. 82
    Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (g33kgrrl)
    g33kgrrl: Both books feature complex, political space sci-fi with amazing characters and world-building.
  2. 00
    Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott (Aquila)
  3. 11
    Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (g33kgrrl)
  4. 00
    The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (susanbooks)
  5. 01
    Empress of Forever: A Novel by Max Gladstone (ajagbay)
  6. 12
    Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee (g33kgrrl)
    g33kgrrl: Complex worlds, political machinations, and cutting edge sci-fi. This is the evolution of sci-fi and space opera.
  7. 01
    The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Sammelsurium)
    Sammelsurium: Another book about an imperial outsider arriving in the imperial core to fulfill a political role there, and the complex feelings that necessarily ensue.
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 167 mentions

English (116)  Italian (1)  All languages (117)
Showing 1-5 of 116 (next | show all)
Interesting sci-fi story about an ambassador from a small nation to the capital of the major local Empire with the twist of having the memories of their predecessor accessible/semi integrated. I only had a bit of a tough time with the names of the character as the numbers made me mix them up quite often. Looking forward to the next book in the series. ( )
  Guide2 | Mar 12, 2024 |
I think this is probably the most ambitious debut novel I've ever read. Martine has created such a deeply, multi-layered, and intricate novel that it boggles my mind to think about all the work that must have gone into writing this! "Memory" is a novel about political intrigue, cultural imperialism, history keeping, and belonging. At times the narratives were so deeply tied up and obfuscated that I had little idea what was going on, but (as a friend pointed out to me - thank you, Chris!) that actually helps to emphasize the bigger themes of the book. The main character, Mahit, struggles so much with her ideas of where she belongs and is often overwhelmed by the culture in which she finds herself; as a reader, I felt the same sense of displacement at everything related to Texicalaan.
That being said, I probably (definitely) missed some things. Even with rereading certain pages over again, I still don't think I fully understood what exactly happened at times. Aside from the main four, characters became muddled in my mind, and honestly just seemed to speak in riddles to each other. And while it heightens that sense of the unknown I also would have like to have been less confused at key moments. This is definitely a book that needs a reread to grasp what goes down.
Again, I'm so impressed by just how much went into writing this! Texicalaan is well fleshed-out and has a deep, rich presence, full of its own literature, poetry, characteristics, nuances, etc. that just make reading the book feel like a trip to the city itself. I'm very interested to find out where this story is taken next. ( )
  deborahee | Feb 23, 2024 |
This book had ( )
  lneukirch | Feb 4, 2024 |
A Memory Called Empire is a political thriller filled with danger and intrigue, and a tender story about trust and love and grief.

Mahit is the new ambassador from Lsel, a tiny mining colony at the edge of known space, to the empire of Teixcalaan (think Space Rome). Her predecessor died unexpectedly and without much explanation, so she has to navigate the twisting maze of foreign politics and her predecessor's secrets without "unexpectedly dying" herself. She also must decide who is an ally, who is a friend, and who is an opponent in this lonely, unfamiliar world.

It's early in the year to declare a favorite, but this book stands up to all the best ones I read in 2019. ( )
  AdioRadley | Jan 21, 2024 |
When I read the blurb of this book, I was really enthusiastic. It sounded really like my kind of thing. And partly, I really liked it indeed, particularly towards the end, but I had a great deal of trouble getting into it.
The idea of the imago, having another person's memories in your mind, I found really appealing, but unfortunately, through a twist in the plot, it played a very small part in a large part of the book. Well, not the existence of imago-machines, but the having of one. The protagonist starts out very lost, and it took two thirds of the book before I had the feeling she was doing more than just blundering from one place to another. That's not her fault, she is obviously capable, with or without an imago, but I didn't like having to read about it for so long.
I started really liking the book after that, also because the friendship between Mahit and Three Seagrass was taking shape, and because I was starting to get a feel for the world. The book has a lot going for it, interesting concepts, both technological and societal, capable protagonists, a friendship and loyalty between 2 women.
But the beginning, and with that I mean well over half the book, was too much of a struggle for me to give it a very good rating.

And what's with those unreadable bits of text at the beginning of each chapter? They were boring and only served to get me out of the story... ( )
  zjakkelien | Jan 2, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 116 (next | show all)
Behind the cloak-and-dagger maneuvers that drive the foreground action lies a consideration of the ways cultures maintain themselves and how individuals navigate “belonging” to such frameworks. It’s an absorbing and sometimes challenging blend of intrigue and anthropological imagination... It is also often quite funny, in a gentle and sneaky way.
 
Arkady Martine has created a stunning accomplishment with her debut novel; A Memory Called Empire is a success by every metric possible.
added by g33kgrrl | editTor.com, Martin Cahill (Mar 26, 2019)
 
A scholar of Byzantine history brings all her knowledge of intricate political maneuvering to bear in her debut space opera.
 
A Memory Called Empire Is a Compelling Political Whodunnit Wrapped in Intriguing Sci-Fi Worldbuilding
 

» Add other authors (1 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Martine, ArkadyAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Foltzer, ChristineCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jones, JaimeCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Landon, AmyNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe; it gives life back to those who no longer exist. - Guy de Maupassant, "Suicides"
Dedication
This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever fallen in love with a culture that was devouring their own. (And for Grigor Pahlavuni and Petros Getadarj, across the centuries.)
First words
In Texicalaan, these things are ceaseless: star-charts and disembarkments.
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident--or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court. Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion--all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret--one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life--or rescue it from annihilation.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary
Dead ambassador
Two opposing coups advance
her resting bitchface

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.06)
0.5
1 2
1.5 3
2 37
2.5 7
3 93
3.5 42
4 277
4.5 53
5 233

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,230,122 books! | Top bar: Always visible