![]() The stories diverge sharply in level of violence, and A Memory Called Empire doesn’t have quite as good a justification for the lead’s information gaps, but both tales prominently feature a lead coming from outside the capital and relying heavily on newfound local support to survive. The setup reminds me somewhat of The Goblin Emperor, in that the lead knows quite a bit about the culture but almost none of the political nuances that are invaluable when serving so close to (or in The Goblin Emperor, in) the seat of power. ![]() And she has to do all of this without her expected support, and while navigating a Teixcalaanli succession crisis.Ī Memory Called Empire is in many ways a fish-out-of-water tale, with a character thrust into a new environment and trying to get the lay of the land before that land topples them. Mahit’s aims are to determine what happened to her predecessor while keeping Lsel from being consumed by the ever-expanding empire. ![]() But with its sequel nominated for Best Novel this year, I figured it was high time to circle back and read Arkady Martine’s debut.Ī Memory Called Empire stars Mahit Dzmare, a young diplomat on tiny, independent Lsel Station, tabbed to serve as ambassador to the all-consuming interstellar empire Teixcalaan, after the previous ambassador of two decades had mysteriously stopped sending updates. ![]() A Memory Called Empire won the Hugo Award for Best Novel shortly after I had gotten back into speculative fiction but before I started following genre awards. ![]()
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