chirson's review against another edition
4.0
I read this novel courtesy of Netgalley for review purposes.
Arkady Martine's debut novel is propelling and fun, with complex characters, interesting worldbuilding and engrossing plot. It may not be as complex as it seems on the cover, and some of its plot progression depends on mild narrative contrivance and handwaving plot holes - but with small exceptions, I found it captivating enough as I read not to mind. The Byzantine influence seemed fun in particular, or at least what I thought of as Byzantine; and the dialogue with classics of the genre was appreciated. The way it approached the relationship between a person who loves the dominant culture and the oppressive object of their ambivalent love felt a little off; perhaps closer to otaku than ESL-speaking fans of American culture (which would be a closer correspondence)? But a little off is still close, and it made for a good and timely theme. The ending was satisfying and explosive.
I look forward to reading the continuation; I am certainly curious.
Arkady Martine's debut novel is propelling and fun, with complex characters, interesting worldbuilding and engrossing plot. It may not be as complex as it seems on the cover, and some of its plot progression depends on mild narrative contrivance and handwaving plot holes - but with small exceptions, I found it captivating enough as I read not to mind. The Byzantine influence seemed fun in particular, or at least what I thought of as Byzantine; and the dialogue with classics of the genre was appreciated. The way it approached the relationship between a person who loves the dominant culture and the oppressive object of their ambivalent love felt a little off; perhaps closer to otaku than ESL-speaking fans of American culture (which would be a closer correspondence)? But a little off is still close, and it made for a good and timely theme. The ending was satisfying and explosive.
Spoiler
But I do not believe the existence of imago technology could have been kept a state secret with significant migration happening to the empire from the station; and I felt our protagonist immediately folding and explaining imago tech to her newly met acquaintances made her a very, very bad ambassador, while her lack of basic knowledge concerning current political situation of the court is only explained as a way to dump exposition.I look forward to reading the continuation; I am certainly curious.
roleart's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
It's very hard to let go of this book. Read it so fast, I was so invested with Mahit's story.
Really great writing and language based storytelling.
I only wish there had been a grander finale and/or twist.
Really great writing and language based storytelling.
I only wish there had been a grander finale and/or twist.
fedak's review against another edition
2.0
Went into this one with high expectations given the awards and high reviews, came away fairly disappointed
- There is little in the way of character development, backstory, or arc. You learn nothing about the protagonist beyond her childhood dream of wanting to travel to the capital. The supporting characters are similarly one dimensional and the romance subplot is undeveloped.
- This is billed as a "world building" narrative- but there is absolutely nothing interesting about the setting. It could easily have been set in the capital city of any other historical or fictional empire.
- While this doesn't pretend to be hard sci-fi- there's numerous items that push the bounds of plausibility of a society that has mastered interstellar travel. Communication by physical mail. Medical screening at the port that would miss a brain implant. Encryption by cipher. Etc. (And all of those have material impact on the plot)
- The one interesting plot device (having the protagonist be able to access the memories of her predecessors) is abandoned in the first few chapters. The murder mystery that is teased (i.e. having the protagonist solve the murder with a stale copy of the victim's memories floating around in her head) is never developed and would have made for a much better story.
- And this bothered me more than it probably should have: but almost every dialog with the protagonist results in the other person commenting on or praising her for what a master orator/diplomat she is- when she has barely mumbled more than 3 sentences since meeting the person.
- There is little in the way of character development, backstory, or arc. You learn nothing about the protagonist beyond her childhood dream of wanting to travel to the capital. The supporting characters are similarly one dimensional and the romance subplot is undeveloped.
- This is billed as a "world building" narrative- but there is absolutely nothing interesting about the setting. It could easily have been set in the capital city of any other historical or fictional empire.
- While this doesn't pretend to be hard sci-fi- there's numerous items that push the bounds of plausibility of a society that has mastered interstellar travel. Communication by physical mail. Medical screening at the port that would miss a brain implant. Encryption by cipher. Etc. (And all of those have material impact on the plot)
- The one interesting plot device (having the protagonist be able to access the memories of her predecessors) is abandoned in the first few chapters. The murder mystery that is teased (i.e. having the protagonist solve the murder with a stale copy of the victim's memories floating around in her head) is never developed and would have made for a much better story.
- And this bothered me more than it probably should have: but almost every dialog with the protagonist results in the other person commenting on or praising her for what a master orator/diplomat she is- when she has barely mumbled more than 3 sentences since meeting the person.
molika04's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely intrigued enough to read the next one when it is released.
isabellarobinson7's review against another edition
1.0
Edit 23/05/20: coming back and reading this review about 5 months later... it's a little scathing. This book wasn't for me, and it really let me down. I wrote this review right after finishing the book, and while I stand by my rating, low as it may be, I will admit that I was heavily influenced by my disappointment when I wrote this.
Rating: 1 star
I was promised an epic space opera. All I got was a weak political drama that happened to take place on another planet. It reads like a debut, but it is a debut, so I guess I can show some sort of leniency, but can I really when a book is this bad?
The plot was flimsy at best, and there were no individual character storylines to latch on to. I was just reading a whole bunch of nothing.
The supposedly giant-big-bad-deadly-lethal things barely left a scratch on any character. Things were building up to the arrival of this epic catastrophe, but then it came and hurt a few people then went away.
I had hoped the politics would provide insight into the difficulties surrounding colonization, with a look into the injustices experienced by native cultures, but they were no more than a few egotistical jerks squabbling and bickering about this really super important thing over here that matters to no one but us! Oh, and human rights too I guess. I scoff just thinking about it.
I would never had finished it if I were not listening to the audiobook and yet, it was a complete waste of a perfectly good 15 hours. I was so glad when it was over, and when the narrator came in at the end saying, "we hope you enjoyed this reading of A Memory Called Empire" as they frequently do, I have to admit that I (somewhat involuntarily) muttered "Well, I really didn't" under my breath, and probably would have said more if I were alone.
In conclusion, I was bored, underwhelmed and utterly disappointed.
Rating: 1 star
I was promised an epic space opera. All I got was a weak political drama that happened to take place on another planet. It reads like a debut, but it is a debut, so I guess I can show some sort of leniency, but can I really when a book is this bad?
The plot was flimsy at best, and there were no individual character storylines to latch on to. I was just reading a whole bunch of nothing.
The supposedly giant-big-bad-deadly-lethal things barely left a scratch on any character. Things were building up to the arrival of this epic catastrophe, but then it came and hurt a few people then went away.
I had hoped the politics would provide insight into the difficulties surrounding colonization, with a look into the injustices experienced by native cultures, but they were no more than a few egotistical jerks squabbling and bickering about this really super important thing over here that matters to no one but us! Oh, and human rights too I guess. I scoff just thinking about it.
I would never had finished it if I were not listening to the audiobook and yet, it was a complete waste of a perfectly good 15 hours. I was so glad when it was over, and when the narrator came in at the end saying, "we hope you enjoyed this reading of A Memory Called Empire" as they frequently do, I have to admit that I (somewhat involuntarily) muttered "Well, I really didn't" under my breath, and probably would have said more if I were alone.
In conclusion, I was bored, underwhelmed and utterly disappointed.
sofiakhaus's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
wordsareworlds's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It's been the better part of two years since I read this book and I still think about it regularly. It's a phenomenal work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, and Police brutality
Moderate: War and Death
sundae_cone's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Picked the book up for the lesbians, (surprisingly) stayed for political intrigue and interesting world-building
apollinares's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book, oh my god.
I tried to read it earlier this year in audiobook format and couldn't get into it, but I decided to give it another shot as an Epub and was not disappointed.
I love the thought put into the Teixcalaanli empire - from cultural differences to history to literature - as an immigrant myself, it's easy to make the parallel between Teixcalaan and America, which I felt on a deeply personal level.
this book was tough to fully grasp, so the text copy helped; often I had to reread passages to grasp their multilayered meaning, but my fascination with the premise and love for court intrigue kept me going. It's an intense, thought provoking work, one that's going to stay with me for a while.
I tried to read it earlier this year in audiobook format and couldn't get into it, but I decided to give it another shot as an Epub and was not disappointed.
I love the thought put into the Teixcalaanli empire - from cultural differences to history to literature - as an immigrant myself, it's easy to make the parallel between Teixcalaan and America, which I felt on a deeply personal level.
this book was tough to fully grasp, so the text copy helped; often I had to reread passages to grasp their multilayered meaning, but my fascination with the premise and love for court intrigue kept me going. It's an intense, thought provoking work, one that's going to stay with me for a while.
geldauran's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5