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A review by deedireads
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
A Desolation Called Peace was a great sequel to A Memory Called Empire. Bigger scope, better pacing, same great characters being pushed even further toward growth — what’s not to love?
For you if: You like hard sci-fi novels (and already ready Memory!)
FULL REVIEW:
A Desolation Called Peace is the sequel to A Memory Called Empire, which together make up the Teixcalaan duology. Memory won the Hugo Award and was nominated for a bunch of others, and Desolation already won the Locus Award and is nominated for this year’s Hugo.
The duology itself is about a woman named Mahit from the space station Lsel, who travels to the capital Teixcalaan as ambassador. Those from stations and planets outside the empire are called “barbarians” by the Teixcalaanli, whose society revolves around things like advanced poetry. But those from Lsel have a secret technology called Imago machines, which basically implants the recorded consciousness and knowledge of another person into their minds. Mahit is given a very old Imago machine from the previous ambassador, who recently disappears, and is thrust into a mystery and revolution in Teixcalaan with just her liaison, named Three Seagrass, for help. This book picks up a few months after that one left off, sending Mahit and Three Seagrass to the reaches of the empire, where the war with mysterious aliens rages — or does it?
There is so much to love in this duology. It’s sapphic, which we always love to see. It’s got lots to say about home and loyalty and even more about colonization and the stickiness of prejudice, even in the face of love. It’s got really really good characters (who grow even more, in better ways, this time), and the scope of the world are exquisitely, intricately built. Nobody can make political relations as exciting as Arkady Martine! I do also think the second book was a bit better paced in the middle than the first one was (mostly because less worldbuilding).
TL;DR, if you like hard sci-fi, don’t sleep on these books!
TL;DR REVIEW:
A Desolation Called Peace was a great sequel to A Memory Called Empire. Bigger scope, better pacing, same great characters being pushed even further toward growth — what’s not to love?
For you if: You like hard sci-fi novels (and already ready Memory!)
FULL REVIEW:
A Desolation Called Peace is the sequel to A Memory Called Empire, which together make up the Teixcalaan duology. Memory won the Hugo Award and was nominated for a bunch of others, and Desolation already won the Locus Award and is nominated for this year’s Hugo.
The duology itself is about a woman named Mahit from the space station Lsel, who travels to the capital Teixcalaan as ambassador. Those from stations and planets outside the empire are called “barbarians” by the Teixcalaanli, whose society revolves around things like advanced poetry. But those from Lsel have a secret technology called Imago machines, which basically implants the recorded consciousness and knowledge of another person into their minds. Mahit is given a very old Imago machine from the previous ambassador, who recently disappears, and is thrust into a mystery and revolution in Teixcalaan with just her liaison, named Three Seagrass, for help. This book picks up a few months after that one left off, sending Mahit and Three Seagrass to the reaches of the empire, where the war with mysterious aliens rages — or does it?
There is so much to love in this duology. It’s sapphic, which we always love to see. It’s got lots to say about home and loyalty and even more about colonization and the stickiness of prejudice, even in the face of love. It’s got really really good characters (who grow even more, in better ways, this time), and the scope of the world are exquisitely, intricately built. Nobody can make political relations as exciting as Arkady Martine! I do also think the second book was a bit better paced in the middle than the first one was (mostly because less worldbuilding).
TL;DR, if you like hard sci-fi, don’t sleep on these books!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death