A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1) (Hardcover)

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A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1) By Arkady Martine Cover Image
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This is book number 1 in the Teixcalaan series.


Staff Reviews


Reading sci-fi and fantasy books usually makes me want to be the characters. Cool space marine on the front lines; master swordsman on the frontier; expert detective on a robot city murder case. But A Memory Called Empire adds one to the list I hadn't thought of - foreign ambassador to the center of an expansive empire.

Yet it somehow seems so natural. Mahit Dzmare is born and raised on a space station outside the Teixcalaanli Empire, and her job is to keep her tiny home nation's secrets and sovereignty safe. Along the way she wrestles with a malfunctioning proprietary neural implant, forms friendships with those whom she should be keeping at a distance, and struggles to retain her identity in the presence of the civilization she unabashedly loves, an Empire steeped in poetry, elevated by meter and rhyme, and... yes, enough intrigue to fill any number of epic poems. Yet she navigates it all with the poise you'd hope for and at times the vulnerability you believe, and you want to be her, wrapped up in the intrigue. Heck, I'd settle for being announced the way she was when she attends the Emperor's poetry banquet. (Yes. Emperor's poetry banquet. I want it.)

With a complicated and living setting, a central cast of characters who you can't help but cheer for, and that little machine in Mahit's head that causes her so many headaches (both figurative and literal), A Memory Called Empire is well worth the read for anyone fascinated by the workings of an imperial court. And if you're not already fascinated? You might be after reading this.

Andrew Bugenis

— Tor Forge

For me, this book had everything Dune was missing; the complicated feelings of loving the language and culture of a predatory empire, messages coded in poetry, a queer love story, informed, multisyllabic prose... I could go on. In short, I love this book and highly recommend it. — Arabella Peterson

Description


Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel
A Locus, and Nebula Award nominee for 2019
A Best Book of 2019: Library Journal, Polygon, Den of Geek

An NPR Favorite Book of 2019
A Guardian Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of 2019 and “Not the Booker Prize” Nominee
A Goodreads Biggest SFF Book of 2019 and Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee

"A Memory Called Empire perfectly balances action and intrigue with matters of empire and identity. All around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it."—Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice

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.

A fascinating space opera debut novel, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire is an interstellar mystery adventure.

"The most thrilling ride ever. This book has everything I love."
—Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky

And coming soon, the brilliant sequel, A Desolation Called Peace!

About the Author


Arkady Martine (she/her) is the Hugo Award-winning author of A Memory Called Empire. She is a speculative fiction writer and, as Dr. AnnaLinden Weller, a historian of the Byzantine Empire and a city planner. She is currently a policy advisor for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, where she works on climate change mitigation, energy grid modernization, and resiliency planning. Under both names, she writes about border politics, rhetoric, propaganda, and the edges of the world. Arkady grew up in New York City and, after some time in Turkey, Canada, and Sweden, and Baltimore, lives in Santa Fe with her wife, the author Vivian Shaw.

Praise For…


“A mesmerizing debut . . . it left me utterly dazzled.”—The New York Times Book Review

"[A] gorgeously crafted diplomatic space opera . . . Readers will eagerly away the planned sequels to this impressive debut."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Politics and personalities blend with an immersive setting and beautiful prose in a debut that weaves threads of identity, assimilation, technology, and culture to offer an exceedingly well-done sf political thriller."—Library Journal, starred review

"This is both an epic and a human story, successful in the mode of Ann Leckie and Yoon Ha Lee. A confident beginning with the promise of future installments that can't come quickly enough."—Kirkus, starred review

“Exquisite . . . a compelling journey with a rich world and fascinating characters”—The Los Angeles Times

"Interesting, detailed, lavish."—The Wall Street Journal

"A Memory Called Empire perfectly balances action and intrigue with matters of empire and identity. All around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it."—Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice

"In A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine smuggles you into her interstellar diplomatic pouch, and takes you on the most thrilling ride ever. This book has everything I love: identity crises, unlikely romance, complicated politics, and cunning adventurers. Super-fun, and ultra-fascinating."—Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky

“Stunning sci-fi debut. An ambassador from a small space station has to survive in the capital of a galactic empire where everyone seems to want her dead. Add in a great will-they-won’t-they wlw romantic interest. Awesome.”—Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series

“An elegant and accomplished example of the subgenre of subtle scheming with a background of stars. A delightful read. I couldn’t put it down.”—Jo Walton, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Among Others

“Arkady is one of the best new voices in speculative fiction”—Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time

“A taut murder mystery entwined with questions of technological ethics, A Memory Called Empire is also an evocative depiction of foreignness. Martine creates an elaborate and appealing culture against which to play out this story of political intrigue, assimilation, and resistance. Daring, beautiful, immersive, and often profound.”—Malka Older, author of Infomocracy

A Memory Called Empire is a murder mystery wrapped up in a political space opera, and deeply immerses the reader in a unique culture and society. I very much enjoyed it and look forward to what Martine does next.”—Martha Wells, author of The Murderbot Diaries

"A cunningly plotted, richly imagined tale of interstellar intrigue that does something new with space opera."—Ken MacLeod

A Memory Called Empire elevates space opera to poetry—clever, deep, sometimes tragic, sometimes violent, always transcendent poetry that shines like the edge of a knife.”—Delilah Dawson

“An intricate, layered tale of empire, personal ambition, political obligations and interstellar intrigue. Vivid and delightfully inventive.”—Aliette de Bodard, Nebula Award-winning author of the Xuya Universe stories and The House of Binding Thorns

“A cutting, beautiful, human adventure about cultural exchange, identity, and intrigue. The best SF novel I’ve read in the last five years.”—Yoon Ha Lee, author of the Machineries of Empire trilogy

“An exceptional first novel recommended for fans of Cherryh, Leckie, Banks, and Asimov.”—Elizabeth Bear, author of Hammered

"A Memory Called Empire . . . is so frigging good. It's like a space opera murder mystery combined with all the political parts of Dune."—Dan Wells, author of I Am Not a Serial Killer



Product Details
ISBN: 9781250186430
ISBN-10: 1250186439
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: March 26th, 2019
Pages: 464
Language: English
Series: Teixcalaan