Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Tor Books (2021), Edition: 1, 496 pages
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: "[An] all around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it."�??Ann Leckie, on A Memory Called Empire A Desolation Called Peace is the spectacular space opera sequel to Arkady Martine's genre-reinventing, Hugo Award-winning debut, A Memory Called Empire. An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options. In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass�??still reeling from the recent upheaval in the Empire�??face the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity. Their failure will guarantee millions of deaths in an endless war. Their success might prevent Teixcalaan's destruction�??and allow the empire to continue its rapacious expansion. Or it might create something far stranger . . . A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Bo… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member nbmars
This is the sequel to Martine’s Hugo Award-winning debut, A Memory Called Empire. It follows the story of Mahit Dzmare, who at 26, found herself unexpectedly appointed the new Ambassador sent to the Teixcalaan Empire from her home on Lsel Station, an artificial mining construct with at most
Mahit improbably gets a last minute reprieve through the intervention of Three Seagrass, who insists Mahit needs to accompany her to the edge of the galaxy to help serve as an interpreter between the Teixcalaanli fleet and a bizarre alien race that is attacking them.
Indeed, the problems of language and ways to communicate is central to this sequel, always underlying the Byzantine politics and characters who are struggling to survive in a world rife with ambition, ideology, loyalty, and complex machinations among all the parties.
Interestingly, one of the languages at play is poetry and its expression through song, because that is a primary means of transmission in the Teixcalaanli culture. A second very different language that figures strongly in the story is that of shared perceptions and experiences, and how that sharing shapes future thought.
Yet another theme running through the story is the famous quote from Tacitus, the Roman orator, lawyer, and senator considered one of antiquity's greatest historians, from which the book’s title comes:
“These plunderers of the world [the Romans], after exhausting the land by their devastations, are rifling the ocean: stimulated by avarice, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor; unsatiated by the East and by the West: the only people who behold wealth and indigence with equal avidity. To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.”
Evaluation: Martine’s imagination can literally be said to know no bounds. The world-building in this space opera is very detailed and complex. The author assists by providing a glossary at the end of the book, although I would have preferred if it had preceded the story. While this book is clearly "science fiction" set in a very alien universe, the themes are universal and recognizable: quest for power, fear of death, and most of all, the desire for connection and belonging.
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30,000 inhabitants. After only a short time, and despite the connection she felt with her cultural liaison in the capital a woman named Three Seagrass, she had enough and returned home. But home was not the sanctuary she thought it would be, and she immediately became a pawn between rival ruling members of Lsel Station’s Council and was in danger for her life.Mahit improbably gets a last minute reprieve through the intervention of Three Seagrass, who insists Mahit needs to accompany her to the edge of the galaxy to help serve as an interpreter between the Teixcalaanli fleet and a bizarre alien race that is attacking them.
Indeed, the problems of language and ways to communicate is central to this sequel, always underlying the Byzantine politics and characters who are struggling to survive in a world rife with ambition, ideology, loyalty, and complex machinations among all the parties.
Interestingly, one of the languages at play is poetry and its expression through song, because that is a primary means of transmission in the Teixcalaanli culture. A second very different language that figures strongly in the story is that of shared perceptions and experiences, and how that sharing shapes future thought.
Yet another theme running through the story is the famous quote from Tacitus, the Roman orator, lawyer, and senator considered one of antiquity's greatest historians, from which the book’s title comes:
“These plunderers of the world [the Romans], after exhausting the land by their devastations, are rifling the ocean: stimulated by avarice, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor; unsatiated by the East and by the West: the only people who behold wealth and indigence with equal avidity. To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.”
Evaluation: Martine’s imagination can literally be said to know no bounds. The world-building in this space opera is very detailed and complex. The author assists by providing a glossary at the end of the book, although I would have preferred if it had preceded the story. While this book is clearly "science fiction" set in a very alien universe, the themes are universal and recognizable: quest for power, fear of death, and most of all, the desire for connection and belonging.
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LibraryThing member andreas.wpv
First - I read it fairly quickly, and enjoyed reading it most of the time.
I quite liked the first book of the Teixcalaan series - quirky, different, a strong focus on language and world building. Characters were interesting as was the larger plot. This second book falls clearly short of
Characters are not developed any further. There are inconsistencies like the 'shard trick' that are not helping to make it better. It is more space opera, more around war and fighting and military it seems than the first. It is a more classic SF setting, and less compelling because of it.
I quite liked the first book of the Teixcalaan series - quirky, different, a strong focus on language and world building. Characters were interesting as was the larger plot. This second book falls clearly short of
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that.Characters are not developed any further. There are inconsistencies like the 'shard trick' that are not helping to make it better. It is more space opera, more around war and fighting and military it seems than the first. It is a more classic SF setting, and less compelling because of it.
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LibraryThing member reading_fox
Very good. Picks up smoothly from the end of the previous book and delivers a great new story, this time most set away from Jewel of the World, but still featuring the elegant politics and engaging characters.
The alien threat is real, and so the Empire responds with what it is hoped to be
Most of the action takes place at the Fleet on board the flagship, how do you even start negotiations with the aliens that are so difficult to comprehend, but there's no big battles described, instead it's all in the characters heads as they try to comprehend motives and desires. How wide is your concept of 'you'? A question asked in the first book has a different answer here.
The alien threat is real, and so the Empire responds with what it is hoped to be
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overwhelming force. And Three Seagrass decides they also need to talk, and who is better at talking to aliens than her favourite diplomat Marhit. Once again cultural boundaries crop up in unusual locations, as Three Seagrass doesn't know why Marhit's so upset at being asked, even though she's assured it's not personal, and even more confusingly appears to resolve some of Marhit's political problems on the Station. Meanwhile the Heir is discovering politics all on his own at a precocious 11 years of age. The Minister of War appears to be keeping secrets, and confusingly the empress doesn't seem to mind. But he has a plan, slightly scary, but worth trying because it will be his Empire at some stage.Most of the action takes place at the Fleet on board the flagship, how do you even start negotiations with the aliens that are so difficult to comprehend, but there's no big battles described, instead it's all in the characters heads as they try to comprehend motives and desires. How wide is your concept of 'you'? A question asked in the first book has a different answer here.
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LibraryThing member bibliovermis
I enjoy these books—the space-opera adventure of them, and the themes of identity, culture, and society that they explore. I do get the sense, as they go on, that the author is much more amenable to the idea of "empire" and "emperors", both galactic and otherwise, than I am.
LibraryThing member JanesList
Oh I do hope there's a book 3, although this is ended well enough that we could just see it as continuing beyond where we stop, without us. Good characters, well paced, interesting, engaging, fun. Martine is an excellent world builder, character writer, and thinker.
LibraryThing member Shrike58
Though this novel continues the travails of Ambassador Mahit Dzmare, as she comes to a frightening understanding of just how expendable she has become to her own government, the narrative really begins with the military leader Nine Hibiscus on the bridge of her flagship, as she finds herself
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prosecuting the war that Ambassador Dzmare instigated. From there we have a multi-layered political thriller as various factions try to make the war pay off for them, and I am very impressed with how Martine makes the juggling of all these plot lines look effortless. I look forward to what comes from Martine next, because, as far as I'm concerned, these two novels basically represent the current gold standard of space opera. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisCarey
Three months have passed since the end of A Memory Called Empire, and Mahit Dzmare, who had decided she couldn't stay in Teixcalaan, has found that she can't really go home again, either. Lsel Station is not a friendly and welcoming place for someone who has absorbed so much Teixcalaan culture, and
The Minister for Pilots is very annoyed with her and not inclined to help. The Minister for Mining has made her what's a really bad offer even if Mahit believed he'd keep his promise. When Three Seagrass shows up, managing to cause more trouble in the process, but asking Mahit, as Ambassador to Teixcalaan, to accompany her to what's going to be a really difficult negotiation in the middle of a war zone, Mahit decides it is, at least, the best offer available.
The deal Three Seagrass has brought her is that they work together to negotiate with aliens whose language they not only can't understand, but is near-impossible even to listen to. The Teixcalaanlizlim not only don't understand the language; they don't understand anything about the aliens. And the aliens don't understand anything about humans--including the fact that humans and these aliens have very different experiences of personhood.
Oh, and there's the awkward little fact that the aliens are much better at destroying Teixcalaan ships than Teixcalaan is at destroying the alien ships.
It's not just the communication problems with the aliens they have to contend with, though. There are political conflicts within the fleet. Yaotlek Nine Hibiscus has only six flagships, including her own, and their supporting ships, to fight the aliens. Yet one of her fleet captains, Sixteen Moonrise, is not supporting Nine Hibiscus, but trying to undermine her, even on her own flagship, Weight of the Wheel. Among other things, Sixteen Moonrise is working to cast Nine Hibiscus's efforts to evaluate the aliens and gather information to make an attack effective, as a hesitancy to confront them at all.
Both Nine Hibiscus and Sixteen Moonrise have allies back in the Ministry of War. Nine Hibiscus also has her adjutant, Twenty Cicada, whose well-earned nickname is Swarm (he's everywhere.) Back on the Teixcalaan homeworld, Eight Antidote, eleven-year-old heir to the Emperor Nineteen Adze, is noticing intrigue going on, and looking for answers. Even engaging in some intrigue of his own. He's caught between being just eleven, only perhaps a little more mature than the average eleven-year-old, but still a kid, and at the same time, the heir to the Emperor, with some real political value and power of his own.
In all of this, there's still the uncertain relationship between Mahit and Three Seagrass, with Three Seagrass unaware of how much she unintentionally disrespects and insults Mahit, due to Teixcalaan cultural arrogance and imperialism, despite her genuine love for her. Managing that conflict is another challenge for Mahit, and confusion for Three Seagrass.
And I haven't really said a word about what an interesting character Twenty Cicada is. He's from a world absorbed into the empire perhaps more recently than many, an adherent of a minority religion, with an ethical philosophy different from the dominant one, and aside from his real friendship with the Yaotlek, that different viewpoint is an important part of his value to her. I really would like to see more of Nine Hibiscus and Twenty Cicada.
Oh, and there's a kitten. Mustn't forget the kitten!
Highly recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
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who, oops, has not one but two imagos of the previous Ambassador, Yskandr, in her head. The Minister for Heritage wants Mahit in her lab to upload her imago for future generations, and when she finds out for sure what Mahit has done, it's not likely Mahit is going to survive that.The Minister for Pilots is very annoyed with her and not inclined to help. The Minister for Mining has made her what's a really bad offer even if Mahit believed he'd keep his promise. When Three Seagrass shows up, managing to cause more trouble in the process, but asking Mahit, as Ambassador to Teixcalaan, to accompany her to what's going to be a really difficult negotiation in the middle of a war zone, Mahit decides it is, at least, the best offer available.
The deal Three Seagrass has brought her is that they work together to negotiate with aliens whose language they not only can't understand, but is near-impossible even to listen to. The Teixcalaanlizlim not only don't understand the language; they don't understand anything about the aliens. And the aliens don't understand anything about humans--including the fact that humans and these aliens have very different experiences of personhood.
Oh, and there's the awkward little fact that the aliens are much better at destroying Teixcalaan ships than Teixcalaan is at destroying the alien ships.
It's not just the communication problems with the aliens they have to contend with, though. There are political conflicts within the fleet. Yaotlek Nine Hibiscus has only six flagships, including her own, and their supporting ships, to fight the aliens. Yet one of her fleet captains, Sixteen Moonrise, is not supporting Nine Hibiscus, but trying to undermine her, even on her own flagship, Weight of the Wheel. Among other things, Sixteen Moonrise is working to cast Nine Hibiscus's efforts to evaluate the aliens and gather information to make an attack effective, as a hesitancy to confront them at all.
Both Nine Hibiscus and Sixteen Moonrise have allies back in the Ministry of War. Nine Hibiscus also has her adjutant, Twenty Cicada, whose well-earned nickname is Swarm (he's everywhere.) Back on the Teixcalaan homeworld, Eight Antidote, eleven-year-old heir to the Emperor Nineteen Adze, is noticing intrigue going on, and looking for answers. Even engaging in some intrigue of his own. He's caught between being just eleven, only perhaps a little more mature than the average eleven-year-old, but still a kid, and at the same time, the heir to the Emperor, with some real political value and power of his own.
In all of this, there's still the uncertain relationship between Mahit and Three Seagrass, with Three Seagrass unaware of how much she unintentionally disrespects and insults Mahit, due to Teixcalaan cultural arrogance and imperialism, despite her genuine love for her. Managing that conflict is another challenge for Mahit, and confusion for Three Seagrass.
And I haven't really said a word about what an interesting character Twenty Cicada is. He's from a world absorbed into the empire perhaps more recently than many, an adherent of a minority religion, with an ethical philosophy different from the dominant one, and aside from his real friendship with the Yaotlek, that different viewpoint is an important part of his value to her. I really would like to see more of Nine Hibiscus and Twenty Cicada.
Oh, and there's a kitten. Mustn't forget the kitten!
Highly recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
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LibraryThing member BobVTReader
This is the second book in the series and in reality it is not a truly stand alone book. A lot of the background material is in A Memory Called Empire. Because this is the second book the writing is tighter and the character development is better. The plot line does have a few unexpected twists and
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turns which made for a good story. The book is not a page turner,I Found myself rereading several section over and over again. It is a book to be savored. Show Less
LibraryThing member malcrf
An excellent follow-up. Intriguing plot, strong well-rounded characters, vivid prose and a bit different.
LibraryThing member Kanarthi
The politics and maneuverings of the first book had strong thematic resonance with the imago machine technology and other sff ideas. The characters, the imagined technology, and the book's plot all revolved around memory, identity, and communication. In this book, there's more politics and even
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some military action, but they don't carry the same thematic resonance. Perhaps this is due to the large number of viewpoint characters (we're not even going to discuss Eight Antidote, who was a consistently irritating presence). The characters wander around being clever and thinking clever thoughts, but these actions ring especially false against a military backdrop. The aliens don't make the visceral impression they should, so their function in the story is weakened. The new characters of Nine Hibiscus and Twenty Cicada were very interesting, to the point where I impatiently awaited the sections from Nine Hibiscus's point of view. There are still small individual details that are good, such as the Stationer comics, but this book needed another run-through before seeing the light of day. Overall, a disappointing sophomore slump with a weak set-up for even more books in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member capewood
2021 Book #32. 2021. A vast star empire comes up against a hostile alien force. Negotiators for the empire must find a way to understand the aliens before war kills millions. I really loved the first book and this is the best book I've read all year. Everything I want in hard SF.
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
I read Arkady Martine's debut sf novel, A Memory Called Empire, earlier this year and was mesmerized by the world building that went into it. So when this second book in the series came out I placed a hold for it at my library. I can't rave as much about it because she couldn't wow us as much in a
Most of the main characters from the first book are back: Three Seagrass has taken in upon herself to go to the war zone and she picks up Mahit Dzmare along the way while Nineteen Adze is now the Teixcalaanli Emperor. The ninety percent clone of the previous emperor, Eight Antidote, plays a much larger role in this book. Also, the starship commander Nine Hibiscus is now the leader of six legions of starships assisted by her friend, Twenty Cicada. The six legions are on the edges of Teixcalaanli space to defend it from an alien incursion Three Seagrass and Mahit Dzmare have been called in to try to communicate with the aliens, a difficult job since just hearing their pronouncements makes all humans so nauseous they vomit. An alien body was picked up by a Teixcalaanli ship and shortly after Three Seagrass and Mahit arrive on The Weight of the Wheel, Nine Hibiscus's ship, they witness part of its autopsy but miss the important part where a resonator type of organ is found at the base of the alien's trachea. That is the organ that makes the sounds so repugnant to humans. Nevertheless Three Seagrass and Mahit figure out a few concepts in the alien language and they set about trying to establish a peace with them. Not everyone wants to have peace with the aliens. One of the commanders under Nine Hibiscus, Sixteen Moonrise, really wants to wage all out war and has undermined loyalty to Nine Hibiscus with other commanders. As it is slowly revealed, Sixteen Moonrise is a former student and current devotee to a War Ministry undersecretary, Eleven Laurel. Eleven Laurel has taken on the education of Eight Antidote in matters of war strategy back in the City. All these various persons have interconnections with others and will try to use their influence to gain their long-term goals. The reader can gather from the title that some sort of peace is achieved but the word "Desolation" in the title maybe indicates that achieving it takes a large toll.
Martine reflects the time we are living through by having a plague break out on The Weight of the Wheel. Fortunately, Twenty Cicada prevents it spreading throughout the ship. We could have used someone of Twenty Cicada's quick thinking and resourcefulness back when COVID-19 first started.
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world she has already created but it is a really good follow-up to AMCE.Most of the main characters from the first book are back: Three Seagrass has taken in upon herself to go to the war zone and she picks up Mahit Dzmare along the way while Nineteen Adze is now the Teixcalaanli Emperor. The ninety percent clone of the previous emperor, Eight Antidote, plays a much larger role in this book. Also, the starship commander Nine Hibiscus is now the leader of six legions of starships assisted by her friend, Twenty Cicada. The six legions are on the edges of Teixcalaanli space to defend it from an alien incursion Three Seagrass and Mahit Dzmare have been called in to try to communicate with the aliens, a difficult job since just hearing their pronouncements makes all humans so nauseous they vomit. An alien body was picked up by a Teixcalaanli ship and shortly after Three Seagrass and Mahit arrive on The Weight of the Wheel, Nine Hibiscus's ship, they witness part of its autopsy but miss the important part where a resonator type of organ is found at the base of the alien's trachea. That is the organ that makes the sounds so repugnant to humans. Nevertheless Three Seagrass and Mahit figure out a few concepts in the alien language and they set about trying to establish a peace with them. Not everyone wants to have peace with the aliens. One of the commanders under Nine Hibiscus, Sixteen Moonrise, really wants to wage all out war and has undermined loyalty to Nine Hibiscus with other commanders. As it is slowly revealed, Sixteen Moonrise is a former student and current devotee to a War Ministry undersecretary, Eleven Laurel. Eleven Laurel has taken on the education of Eight Antidote in matters of war strategy back in the City. All these various persons have interconnections with others and will try to use their influence to gain their long-term goals. The reader can gather from the title that some sort of peace is achieved but the word "Desolation" in the title maybe indicates that achieving it takes a large toll.
Martine reflects the time we are living through by having a plague break out on The Weight of the Wheel. Fortunately, Twenty Cicada prevents it spreading throughout the ship. We could have used someone of Twenty Cicada's quick thinking and resourcefulness back when COVID-19 first started.
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LibraryThing member g33kgrrl
What a follow-up. Phenomenal.
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
I was very taken by A Memory Called Empire, but this one never really took off for me, alas. Memory worked slowly but purposefully until it suddenly accelerated and left me reading quickly to find out what happened next. This one never seemed to pick up any speed, possibly because I found its
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multiple points-of-view considerably less interesting than Mahit's fish-out-of-water diplomat perspective from the last one; I never really warmed to "badass space admiral" and found "precocious heir" intermittently interesting. There was less worldbuilding and cultural stuff, and it seemed to me that there was a missed opportunity in that it would have been neat to see some Teixcalaanli on Station (since last book was all about a Stationer on Teixcalaan), but that idea was squandered pretty quickly. Mahit seemed a bit overwrought in ways I didn't find very believable, too. Thankfully, Memory will stand alone as an accomplishment. I would read more in this world if Martine pens it, but hopefully I enjoy it more than this. Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass, reunited due to Mahit’s desperation and alien incursion, have to find a way to communicate with the extremely dangerous aliens (and figure out if they can love each other across the cultural boundaries that define Mahit as a barbarian and not quite a person to
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Three Seagrass). Meanwhile, the empire’s eleven-year-old heir is learning how to do politics and trying to stop a war. The eleven-year-old was way too mature for my comfort, but maybe their years are longer. If you enjoyed the first one and palace politics in space in general, then this is the same stuff on a broader stage, but I found it a bit too chilly for deep enjoyment. Show Less
LibraryThing member Tikimoof
The lush language did not work for me this time, if it worked last time. The overuse of italics made every sentence seem to have too much emphasis, which made all of the characters seem more childish, which obviously only worked for the actual child Eight Antidote (who constantly brought up his age
Also everybody stopping to wonder at everything instead of doing their fucking jobs. It also made the adult professionals seem a lot more useless (adding to the feeling of immaturity). It was also never appropriately explained why they wouldn't use an actual trained translator when there were people who had taken xenolinguistics courses but weren't in the military. Thank god we didn't have a view into Nineteen Adze's point of view; it would have absolutely ruined her.
(I have some other thoughts on side things about really shitty decontamination protocols, but I'd already decided I hated the book by that point so it's probably me being unfair. )
Lots of worthless repetition. Yes, I figured out what Third Hand did by the fourth time mentioned. And I also really got the picture when it was explicitly spelled out that only stationers show their teeth when they smile. Yes, I get it. Find a new way to say it, please. Maybe try some subtlety next time? For fun, say some of the dialogue out loud with the accompanying description left out, and realize how stupid it is.
Three Seagrass was the worst of them. Maybe it's my personal loathing for characters who cry at the drop of a hat.
These issues must have been in the first book and I didn't notice for some reason. Glaringly obvious now. And these are the kinds of stylistic issues where I think I probably shouldn't read any more by this author.
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in case you'd forgotten from last chapter or the chapter before that or even the one before that).Also everybody stopping to wonder at everything instead of doing their fucking jobs. It also made the adult professionals seem a lot more useless (adding to the feeling of immaturity). It was also never appropriately explained why they wouldn't use an actual trained translator when there were people who had taken xenolinguistics courses but weren't in the military. Thank god we didn't have a view into Nineteen Adze's point of view; it would have absolutely ruined her.
(I have some other thoughts on side things about really shitty decontamination protocols, but I'd already decided I hated the book by that point so it's probably me being unfair. )
Lots of worthless repetition. Yes, I figured out what Third Hand did by the fourth time mentioned. And I also really got the picture when it was explicitly spelled out that only stationers show their teeth when they smile. Yes, I get it. Find a new way to say it, please. Maybe try some subtlety next time? For fun, say some of the dialogue out loud with the accompanying description left out, and realize how stupid it is.
Three Seagrass was the worst of them. Maybe it's my personal loathing for characters who cry at the drop of a hat.
These issues must have been in the first book and I didn't notice for some reason. Glaringly obvious now. And these are the kinds of stylistic issues where I think I probably shouldn't read any more by this author.
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LibraryThing member quondame
We rejoin Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass, and spend time with the heir Eight Antidote as each and all are involved with the conflict with the enemy beyond the gate from Lsel station and the antagonists within the empire and the station. A save the universe level space opera, at least from the
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human view of the conflict, which mostly works at involving us in the action and characters. The time spent with Eight Antidote is enjoyable, but the largeness of his role in conclusion shifts the narrative further toward YA than I felt was optimal. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lirleni
Very interesting book, even not having read the 1st one (which I shall be going back and read.) I hope to see more in this universe. (Read for Hugo voting)
LibraryThing member lavaturtle
An excellent continuation of the series, this book does a great job both expanding on the world-building from the first book, and adding some intriguing new elements. The aliens are compellingly alien. There's some added nuance about minority cultures within the empire. And my favorite protagonists
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are back, getting into exciting new kinds of trouble. Show Less
LibraryThing member renbedell
An amazing sequel in the Texicalaan series. The story has 4 POVS with Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass going out to war with the captain Nine Hibiscus. You also have future emperor Eight Antidote that plays politics back at the empire. The war is a first contact type war, where the POVs are mainly
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trying to find a way to properly communicate with the aliens. The 3 POVs at the war end are very interesting and exciting. Eight Antidotes storyline is more basic and a bit boring, but do help with more worldbuilding and interacting with the overall storyline as well. I very much enjoyed this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member cay250
very good; better than the first one
LibraryThing member hskey
While I think the ending was satisfying, I'm not quite sure the journey to get there was ultimately satisfying. Martine's world building is top notch, I loved how different the Teixcalaan Empire is compared to other science fiction worlds. What people said, actions they took and the
I'm still not a fan of the naming structure and was often confused about who was who, although that's probably my own fault. I really dug the plot as a whole, but oftentimes found the pacing to be disjointed and didn't hold my attention as well as the first book. Still, a worthy read and I hope to read more of Martine's books in the future.
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culture/language surrounding it all made sense. I'm still not a fan of the naming structure and was often confused about who was who, although that's probably my own fault. I really dug the plot as a whole, but oftentimes found the pacing to be disjointed and didn't hold my attention as well as the first book. Still, a worthy read and I hope to read more of Martine's books in the future.
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LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc
The second book deals with a new alien species that has been attacking colonies on the edges of Teixcalaanli empire. Mahit Dzmareis back on her space station and trying desperately to avoid having the council find out that her imago is damaged. Of course, the person responsible for it knows it is
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damaged and wants to get rid of that memory line because she believes it will keep the station safer. Three Seagrass is on duty when the call from the edge of the empire says they need a linguist, instead of kicking it upstairs she takes it as her case and goes to the grab Mahit to help her figure out just what these aliens are saying. There is so much more going on in the book with political intrigues both on the station and in the capital of the empire. The station is desperate to be gobbled up by the empire or destroyed by this new alien threat. The story is great, and I enjoyed how they discovered how to communicate with the aliens. Show Less
LibraryThing member rakerman
It was unlikely that any sequel could match the sun-spear glory of the first book.
The first book leaves you with a perfectly closed arc, and only a faint glimmering under the door of possibilities for what might come next. I'm of the opinion that almost always you're better off imagining what might
The author of course doesn't have that luxury, and has to populate the space beyond the door with things both new and familiar.
In A Desolation Called Peace, Martine makes the understandable but fatal error of continuing the story of Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass. As a sequel I found it both too much and too little. Too much reaching back, too much mechanics of plot (hard edges of plot, jammed together, inelegant), too much of Mahit and Three's relationship (way too much, in graphic detail). Too little wonder.
The first book flowed, one long swirl of prose, organic. This sequel clunks, it's a clattering loom for weaving the threads of the plot, clunk here is a thread, clunk, here is another, woven together, forced together.
If it were a standalone book, without Mahit and Three, I would say it's a good tapestry, with a Vernor Vinge feel to it, although a tapestry that is far from the finest in Twenty Cicada's collection.
Paradoxically, this would have been a much better sequel if it were much less a direct sequel. It feels like a good science fiction story and a good Teixcalaan story brought low by awkwardly forcing Mahit and Three into the plot. Tell me more about what happens after the events of Memory, sure, tell me more about how the Fleet works, how an Empire can wrestle with the right way to be an Empire, absolutely. But the leads should have been the Captain Nine Hibiscus, and one other adult lead, a first contact specialist or xenobiologist or diplomat (all of which seem to be in inexplicably short supply in the vast Empire). The role of Eight Antidote is ok, if with some improbable twists, but it needs a counterweight voice on the other side of the issue, perhaps from Eleven Laurel. I want to know what Eleven Laurel thinks, what his motivations are.
Overall, if you really enjoyed Mahit and Three's journey in Memory, I cannot recommend Desolation. Every contrived scenario and scene they're in diminishes their previous story.
The first book leaves you with a perfectly closed arc, and only a faint glimmering under the door of possibilities for what might come next. I'm of the opinion that almost always you're better off imagining what might
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be on the other side of that door.The author of course doesn't have that luxury, and has to populate the space beyond the door with things both new and familiar.
In A Desolation Called Peace, Martine makes the understandable but fatal error of continuing the story of Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass. As a sequel I found it both too much and too little. Too much reaching back, too much mechanics of plot (hard edges of plot, jammed together, inelegant), too much of Mahit and Three's relationship (way too much, in graphic detail). Too little wonder.
The first book flowed, one long swirl of prose, organic. This sequel clunks, it's a clattering loom for weaving the threads of the plot, clunk here is a thread, clunk, here is another, woven together, forced together.
If it were a standalone book, without Mahit and Three, I would say it's a good tapestry, with a Vernor Vinge feel to it, although a tapestry that is far from the finest in Twenty Cicada's collection.
Paradoxically, this would have been a much better sequel if it were much less a direct sequel. It feels like a good science fiction story and a good Teixcalaan story brought low by awkwardly forcing Mahit and Three into the plot. Tell me more about what happens after the events of Memory, sure, tell me more about how the Fleet works, how an Empire can wrestle with the right way to be an Empire, absolutely. But the leads should have been the Captain Nine Hibiscus, and one other adult lead, a first contact specialist or xenobiologist or diplomat (all of which seem to be in inexplicably short supply in the vast Empire). The role of Eight Antidote is ok, if with some improbable twists, but it needs a counterweight voice on the other side of the issue, perhaps from Eleven Laurel. I want to know what Eleven Laurel thinks, what his motivations are.
Overall, if you really enjoyed Mahit and Three's journey in Memory, I cannot recommend Desolation. Every contrived scenario and scene they're in diminishes their previous story.
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LibraryThing member rakerman
It was unlikely that any sequel could match the sun-spear glory of the first book.
The first book leaves you with a perfectly closed arc, and only a faint glimmering under the door of possibilities for what might come next. I'm of the opinion that almost always you're better off imagining what might
The author of course doesn't have that luxury, and has to populate the space beyond the door with things both new and familiar.
In A Desolation Called Peace, Martine makes the understandable but fatal error of continuing the story of Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass. As a sequel I found it both too much and too little. Too much reaching back, too much mechanics of plot (hard edges of plot, jammed together, inelegant), too much of Mahit and Three's relationship (way too much, in graphic detail). Too little wonder.
The first book flowed, one long swirl of prose, organic. This sequel clunks, it's a clattering loom for weaving the threads of the plot, clunk here is a thread, clunk, here is another, woven together, forced together.
If it were a standalone book, without Mahit and Three, I would say it's a good tapestry, with a Vernor Vinge feel to it, although a tapestry that is far from the finest in Twenty Cicada's collection.
Paradoxically, this would have been a much better sequel if it were much less a direct sequel. It feels like a good science fiction story and a good Teixcalaan story brought low by awkwardly forcing Mahit and Three into the plot. Tell me more about what happens after the events of Memory, sure, tell me more about how the Fleet works, how an Empire can wrestle with the right way to be an Empire, absolutely. But the leads should have been the Captain Nine Hibiscus, and one other adult lead, a first contact specialist or xenobiologist or diplomat (all of which seem to be in inexplicably short supply in the vast Empire). The role of Eight Antidote is ok, if with some improbable twists, but it needs a counterweight voice on the other side of the issue, perhaps from Eleven Laurel. I want to know what Eleven Laurel thinks, what his motivations are.
Overall, if you really enjoyed Mahit and Three's journey in Memory, I cannot recommend Desolation. Every contrived scenario and scene they're in diminishes their previous story.
The first book leaves you with a perfectly closed arc, and only a faint glimmering under the door of possibilities for what might come next. I'm of the opinion that almost always you're better off imagining what might
Show More
be on the other side of that door.The author of course doesn't have that luxury, and has to populate the space beyond the door with things both new and familiar.
In A Desolation Called Peace, Martine makes the understandable but fatal error of continuing the story of Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass. As a sequel I found it both too much and too little. Too much reaching back, too much mechanics of plot (hard edges of plot, jammed together, inelegant), too much of Mahit and Three's relationship (way too much, in graphic detail). Too little wonder.
The first book flowed, one long swirl of prose, organic. This sequel clunks, it's a clattering loom for weaving the threads of the plot, clunk here is a thread, clunk, here is another, woven together, forced together.
If it were a standalone book, without Mahit and Three, I would say it's a good tapestry, with a Vernor Vinge feel to it, although a tapestry that is far from the finest in Twenty Cicada's collection.
Paradoxically, this would have been a much better sequel if it were much less a direct sequel. It feels like a good science fiction story and a good Teixcalaan story brought low by awkwardly forcing Mahit and Three into the plot. Tell me more about what happens after the events of Memory, sure, tell me more about how the Fleet works, how an Empire can wrestle with the right way to be an Empire, absolutely. But the leads should have been the Captain Nine Hibiscus, and one other adult lead, a first contact specialist or xenobiologist or diplomat (all of which seem to be in inexplicably short supply in the vast Empire). The role of Eight Antidote is ok, if with some improbable twists, but it needs a counterweight voice on the other side of the issue, perhaps from Eleven Laurel. I want to know what Eleven Laurel thinks, what his motivations are.
Overall, if you really enjoyed Mahit and Three's journey in Memory, I cannot recommend Desolation. Every contrived scenario and scene they're in diminishes their previous story.
Show Less
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 2022)
Nebula Award (Nominee — Novel — 2021)
Lambda Literary Award (Finalist — 2022)
Locus Award (Finalist — Science Fiction Novel — 2022)
Arthur C. Clarke Award (Shortlist — 2022)
British Science Fiction Association Award (Shortlist — Novel — 2021)
Dragon Award (Finalist — Science Fiction Novel — 2021)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2021-03-02
Physical description
8.5 inches
ISBN
1250186463 / 9781250186461