Reviews with content warning for Cursing - A Memory Called Empire

First, I appreciate the excellent audiobook narration from Amy Landon.

I found A Memory Called Empire to be a really enjoyable court intrigue story. Martine has done interesting things with the integration of language, like a heavier version of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. I also found all the characters incredibly enjoyable, especially with the aforementioned work by the audiobook narrator. This was a long audiobook that spread across a span of two weeks for me, so I'm having trouble forming solidified praise, but I do recommend this one.

The problems are small for me, but they did keep from a full appreciation of the novel. The biggest is the minimal world-building. I don't know if this is done to give us a connection to the in-over-my-head feeling of Mahit, the novel's narrator, as she tries to navigate the inner turmoil of the Teixcalaan empire, but the reader is left with little sense of the history that would lead to the kind of civil war the capital city is facing or the relationship of Mahit's Lsel Station to the empire. My other sticking point centers around poetry, which is a central motif of the story. I'm not sure if it would be more accessible an idea in print, but there seems to be too much description of poetry characters are writing and not enough of the poetry itself, which comes across as overly indulgent linguistic fascination on the part of the author.

A Memory Called Empire is an interesting and effortlessly Queer entry into the science fiction genre that has plenty of things to chew on in the current conversation on American imperialism.

Content Warnings

alouette's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

i wanted to love this book so badly, because the themes of assimilation, of existing in the space between two cultures, spoke to me on a personal level. the poetic nature of the writing was beautiful as well. but ultimately i couldn't find myself connecting with the characters, who were likable but lacked real depth. nor could i connect with the multitude of plot lines, which were hard to sort out to the point where i didn't feel invested in any of them. maybe it would've helped my investment if Lsel Station was an actual setting and not just a memory that Mahit occasionally dwelled on.

also, the fact that the whole plot took pace over only 5 days?! there was no time to understand most of the characters' motivations. storygraph user 'annebonny' explains this much better than i can, so you can go read their review of this book for more insight.

it felt like scratching the surface of this sci-fi world (and the world-building was good, even if also confusing) and knowing with certainty that i would never understand its truths and not even being sure if i cared to.

i know the intrigue of "what was he involved in?" was a big plot point, but i can't help thinking Yskandr would've made a better protagonist, even if it meant a different plot...

Content Warnings

pyrochoresis's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

Content Warnings

More...