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purplatypus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Medical content, Xenophobia, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Grief, War, Blood, Colonisation, Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Classism
hybridhavoc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Self harm, and Xenophobia
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, Terminal illness, and Grief
quarkie's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
What I liked: I thought the concepts of imago machines and a poetry-based political system were fascinating. I wanted to keep reading in order to find out more about the world. The characters were all written to be strong and individual.
What I didn't like: I'm not sure if it's because I wasn't paying close enough attention, but I found the plot to be a bit incoherent at times. I couldn't isolate the precise motivations of each character, as they seemed to be changing over time. Some plot points would come up, and then never come up again, or come up at a point where they no longer really matter since the situation had since changed. Maybe this was on purpose, to reflect the changing political circumstances, but it led to a slightly less-than-satisfying read. The main character kept coming back to two main points (her missing imago machine and her relationship with the Teixcalaani culture) so often that it felt a bit ham-fisted.
Overall, I think it's an interesting concept that could have been executed slightly better. Still a wholly worth-while read.
Graphic: Blood, Suicide, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Violence, Terminal illness, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, War, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol
starlitpage's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Medical content, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Self harm, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Terminal illness, Sexual content, and Abandonment
alisonvh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Terminal illness, Suicide, Gore, War, Medical content, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Police brutality, Murder, Violence, and Classism
rmperezpadilla's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Suicide, and Police brutality
Moderate: Terminal illness, Mental illness, Violence, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Blood
maddiebusick's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, Grief, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Police brutality, Alcohol, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Classism
criticalgayze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
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.
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Alcohol
emilyplun's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Medical content, and Body horror
Minor: Alcohol, Police brutality, and Sexual content
naldorah's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Confinement and Toxic relationship