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moonmisandrist's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Huge disappointment. I've wanted to read this book for years - I love the name and thought the concept was interesting. Unfortunately, I found the writing poorly paced, and filled with overly complicated terminology (yes I know it's sci-fi, yes, there is a glossary, but it's unhelpful when things are irrelevant to the plot). I'm not someone who fixates on writing styles - unless it's really good or really poor, I found the writing to be so distracting, all 'telling' and no showing, my eyes couldn't help but jump across the pages - and I found myself not lacking any critical information for doing so.
The premise of the novel is a murder mystery and political drama. This should be a novel filled with tension, betrayal and characters oozing with personality to make up for the lack of other plot. Well, it's not.
Our protagonist Mahit, is a foreigner to a vast and dangerous empire - or so we are told, and barely shown. As an ambassador, coming onto a new planet after her predecessor was murdered - Mahit should be left isolated and in a precious position. She only has the out-of-date memories and voice of Yskander, her predecessor in her head. Instead, she has the perfect allies right beside her - an assistant who loves 'aliens', an anti-establishment ministry of information worker and the equivalent of the emperor's 'knight' all become her allies within the first few chapters. She willingly gives up her (and her country's!) deepest secrets to these allies - and never suffers any consequences for it. Yes, her life is at risk a few times, but these allies always swoop in and rescue her, and again nothing ever changes. Her political enemies can never really hurt or scare her - as she always has the right information to sway an emperor or his most loyal and powerful 'knight'. There is also a budding romance between Mahit and another character - this as well, we are told we should see. There is never any tension on the pages. Yet a minor romance gets a bit, a bit of depth to it but never enough. The romance between Yskander and Nineteen Adze, the Knight, and the Emperor himself - has more emotional depth. It's a sparse few lines in the novel, yet it's extremely vital to the plot. Again, we are told, that Mahit and Yskander's memories/personalities should fuse, she should love who he does, yet when faced with his love, with someone who let him die, Mahit can easily turn off Yskander's feelings. Why? Because.
Worst of all, this novel claims to be about the alluring power of an empire - even when it's threatening to swallow up your own culture. This too is handled so poorly. Mahit loves Teixcalaan - but why? She claims to love the language but sucks at poetry (the main way messages are sent). Sorry I can't think of any other examples - probably because they were so poorly explained or just weren't there! The city/culture itself is so poorly described I could scream. This is what I know of it: poetry, advanced technology, vaguely drawing upon ancient non-western empires - oh but don't worry, of course, our protagonist is 'white', of course, this is what, a poor example of...subversion??? Look this time the brown people have the empire! As if this hasn't existed in history? (all empires are bad, this is not a new concept lol). As if this is appropriate for a White European/American author to explore? We're told Teixcalaan doesn't dabble in neuroscience - but why? there should be a REASON beyond it giving an advantage to Mahit. A cultural, religious, financial, moral reason for this- nope nothing. The little snippets at the beginning of the chapters that are meant to give us insight into Teixcalaan's culture also fail - their humour is basically ours, their star-crossed lovers - ours. Nothing is fascinating about this world, it's all fake and dressed up in fancy words. Mahit never has to make a difficult decision of loyalty between this culture she's in love with and her own - even her moments of "Oh poor me I'll never be a citizen" have no emotional resonance for me as someone who was brought up with two very different and clashing cultures.
Overall a huge waste of my time and filled with unfulfilled promises.
The premise of the novel is a murder mystery and political drama. This should be a novel filled with tension, betrayal and characters oozing with personality to make up for the lack of other plot. Well, it's not.
Our protagonist Mahit, is a foreigner to a vast and dangerous empire - or so we are told, and barely shown. As an ambassador, coming onto a new planet after her predecessor was murdered - Mahit should be left isolated and in a precious position. She only has the out-of-date memories and voice of Yskander, her predecessor in her head. Instead, she has the perfect allies right beside her - an assistant who loves 'aliens', an anti-establishment ministry of information worker and the equivalent of the emperor's 'knight' all become her allies within the first few chapters. She willingly gives up her (and her country's!) deepest secrets to these allies - and never suffers any consequences for it. Yes, her life is at risk a few times, but these allies always swoop in and rescue her, and again nothing ever changes. Her political enemies can never really hurt or scare her - as she always has the right information to sway an emperor or his most loyal and powerful 'knight'. There is also a budding romance between Mahit and another character - this as well, we are told we should see. There is never any tension on the pages. Yet a minor romance gets a bit, a bit of depth to it but never enough.
Worst of all, this novel claims to be about the alluring power of an empire - even when it's threatening to swallow up your own culture. This too is handled so poorly. Mahit loves Teixcalaan - but why? She claims to love the language but sucks at poetry (the main way messages are sent). Sorry I can't think of any other examples - probably because they were so poorly explained or just weren't there! The city/culture itself is so poorly described I could scream. This is what I know of it: poetry, advanced technology, vaguely drawing upon ancient non-western empires - oh but don't worry, of course, our protagonist is 'white', of course, this is what, a poor example of...subversion??? Look this time the brown people have the empire! As if this hasn't existed in history? (all empires are bad, this is not a new concept lol). As if this is appropriate for a White European/American author to explore? We're told Teixcalaan doesn't dabble in neuroscience - but why? there should be a REASON beyond it giving an advantage to Mahit. A cultural, religious, financial, moral reason for this- nope nothing. The little snippets at the beginning of the chapters that are meant to give us insight into Teixcalaan's culture also fail - their humour is basically ours, their star-crossed lovers - ours. Nothing is fascinating about this world, it's all fake and dressed up in fancy words. Mahit never has to make a difficult decision of loyalty between this culture she's in love with and her own - even her moments of "Oh poor me I'll never be a citizen" have no emotional resonance for me as someone who was brought up with two very different and clashing cultures.
Overall a huge waste of my time and filled with unfulfilled promises.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma
Moderate: Medical content, Suicide, and Xenophobia
sersi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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
Moderate: Xenophobia, Suicide, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation
existentialhell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-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
The horror and humanity of empire, and what loving it can do to its prey. And what the prey can do to the empire. Read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Racism, War, Medical content, Xenophobia, Murder, Death, Violence, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Colonisation
wordsareworlds's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
It's been the better part of two years since I read this book and I still think about it regularly. It's a phenomenal work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, and Police brutality
Moderate: War and Death
allegrahistory's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, Blood, Medical trauma, Body horror, and Xenophobia
kate_arts's review
adventurous
challenging
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
3.75
I really enjoyed the exploration of colonialism throughout this book and how it affects everything it touches. Not sure that I loved the ending. I wish we got to see more of Yskandr and Mahit and saw the effects of the imago machine rather then just being told about it. Super queer and loved how it wasn’t a big deal who you loved. I liked the exploration of an outsider in a new foreign culture and the isolation that entails.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Colonisation
Moderate: Medical trauma, Suicide, War, Violence, and Murder
thisbookisbananas's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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
4.75
4.75 Stars--I have been hearing about A Memory Called Empire for the last three years and just now on a whim decided to give it a go. Everyone on the Bookternet has been comping this as a space opera with political intrigue.The blurb that said "space opera intrigue yadda-yadda-yadda/blah-di-blah-di-blah" made my brain go to humanoid races fighting octopi-like aliens to save the world from impending doom.For anyone who hasn't yet read this, A Memory Called Empire is not a space opera(whatever the heck that is). It's political spy thriller set in space, and it was a fantastic time!
What I loved:
* The introduction of alien races and cultures that seem fresh and interesting. .
* The conspiracy plots that are woven throughout
* The question of humanity(one race of humanity deems themselves a higher-order than another. The more superior race calls the others barbarians, yet they are the more brutal of the two.)
* The technology created around how many people's memories could live on with the next generation.
*The author's ability to put humor in at just the right time. I highly appreciate a good comedic moment after a very intense one.
Things that could make a reader put the book down:
*The story is only told from Mahit's POV. Around the middle of the book she gets a little repetitive and whiny. Thankfully the third act fully makes up for the less then stellar second act.
*Change your expectations about what alien means... there are no octopi/squid people in this book. Again, I have to reiterate this... A Memory Called Empire is a spy thriller set in space... not a space story with spies.
If you keep this in mind and like sci-fi, this would be a great book to pick up! I look forward to finishing this duology.
What I loved:
* The introduction of alien races and cultures that seem fresh and interesting. .
* The conspiracy plots that are woven throughout
* The question of humanity(one race of humanity deems themselves a higher-order than another. The more superior race calls the others barbarians, yet they are the more brutal of the two.)
* The technology created around how many people's memories could live on with the next generation.
*The author's ability to put humor in at just the right time. I highly appreciate a good comedic moment after a very intense one.
Things that could make a reader put the book down:
*The story is only told from Mahit's POV. Around the middle of the book she gets a little repetitive and whiny. Thankfully the third act fully makes up for the less then stellar second act.
*Change your expectations about what alien means... there are no octopi/squid people in this book. Again, I have to reiterate this... A Memory Called Empire is a spy thriller set in space... not a space story with spies.
If you keep this in mind and like sci-fi, this would be a great book to pick up! I look forward to finishing this duology.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical trauma and Suicide
bloodbrooxv's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Death, Grief, Suicide, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content
Minor: Medical trauma, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Vomit
jiji_'s review
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A HIDDEN GEM! I was completely taken with this unique and fast-paced adventure, part political murder mystery, part sci-fi drama, set against the backdrop of themes such as culture clash, xenophobia, colonialism, and tech ethics.
Funny, charming, and totally unique with fascinating and effortless world building. It held me captive and delivered twists, joys, and sorrows.
It's a bit of a challenge, because it won't hold your hand. If you can let go of the need to know everything and have things spelled out for you and just immerse yourself, then you're in for a huge treat. Can't wait for the sequel. What a journey.
For fans of The Locked Tomb series, Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe), Light From Uncommon Stars, and the Wayfarer series.
Funny, charming, and totally unique with fascinating and effortless world building. It held me captive and delivered twists, joys, and sorrows.
It's a bit of a challenge, because it won't hold your hand. If you can let go of the need to know everything and have things spelled out for you and just immerse yourself, then you're in for a huge treat. Can't wait for the sequel. What a journey.
For fans of The Locked Tomb series, Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe), Light From Uncommon Stars, and the Wayfarer series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking, War, Medical trauma, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Grief, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Death, Colonisation, Confinement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
ktkeps's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Colonisation, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Death, and Medical trauma