A review by wendleness
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

adventurous challenging 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

3.25

There is a lot of world- and character-building in this book. A lot of it relevant later on, as the story plays out and threads weave together. But also a lot of it not so relevant. I loved the aspects that did all pull together in the final chapters—that’s always satisfying. I also loved, perhaps even more, certain character details that didn’t lead anywhere specific. Eight Antidote’s desire to travel and see the worlds, Eight Loop’s missing intentions and motivations, Five Portico’s possible uses for the faulty imago-machine. I hope these are things that get explored in the sequel.

The world building… is where I start to not love the book as much. Because there is a lot of it. And that’s not necessarily a criticism, so much as it is me, personally, not enjoying it. I struggled to get into this book initially because there was just so much to take in.

I will certainly be reading the sequel at some point. There are a lot of loose threads that I hope get picked up, as there are several things I want to know more about.

A longer review can be read on my book blog: Marvel at Words.