Audiobook
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.
Whether they succeed or fail could change the fate of Teixcalaan forever.
I loved this as much as the first--the stakes of what it means to be a person and how we express that, along with what are memory and empire and language, are compelling and the characters radiate.
This expands on the first book beautifully across multiple fronts - plot, setting, and characters. I admire how it handles so much depth without coming across as pretentious. Heck, it can reference its own internal history via epic poems and still not feel pretentious. It feels like every word has been chosen deliberately, perfectly, but somehow without taking itself too seriously. That tightrope walk is incredible.
This book could have so easily failed. Second books in a series are especially tricky beasts, as a sequel to a fabulous award-winning debut the pressure must have been off the charts. Incredibly well done.
I could see the writing was good, the world building too, but I didnt really connect to the characters and ended up skimming chapters to read faster and I didn't feel like I missed a lot haha
There were many directions in which Arkady Martine could have taken the sequel to her popular 2019 novel A Memory Called Empire, and she has chosen an interesting and entertaining one.
The worldbuilding for which A Memory Called Empire was praised is back in A Desolation Called Peace, and while the first book focused on the Teixcalaanli capital, the second one explores more of the life onboard of the Lsel Station, as well as life in campaigning military fleets of the empire. For the most part, the worldbuilding in the sequel does not disappoint.
The bits where it does disappoint is in Martine leaning perhaps too heavily on space opera tropes in the parts of the book that take place aboard starships. While the descriptions of the capital or the palace grounds therein continue to be evocative, the descriptions of what it is like onboard of an imperial …
There were many directions in which Arkady Martine could have taken the sequel to her popular 2019 novel A Memory Called Empire, and she has chosen an interesting and entertaining one.
The worldbuilding for which A Memory Called Empire was praised is back in A Desolation Called Peace, and while the first book focused on the Teixcalaanli capital, the second one explores more of the life onboard of the Lsel Station, as well as life in campaigning military fleets of the empire. For the most part, the worldbuilding in the sequel does not disappoint.
The bits where it does disappoint is in Martine leaning perhaps too heavily on space opera tropes in the parts of the book that take place aboard starships. While the descriptions of the capital or the palace grounds therein continue to be evocative, the descriptions of what it is like onboard of an imperial warship feel dull in comparison.
The plot continues to explore the politics of empire, and their relationship to individuals. Like with the first book, Martine manages to portray empire as a system built up of individuals—same as those it looms over, poised for conquest. The grand plots of the novel are not driven by villains motivated by their own evil nature, but by people who, entwined as they are with the culture of the empire, are doing what they think is the right thing to do. This is perhaps the most compelling aspect of Martine's Teixcalaan novels—the view of empire from within, but also from the liminal space on its edges.
The one complaint to level here, though, is that the book's pacing leave some to be desired in the first parts of it. The action moves rather slowly as everyone gets from where they were at the end of the first novel to where interesting things will happen in the second one. It is in the second part that things become more interesting and compelling.
Overall, the book is likely to be enjoyable for anyone who enjoyed A Memory Called Empire. The lack of novelty inherent in a sequel means that A Desolation Called Peace does not outshine the first novel, it is nevertheless a worthy successor.
Didn't quite enjoy this as much as I did A Memory Called Empire, but it was a very good book nonetheless.
Это уже куда больше похоже на что-то интересное, всё равно только жаль, что пришлось первую ради этого прочитать: часто бывает, что после ознакомления со второй книгой цикла нагнетавшая ранее лишь тоску книга первая, книга-экспозиция вдруг начинает восприниматься куда полнее, целостнее, необходимее, будто произошёл какой-то ретроактивный перелом в восприятии.
Так вот это не тот случай, первая книга могла бы быть вступительной парой глав во второй, и все мы скорей обрели бы что-то, чем потеряли.
I loved A Memory Called Empire but I think A Desolation Called Peace is even better. Empire did have some slow spots, particularly in the middle where I felt it dragged a little. But Peace is all killer no filler. Get it now!
A Desolation Called Peace continues Arkady Martine's Teixcalaan series about: where do the boundaries of culture/community and individuality get drawn? What does it mean to be a member of a community. Those themes are much more deeply explored in a Desolation Called Peace with the addition of the ring aliens and a deeper focus on life on Lsel station.
However, it lacks the central focus of a Memory called Empire -- Teixcalaan culture is just so richly developed. A Memory Called Empire was brilliant in part because the best parts of the world, the philosophical questions it raised and the most compelling central character was all bound up in a central mystery about Lysander. A desolation steps away from that singularity of focus, and also includes multiple substories and the book really suffers from this diffusion.
Nonetheless, Arkady Martine realizes alien cultures with a depth like no one else, and …
A Desolation Called Peace continues Arkady Martine's Teixcalaan series about: where do the boundaries of culture/community and individuality get drawn? What does it mean to be a member of a community. Those themes are much more deeply explored in a Desolation Called Peace with the addition of the ring aliens and a deeper focus on life on Lsel station.
However, it lacks the central focus of a Memory called Empire -- Teixcalaan culture is just so richly developed. A Memory Called Empire was brilliant in part because the best parts of the world, the philosophical questions it raised and the most compelling central character was all bound up in a central mystery about Lysander. A desolation steps away from that singularity of focus, and also includes multiple substories and the book really suffers from this diffusion.
Nonetheless, Arkady Martine realizes alien cultures with a depth like no one else, and a Desolation is one of the best science fiction books I've ever read, it just pales in comparison to its predecessor.
… to ensure that Hugo was deserved after all.
Loved it! It took me a little longer to get into than the first, but it comes together so strongly. Sad to learn it's just a duology.
This is shaping up to be my favorite #SciFi series.
Good:
1st contact story that feels truly alien & consequential.
Figuring out how to talk to aliens hearkens back to classic sci-fi stories.
Political intrigue from the 1st book continues.
All characters are relatable & their motivations clear.
8 Antidote is a great POV character.
Bad:
Darj Tarats' outburst in the end is kind of inconsequential.
Better than the first installment of the series. The characters are more rounded, the story around the first contact with an alien species can be read on many levels and is much more adapted to a SF setting than the first installment. I hope there'll be another book telling what happens with Mahit and Three Seagrass!
Starts off really slow, but about halfway through, gets really interesting really fast.
If you haven't read A Memory Called Empire, go read it. If you do there's no point to me trying to sell you this book because it will have sold itself, and if it didn't you and I can not be friends.
This is more of the same in the best possible meaning of the word, a thoughtful, imaginative, introspective and far-reaching sci-fi story full of thoughts on culture, as a threat and an obstacle and an opportunity, genuinely interesting characters (Eight Antidote the GOAT), and a setting I really hope I get to spend more time with in the future.
I absolutely loved the first book of Teixcalaan, so I was very excited to a/ be able to ask for the second book on NetGalley b/ actually get an eARC for it
