Book Review: A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE by Arkady Martine
Yes, Paul Weimer already delivered a ‘squee-tastic’ review of Arkady Martine’s debut novel, A Memory Called Empire, here earlier this week. But this novel is so notably brilliant that it’s worth fueling that hype with even more squee. Martine’s debut includes nearly all of the elements I would potentially look for in a great science fiction novel, balancing each of them to hit so many positive notes that I suspect other readers will find it just as elegantly captivating. Until now, I’ve never gotten to read a new release and think: This deserves to win all of the awards. I cannot fathom anything else coming this year to approach this level of achievement. Compared to Paul, I’m not as broadly read in the genre, and I’m ashamed to say I still haven’t even read Dune! I did, however, grow up adoring the novels of Asimov, and the space opera setting of A Memory Called Empire immediately drew my thoughts to his linked series. Martine takes the philosophical and political-historical intellect underlying the best of Asimov and refreshes the out-of-date social and cultural perspectives of his works. Several others have also drawn comparisons to the more modern Imperial Radch novels by Anne Leckie. While I liked Leckie’s Ancillary Justice, the narrative voice of Martine’s novel and the themes addressed through its plot resonated even stronger with me.
Book Review: A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE by Arkady Martine
Last year, I read a debut author’s space opera that was hyped by many as the Next Big Thing. Comparisons to Dune were explicitly made. The text showed that the author clearly was writing in conversation with Dune, trying to catch that magic about a big broad space opera by focusing on the life and times of a protagonist destined to have an enormous impact on their universe. But for me, that novel fell down on a number of fronts and was an enormous disappointment. This is not that book. This book steps into those shoes, attempting to capture that Dune magic, and walks miles in them. And for me, it succeeds where that other novel failed. This is A Memory Called Empire by debut novelist Arkady Martine. A Memory Called Empire is a dazzling space opera involving a Byzantine plot that immerses the reader in a fully realized world with a cast of interesting characters.
