A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is one of my favorite books, so of course A Desolation Called Peace was one of my most anticipated books for 2021. I’m happy to say that it lived up to expectations.
That’s it, that’s the review.
Just kidding!
The Plot
A Desolation Called Peace picks up shortly after the events of A Memory Called Empire. I don’t want to spoil the events of Book 1 if you haven’t already read it, so to keep things in vague terms, both Ambassador Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass are trying to figure themselves out after the events of the first book.
In the meantime, we meet Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus, who is leading a force against the terrifying enemy that the Empire finds itself at war with.
And heir to the Empire Eight Antidote is trying to figure out what’s going on in the scary adult world of politics.
Where A Memory Called Empire was a murder mystery that was also a meditation on memory, identity, and what it means to love your colonizer, A Desolation Called Peace builds on those themes and adds themes about personhood and war and loyalty. Sadly there’s no murder mystery this time around, but there is still the mystery of what is up with the creepy alien enemy, and all of the imperial political intrigue.
Getting to Know the Empire
I feel like this book gave me a deeper understanding of the Teixcalaanli Empire, as I got to see things from both a military point of view and spend some time inside the Imperial palace, as well as having Three Seagrass’s viewpoint as a diplomat, and Mahit’s view as an outsider.
At the same time, we also spend more time on the Station and start to get some idea of the political goings-on there.
It’s so easy to both love and hate Teixcalaan. Martine has done such a good job of creating a complex society. Too often, fictional kingdoms and empires are painted as “good” or “bad”, but here we have someplace that feels real, a place full of complicated human beings, a place of beautiful art and culture, and yet also a place that believes anyone who is not part of the empire is not truly human.
And so it is easy to understand why Mahit has always dreamed of traveling to the Empire and being part of the culture there, and how at the same time, Powers That Be at the Station are terrified of being absorbed into the Empire and stripped of their own culture.
While reading A Desolation Called Peace I also found myself really thinking about Teixcalaanli naming conventions, so I was really happy to see that there’s an entire blog post about the relevance of the different numerals and nouns, and a fun generator to come up with your own name (mine is 25 Needle, share yours in the comments!).
I Want More!
I don’t know if the Teixcalaan series is intended to be a trilogy or something longer, but there’s definitely more story to be told. Certain things have been resolved by the end of A Desolation Called Peace, but there’s still unresolved issues in the meta-story and I feel like there’s at least one more book needed to wrap things up with Mahit and Three Seagrass, if nothing else. But I also wouldn’t be mad if sometime down the road we get more stories set in this universe with other characters.
Thank You, NetGalley and Tor
I reviewed A Memory Called Empire back when I was writing for another book blog with a much larger audience. I was pretty happy to find an email in my inbox offering me an ARC of A Desolation Called Peace so I could follow up on my initial review. I might have felt guilty for a moment, claiming a free copy of the book to review on this, my newly-established book blog, but on the other hand, I also have a pre-order placed, so I’m still paying for the book. I just got to read it a little early!
Big thank you to NetGalley and Tor for making my wait for this wonderful book a little shorter.
If you’ve also been eagerly awaiting A Desolation Called Peace, your wait is almost over! It comes out tomorrow, so place your pre-order now if you haven’t already.
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