She is placed in a swirl of forces and must adapt. Martine writes some wonderful verse, which is important as it is used at crucial moments, including the marvellous climax.Īnother blessing: Martine, who is a historian of the Byzantine Empire, also understands how cultures shift over realistic time-scales, how complex and irreducible they can be.Īdapting to the relentless subtlety of a foreign culture wears on Mahit, even as she revels in being there in the centre of the Empire she dreamed of as a child. What a blessing then to have a writer who is deft at discussing the mechanics of poetry and how meaning is created in poetry. Poetry in science-fiction is typically less than successful. Economic, cultural- take a Teixcalaanli name, be a citizen. Speak poetry. Into the world. Shift the pronunciation of the verb, and Three Seagrass could have been saying if we didn’t make new territories real, but Mahit knew what she meant: all the ways that being part of Teixcalaan gave a planet or a station prosperity. “It’s not-devour would be if we were xenophobes or genocides, if we didn’t bring new territories into the Empire.” Isn’t that what we’re talking about? A war of annexation.” Though Mahit had immersed herself in the literature and language since childhood she is still at a grave disadvantage. Learning to interpret properly thus becomes the driving force of her journey. On top of the allusions they also speak with elusive subtlety, never saying directly what they mean, and their body language is foreign to Mahit. Educated members of society – among whom Mahit mingles – reference this tradition constantly. Teixcalaan has a deep lineage of literature, especially poetry. While there is a heavy dose of the thrilling action you find in espionage novels, much of the plot is given over to Mahit adapting to and engaging in the subtleties of Teixcalaanli culture. Mahit must uncover what is meant, what has happened and is happening, what the actors desire. There she must negotiate with the most powerful Teixcalaanlitzlim to protect Lsel Station from the imperial ambitions of Teixcalaan.Īt the same time an unknown and incredibly powerful alien race is destroying Lsel ships.įrom this premise Martine builds a propulsive novel of deception. In the Teixcalaanli language there is one word for “empire,” “the City” and “world”: “One had to note the context.” Mahit goes to the City and is met by her liaison, Three Seagrass. She goes to the heart-planet of the Empire, the City, without having time to properly assimilate the out of date Yskandr. She has been infatuated with Teixcalaan culture and history since childhood and her personality is compatible with Yskandr’s. Mahit Dzmare is chosen as new ambassador. He was ambassador for 20 years and had only returned to Lsel to update his imago-machine 15 years ago, leaving it critically out of date. The previous ambassador, Yskandr Aghavn, is missing or dead. The vast and ancient Teixcalaan Empire requires a new ambassador from Lsel. The imago-machines are implanted in the brain stem and the multiple personalities must learn to coexist. On Lsel they use imago-machines – recordings of a person’s memory – to pass on vital information to that person’s successor. There is a small mining station called Lsel. A Memory Called Empire places linguistic and social nuance at the heart of a political thriller.
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