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by Arkady Martine
A fascinating space opera debut novel, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire is an interstellar mystery adventure.
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident―or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.
Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion―all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret―one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life―or rescue it from annihilation.
1000 Books February 2026 Read: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Hugo Award Winners since 2016, but I haven't read any of these books. Proceed with caution! (Year, author, title) 2016 Jemisin. The Fifth Season 2017 Jemisin. The Obelisk Gate 2018 Jemisin. The Stone Sky (I sense a great author here! Also known for The Broken Earth series, of which some of the ab...
-NanK
Hugo Awards, 2020
"Starred Review. Martine allows the backstory to unroll slowly, much as Mahit struggles with her intermittent memories, walking delicately upon the tightrope of intrigue and partisan battles in the streets to safely bring the tale to a poignantly true conclusion. Readers will eagerly await the planned sequels to this impressive debut." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Politics and personalities blend with an immersive setting and beautiful prose in a debut that weaves threads of identity, assimilation, technology, and culture to offer an exceedingly well-done sf political thriller." - Library Journal
"A Memory Called Empire perfectly balances action and intrigue with matters of empire and identity. All around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it." - Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice
"The most thrilling ride ever. This book has everything I love." - Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky
"An elegant and accomplished example of the subgenre of subtle scheming with a background of stars. A delightful read. I couldn't put it down." - Jo Walton, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Among Others
"A taut murder mystery entwined with questions of technological ethics, A Memory Called Empire is also an evocative depiction of foreignness. Martine creates an elaborate and appealing culture against which to play out this story of political intrigue, assimilation, and resistance. Daring, beautiful, immersive, and often profound." - Malka Older, author of Infomocracy
"A Memory Called Empire is a murder mystery wrapped up in a political space opera, and deeply immerses the reader in a unique culture and society. I very much enjoyed it and look forward to what Martine does next." - Martha Wells, author of The Murderbot Diaries
"A Memory Called Empire elevates space opera to poetry―clever, deep, sometimes tragic, sometimes violent, always transcendent poetry that shines like the edge of a knife." - Delilah Dawson
"An intricate, layered tale of empire, personal ambition, political obligations and interstellar intrigue. Vivid and delightfully inventive." - Aliette de Bodard, Nebula Award-winning author of the Xuya Universe stories and The House of Binding Thorns
"A cutting, beautiful, human adventure about cultural exchange, identity, and intrigue. The best SF novel I've read in the last five years." - Yoon Ha Lee, author of the Machineries of Empire trilogy
"An exceptional first novel recommended for fans of Cherryh, Leckie, Banks, and Asimov." - Elizabeth Bear, author of Hammered
"A Memory Called Empire ... is so frigging good. It's like a space opera murder mystery combined with all the political parts of Dune." - Dan Wells, author of I Am Not a Serial Killer
This information about A Memory Called Empire was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Arkady Martine is a speculative fiction writer and, as Dr. AnnaLinden Weller, a historian of the Byzantine Empire and a city planner. Under both names, she writes about border politics, rhetoric, propaganda, and the edges of the world. Arkady grew up in New York City and, after some time in Turkey, Canada, and Sweden, lives in Baltimore with her wife, the author Vivian Shaw. A Memory Called Empire is her debut novel.
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