Title: A Memory Called Empire Author: Arkady Martine
Publication Date: 2020
Publisher: TOR Books
Genre: Sci-fi
Length of audiobook: 15:37:00
Trigger warnings: Suicide, death
Trigger warnings: Suicide, death
Synopsis:
In the Texicalaanli Empire, a new ambassador has been found. Her predecessor was murdered and she may be next.Mahit investigates what is going on amongst the rich and powerful but Mahit is hiding secrets of her own, including one that could kill many.
My thoughts:
A Memory Called Empire is a book that jumps straight into the plot. We follow Mahit Dzmare, a new leader in Teixcalaanli. In this world, the memories of previous people in the same positions are taken and inserted inside new workers after the predecessor has died. This process can only happen if the body of the previous person is kept, if the body has been destroyed then their memories and those of others that they contained are lost. Towards the beginning of the book we see how Mahit is adjusting to having other memories but also another entity inside her head which can control her nervous system too. This is a fairly unique concept but the mechanics of it didn't quite seem to work out.
This book started off well, it was interesting and reminded me of Skyward by Brandon Sanderson but with an adult main character. However, as I continued to listen to the audiobook, it just seemed like more of the same. A lot of dialogue and dry explanations but nothing really seemed to happen. It was just a bit slow.
Furthermore, this book talked a lot about the deceased and not respectfully. The dead are basically treated as memory banks in this book. They don't really seem to be mourned, people are more concerned about the loss of memories than anything else. I also think that the use of having another mind inside the main character who can also control her could be potentially triggering to some readers. I would really recommend being careful if you could be triggered and do decide to read this book.
Overall, this book had a great concept: a murder mystery in a sci-fi setting? Who wouldn't want to read that? But in actuality with how this book was written and parts of the plot, this just wasn't a book for me.
*I DNF'd this book so I will not give a star rating
A copy of this book was kindly sent to me to review, however, all opinions are my own.
This book started off well, it was interesting and reminded me of Skyward by Brandon Sanderson but with an adult main character. However, as I continued to listen to the audiobook, it just seemed like more of the same. A lot of dialogue and dry explanations but nothing really seemed to happen. It was just a bit slow.
Furthermore, this book talked a lot about the deceased and not respectfully. The dead are basically treated as memory banks in this book. They don't really seem to be mourned, people are more concerned about the loss of memories than anything else. I also think that the use of having another mind inside the main character who can also control her could be potentially triggering to some readers. I would really recommend being careful if you could be triggered and do decide to read this book.
Overall, this book had a great concept: a murder mystery in a sci-fi setting? Who wouldn't want to read that? But in actuality with how this book was written and parts of the plot, this just wasn't a book for me.
*I DNF'd this book so I will not give a star rating
A copy of this book was kindly sent to me to review, however, all opinions are my own.
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