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"[An] all around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it."??Ann Leckie, on A Memory Called Empire A Desolation Called Peace is the spectacular space opera sequel to Arkady Martine's genre-reinventing, Hugo Award-winning debut, A Memory Called Empire. An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options. In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass??still reeling from the recent upheaval in the Empire??face the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity. Their failure will guarantee millions of deaths in an endless war. Their success might prevent Teixcalaan's destruction??and allow the empire to continue its rapacious expansion. Or it might create something far stranger . . . A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Bo… (més)
A Desolation Called Peace is a follow-up novel to the earlier work A Memory Called Empire. This book again revolves around the characters Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass, but this time it throws them into the middle of a war with an alien species who no one can understand (linguistically or otherwise) in the role of negotiators. While the aliens themselves are pretty alien and we mostly don't get their point of view, there is a lot of political maneuvering within the factions on the human side, with each having their own preferred outcome of the war--reconciliation, genocide, never-ending war, conveniently eliminating people loyal to a certain regime, etc. I did enjoy the interplay of sympathetic characters working at cross-purposes, and especially the adventures of Imperial heir Eight Antidote (who is the best-written character in the book). However, it is still a step below the first book, which set a very high bar. ( )
I read A Memory Called Empire earlier this year and really enjoyed it. In this sequel, I was curious to see how the author would handle the mysterious aliens, who we previously hadn’t seen on page.
We see this story from multiple points of view. While I liked getting different perspectives, they felt rather contrived in terms of answering questions raised by the previous PoV character. I also felt there was a lot of characters standing around being told (or overhearing) information by other characters. Sometimes I was put in mind of “messenger speeches” in Greek drama, where important events are recounted to the actors (and audience) by a messenger, rather than being played out on stage.
There was a sex scene which… felt unnecessary and didn’t (in my opinion) contribute in any way to the story, and I could have done without as much angst-y interactions. (Or perhaps, since we all have angsty moments, not having them spelled out so explicitly).
That said, I enjoyed the read overall and the interweaving of the narrative viewpoints.
The writing is exquisite, just like in the (much beloved) first book. This is the kind of writing you both want to swallow whole and drink every sentence in small sips - slowly. I'm glad there is now such a thing as Teixcalaan in the universe of books and I would dive into it again and again. Palace intrigues, space battles, great characters and their web of relationships are all there for the reader to enjoy ;-) (Eight Antidote, I love you so much! And all the rest of them.). Also, I appreciate sci-fi books with aliens that are truly, horrifyingly alien.
Yes, there were a few plot devices that might have made me go into facepalm mode - in a lesser book. So these were easy to forgive. ( )
Informació del coneixement compartit en anglès.Modifica-la per localitzar-la a la teva llengua.
First, reality was suspended. All breaches to Inca protocol occurred at once: the rules governing personal contact (visual, oral and corporal), drinking, and eating were broken. When Ciquinchara first met the conquerors he was allowed to do what no Indian could, and now the tables were turned. Since there was no signifying context to frame their interactions, the actors exposed themselves to limitless risk. Atahualpa could have been slaughtered, or Soto and Hernando poisoned.... -Gonzolo Lamana, in "Beyond Exoticization and Likeness: Alterity and the Production of Sense in a Colonial Encounter," Comparative Studies in Society and History 47, no. 1 (2005): 4-39
To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles--this they name empire; and where they make a desert they call it peace. -Tacitus (quoting Calgacus), Agricola 30
Dedicatòria
Informació del coneixement compartit en anglès.Modifica-la per localitzar-la a la teva llengua.
This book is for all the exiles: the displaced, the refugee, the stateless; the abandoned and the abandoner; those made desolate and those cast free.
(And for Stanislav Petrov, who knew when to question orders.)
Primeres paraules
Informació del coneixement compartit en anglès.Modifica-la per localitzar-la a la teva llengua.
To think--not language.
Citacions
Darreres paraules
Informació del coneixement compartit en anglès.Modifica-la per localitzar-la a la teva llengua.
"[An] all around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it."??Ann Leckie, on A Memory Called Empire A Desolation Called Peace is the spectacular space opera sequel to Arkady Martine's genre-reinventing, Hugo Award-winning debut, A Memory Called Empire. An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options. In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass??still reeling from the recent upheaval in the Empire??face the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity. Their failure will guarantee millions of deaths in an endless war. Their success might prevent Teixcalaan's destruction??and allow the empire to continue its rapacious expansion. Or it might create something far stranger . . . A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Bo
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