A memory called empire
A desolation called peace
By Arkady Martine
Space Operas. Sci-fi/Fantasy meets politics with a garnish of poetry. An empire obsessed with itself. The native folks call the outsiders as barbarians - uncivilized folks who do not even understand the value of poetry.
The first book starts with Mahit Dzamare who is an ambassador from Lsel station, a colony at the outskirts of the Teixcalaanli empire. Her predecessor is dead and she is sent to replace him. With her is her colony's unique & secret innovation - imago machines, a neural implant that allows you to have the brain memories of any other individual. In her case, she is carrying the imago of the previous ambassador except that it is a much older one.
Teixcalaanli culture is obsesses with political manoeuvrings and poets to glorify the ruler - Six Direction. Yes, the names is a letter followed by a word. Such advanced culture but with such primitive naming scheme. The emperor is old and there are various folks trying to rout him out.
Arkady's penmanship is what carries the novel. She build her world slowly but her attention to detail is perhaps one of the best. She is able to leverage the stream-of-consciousness via the dialog between Mahit and her imago counterpart. All is not well in this empire and we get to know about this slowly.
The first book won the Hugo award. I finished the book the same day morning when the awards were announced.
The second one expands on the world of first one with a new premise - a first contact story where the civilization meets a new race which can not communicate . This new race though is more advanced in weaponry and has better communication protocols.
It is a good read, much briskly paced. Small inconsistencies here and there but overall a fascinating read and a satisfying ending.
