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A Memory Called Empire
- Teixcalaan, Book 1
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
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A Memory Called Empire
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Publisher's Summary
Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel
A Locus, and Nebula Award nominee for 2019
A Best Book of 2019: Library Journal, Polygon, Den of Geek
An NPR Favorite Book of 2019
A Guardian Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of 2019 and “Not the Booker Prize” Nominee
A Goodreads Biggest SFF Book of 2019 and Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee
"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)
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.
A fascinating space-opera debut, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire is an interstellar mystery adventure.
"The most thrilling ride ever. This book has everything I love." (Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky)
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What listeners say about A Memory Called Empire
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David A.
- 2021-03-28
Great sci-fi culture-building & political intrigue storyline
A fantastic story with some clever sci-fi concepts, but it’s really the political intrigue storyline that “shines like a spear” in this novel with many excellent cultural nuances interwoven throughout.
The narrator didn’t start off well, in my opinion - she almost sounded like an artificial voice - but as the story developed, she grew into the characters.
Overall, a great read, and I’m off to download the sequel!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr & Mrs Henry
- 2020-12-31
Intriguing & Imaginative SciFi
I'm glad that I picked up this after reading the early reviews, looking forward to the next installment of the series.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-12-02
Court Intrigue meets Murder Mystery
A Memory Called Empire is an enthralling tale about the seduction of cultural imperialism, as told from the perspective of an outsider with unprecedented access to the empire’s innermost circles.
It’s also a story about legacy, the lengths to which people will go to defend that legacy, and how that legacy is negotiated through individual personhood.
Calling it allegorical isn’t quite right. Armada Martine symbolism is crystal clear in terms of what it is portraying, nations that are at once incredibly advanced and still old in so many other ways. The entrapment of role and duty, responsibility to one’s self and to one’s station, the allure and horror of violence and the ways in which power reproduces itself form the thematic sinews of this story.
But as much as I’ve spoken about the themes, the critical elements of the story are in how they get portrayed through its characters. Each are memorable in their own way, with specific quirks of personality that are captured beautifully by the narration, distinct both in terms of character but also in how they react to the elements of the world around them.
The conflicts are as much geopolitical as they are interpersonal, though at times it feels that they travel along parallel lines right up until the end. When it reaches that ending, clicks together in a way that feels earned and is true to the narrative itself.
A handful of people trapped by the inexorable flow of nations, working their best to try and steer the course of history.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- CalltheDoctor
- 2020-09-26
How long have you been in the world?
The centre of an empire, Stationers, and threats from all sides. Loved this book. Especially recommend if you enjoy court intrigue.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Alan
- 2019-05-26
quite good
Narrator was a bit unenthusiastic at times. Interesting thematically but needed some more development on certain plot points. The concept of memory was very fascinating.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sutherland Booth
- 2020-11-27
Deserving of every accolade
An excellent performance for an exceptional book. Political and technological intrigue as fine as Neuromancer; a very clever and engaging look at cultures part familiar, part exotic, but never truly alien. I stayed up way too late way too often to burn through it and can't wait for the next in the series.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- olivier brunelle
- 2024-01-07
Great political thriller
Nothing like a political thriller in space.
I’de wager that we get some aliens in the second book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Adam Drew
- 2019-06-21
Excellent and novel sci-fi!
This blend of science fiction and thriller and history, with interesting advanced tech, but also an exciting political plot, is exactly the sort of thing the genre needs more.of!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matt Metford
- 2019-06-12
Empire is...
An excellent mediation on the long-term effects of imperialism and the damage empire does, while still acknowledging the difficult choices people have to make living in such a world. Thrilling writing.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Paige Smith
- 2020-08-18
Good scifi
I really liked this story. I would say it's good science fiction that falls slightly short of being 'great'
I think this is much more speculative cultural SciFi than hard or high tech. not that the tech is unrealistic (other than maybe FTL depending on your opinions on that), it's just not focused on in a scientific way but in more of a cultural impact way.
Love the culture and world building.
The audio book performance is great but I knocked down to 4 stars for a few mispronunciation issues
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1 person found this helpful