You pump the dead full of chemicals and refuse to let anything rot—people or ideas or … or bad poetry, of which there is in fact some, even in perfectly metrical verse,” said Mahit. “Forgive me if I disagree with you on emulation. Teixcalaan is all about emulating what should already be dead.” “Are you Yskandr, or are you Mahit?” Three Seagrass asked, and that did seem to be the crux of it: Was she Yskandr, without him? Was there even such a thing as Mahit Dzmare, in the context of a Teixcalaanli city, a Teixcalaanli language, Teixcalaanli politics infecting her all through, like an imago she wasn’t suited for, tendrils of memory and experience growing into her like the infiltrates of some fast-growing fungus.
The book follows the arrival of the new ambassador, Mahit Dzmare, from the independent Lsel station to the empire of Teixcalaan, and her adventures following the murder of the previous ambassador, all while trying to preserve the independence of a her small station. This is a detective thriller, intertwined with imperial intrigue and friendship, on the streets of the monumental capital of the largest interstellar empire.
This is the debut novel for the author AnnaLinden Weller, writing under the pseudonym Arkady Martine. The novel won the Hugo Award and was a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Novel of 2019.
What is impressive in this book is the quality of prose, exceptional world-building, relatively uncomplicated plot and the memorable characters. The names chosen are unique and the book creates a new vocabulary for this glorious empire of Teixcalaan. One of the profound themes explored is of self and multiple identities, via a device called imago machine, which preserves the memory of the deceased and allows to be incorporated in a new person. The results are generally positive, the deceased being of help, but not without risks.
While usually not my type of book (it was more fiction than science), the quality of prose was undeniable and the story engaging. It is a long book, but hours of reading passed unnoticed, showing the grip that the book makes on the reader. At the no point the story stagnated or paragraphs felt unneeded, despite it’s considerable length. A highly entertaining book.