A Memory Called Empire absolutely blew me away, and this book is no different. It continues the first book’s exploration of identify, memory and society, with the addition of a completely alien species and the need to avert total war. So, you know, no pressure, Mahit. “She thought of Eleven Lathe, her poetic model, her hero, writing Dispatches from the Numinous Frontier out alone amongst his aliens, the Ebrekti. Could she do worse? Certainly, but perhaps not much worse—and then, gleeful and bitter, she thought, Fuck you, […]

From the prologue, this book absolutely blew me away. It’s a twisty political intrigue, with an Aztec-influenced empire. It’s also a meditation on the meaning of empire from a person who is trying to keep her home from being swallowed by it while at the same time being entranced with its literature and language. It’s about how that language controls how we tell stories about ourselves and the world around us. “You’ve said something meaningless.” <Yes,> Yskandr agreed. <When I was ambassador it was my habit […]