A Desolation Called Peace

Arkady Martine

Mar 2021 · Teixcalaan Book 2 · Sold by Tor Books

About this eBook

WINNER OF THE 2022 HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

"[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 . . .

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

Almost as good as the first book, it loses some originality points. Without spoiling anything, a couple of choices are straight out of Star Trek - and entirely predictable as a result. I found myself hoping for a *worse* ending to avoid the inevitable (which is heavily, if not cleverly, foreshadowed). Also, the kid's narrative is almost entirely skippable. On the whole, though, this is a solid second entry.

Though both work very well as stand-alone novels, Arkady Martine's follow-up to the Hugo-winning _A Memory Called Empire_, released a few days ago, returns us to the original's timeline a scant month after the first book's conclusion and plunges us pretty much immediately back into the high intrigue and galaxy-spanning conflicts that we loved before. But in _A Desolation Called Peace_, her characters have a bit more room to breathe and develop, in spite of the fact that the plot proceeds at near-breakneck speed throughout. Featuring a background society that's fully-fleshed and intricate, Martine gives us dangers aplenty, with high stakes for both the characters and the Empire (and its enemies) that strike home on scales both personal and grand, and pulls them off to a satisfying conclusion. The author's main themes revolve around what it means to be on the outside looking in, well-traveled tropes in the genre that nevertheless are presented here in fresh and multi-faceted perspectives that never feel forced or cliched. She invites us along as her characters come to terms with the rapidly-developing plot forcing them to onion-peel their interpersonal relationships, each of them exploring the space around what it means to be human, and "other", and the places in-between - with themselves, their partners, friends and colleagues, and society at large. Martine's debut novel was popular enough to net her the highest award in science fiction, and the sequel has been furiously anticipated. She does not disappoint with her sophomore effort, and in fact has elevated her game considerably. Highly recommended.

About the author

Arkady Martine is the Hugo Award-winning author of A Memory Called Empire. She is a speculative fiction writer and, as Dr. AnnaLinden Weller, a historian of the Byzantine Empire and a city planner. She is currently a policy advisor for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, where she works on climate change mitigation, energy grid modernization, adn resiliency planning. Under both names, she writes about border politics, rhetoric, propaganda, and the edges of the world. Arkady grew up in New York City and, after some time in Turkey, Canada, and Sweden, and Baltimore, lives in Santa Fe with her wife, the author Vivian Shaw.