Following the events of the first book (which I won’t spoil here, go read it), the Empire has found itself a new enemy to turn its fleets against, but it is an enemy unlike any the Empire has faced before, and Mahit and Three Seagrass find themselves pulled into another web of deceit and intrigue taking place on the very frontlines of the war itself.Īs in her first book, Arkady Martine does a fantastic job building out not just the grand and imperial elements of world-building, but also the smaller, more intimate details that make her universe feel fully inhabited and cohesive, along with a master’s level course in the very structure of language and the ways it shapes our thinking. For this month’s review, though, I’m actually going back to 2021 to take a look at A Desolation Called Peace, which is the follow-up to the Hugo-winning A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, itself a fantastic piece of writing and one I highly recommend (and one you’ll want to read because there is almost no break between the events of the first book and the start of the second).Ī Desolation Called Peace continues the journey of Mahit Dzmare, Ambassador from Lsel Station to the sprawling (and bloodthirsty) Teixcalaanli Empire, and her erstwhile friend/lover/foil Three Seagrass as the two of them attempt to navigate a treacherous new relationship between both Lsel Station and the Empire, as well as each other.

Hello again, readers, and hopefully you’re all having a better new year than the one that preceded it.

Series: The Tales of Gorlen Vizenfirthe.

Series: From the Lost Travelers’ Tour Guide.

People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction!.

A peace called desolation