I
love reading about rag-tag teams of misfits and outcasts going up against the
impossible, and this book fully delivers on that front.
It
follows tech mogul Vivian Liao through a botched attempt to save the world that
slings her clear across the cosmos and through rip-roaring shenanigans alongside
a motley but lovable crew.
This swash-buckling space adventure weaves some of
my favorite story elements, a found-family-esque ensemble; anti-heroes turned
friends; and a dramatic identity reveal through vivid and cinematic settings throughout
the vast universe (and in between its interdimensional nooks and crannies.)
This book’s fast pace, high stakes, and meaningful character dynamics had me
speeding through it straight to the climactic end.
A wildly successful innovator to rival Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, Vivian Liao is prone to radical thinking, quick decision-making, and reckless action. On the eve of her greatest achievement, she's trying to outrun those who are trying to steal her success.
In the chilly darkness of a Boston server farm, Viv sets her ultimate plan into motion. A terrifying instant later, Vivian Liao is catapulted through space and time to a far future where she confronts a destiny stranger and more deadly than she could ever imagine.
The end of time is ruled by an ancient, powerful Empress who…
This book lingered on
my mind long after I flipped the last page. This book is a multi-generational
account of an ex-colony in a world that makes one question the definition of
sentience.
I enjoyed the use of the wide cast to study the folly of overly optimistic galactic colonization and the cost of establishing a new and
peaceful society, all in the shadow of an intelligence that the characters take
decades to begin to understand. Some parts are disturbing but always in service
of the theme.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys methodically paced
narratives that make one question the nature of civilization and the unexpected
ways in which an alien intellect could present.
Colonists from Earth wanted the perfect home, but they'll have to survive on the one they found. They don't realize another life form watches...and waits.
This book is
just as gorgeously and intelligently written as the first installment in the
Teixcalaanli space empire.
It picks up the series’ examination
of colonialism, otherness, and language’s complicity in conquest while
bringing in new, alien elements that force the protagonists to grapple with the
concept of personhood.
We follow disillusioned Mahit Dzmare as she struggles to
adjust to life after the events of the first book, her will-they-won’t-they
relationship with her former imperial liaison, and an all-new threat to
Teixcalaan that challenges loyalties and the social and personal mechanisms on
which empire grinds.
Readers who know the sting of being othered, who enjoy
smart drama and political machinations, or who like messy first-contact stories
that demand the most from their characters will love this sequel too.
A Desolation Called Peace is the spectacular space opera sequel to A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
An alien terror could spell our end.
An alien threat lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is supposed to win a war against it.
In a desperate attempt to find a diplomatic solution, the fleet captain has sent for an envoy to contact the mysterious invaders. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass - both still reeling…
As acting captain of the starship Calypso,
Jacklyn Albright is responsible for keeping the last of humanity alive as they
limp back to Earth from their forebears’ failed colony on a distant planet. Faced
with constant threats of starvation and destruction in the treacherous
minefield of interstellar space, Jacklyn’s crew has reached their breaking
point.
As unrest begins to spread throughout the ship’s Wards, a new threat
emerges, picking off crew members in a grim, bloody fashion.
Jacklyn and her team must hunt down the ship’s unknown
intruder to have any hope of making it back to their solar system alive.
