A Desolation Called Peace

Audiobook

ISBN:
978-1-5290-0166-2
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4 stars (14 reviews)

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.

Whether they succeed or fail could change the fate of Teixcalaan forever.

9 editions

Fantastic story!

5 stars

This book reminded me of the classic, creative sci-fi of the past, while being very interesting and entertaining. I liked this book more than the first one as it involved not just politics and intrigue, but a potential war with the unknown. It resolved in ways I was not expecting and thoroughly loved this story all the way through!

Review of 'Une désolation nomée paix' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Second tome du dyptique formé avec Une mémoire appelée empire, celui-ci raconte une histoire fort différente, mais néanmoins parfaitement complémentaire.
On y retrouve Mahit Dzmare en ambassadrice retournée sur sa station après les événements successoriaux de la première partie, et Trois posidonie occupant un poste de bureau, alors qu'une guerre se déclenche entre Teixcalaan et les étranges envahisseurs. Bien entendu, nos deux héroînes se retrouvent au milieu du conflit (grâce au génie de Trois Posidonie pour l'intrigue de palais) et vont faire basculer la guerre dans un premier contact sous haute tension. Et comme l'autrice est fabuleusement géniale, on est passé d'un récit strictement linéaire et à voix unique à un récit polyphonique raconté par Mahit, bien sûr, mais aussi par Trois posidonie (encore heureux), mais aussi l'héritier de l'empire, la générale en cheffe de l'arme Teixcalaan. Ces différentes voix auront évidement toutes leur rôle dans cette histoire, aussi bien …

A Worthy Sequel

4 stars

There were many directions in which Arkady Martine could have taken the sequel to her popular 2019 novel A Memory Called Empire, and she has chosen an interesting and entertaining one.

The worldbuilding for which A Memory Called Empire was praised is back in A Desolation Called Peace, and while the first book focused on the Teixcalaanli capital, the second one explores more of the life onboard of the Lsel Station, as well as life in campaigning military fleets of the empire. For the most part, the worldbuilding in the sequel does not disappoint.

The bits where it does disappoint is in Martine leaning perhaps too heavily on space opera tropes in the parts of the book that take place aboard starships. While the descriptions of the capital or the palace grounds therein continue to be evocative, the descriptions of what it is like onboard of an imperial …

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Subjects

  • Science fiction
  • Fiction
  • First encounter
  • Space opera
  • LGBT

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