"A Memory Called Empire" is a riveting piece of science fiction that observes the tangled conflicts between culture, memory, and identity. The story immediately pushes you into a tense situation. The protagonist and newly assigned ambassador of the fiercely independent Lsel Station, Mahit Dzmare, had been given the task to investigate the mysterious death of her predecessor. From the moment Mahit steps onto the vastly powerful empire that is Teixcalaanli, tension rises. 

Thrusts into the core of political tension in Teixcalaanli, you cannot help but feel like an outsider with a significant wall built between you reading into the culture of Teixcalaanli. Martine’s deliberate and astute writing ensures that feeling throughout. Through Mahit’s eyes, you’ll always feel exactly like that; an outsider looking in.

"A Memory Called Empire" explores an interesting woven conflict between memories and culture, especially considering the story calls attention to one of the most (if not THE) significant piece of technology in the book: the imago machine. How do you draw the moral line when trying to preserve consciousness for the sake of legacy, for the sake of power? What does it mean to carry the weight of another person's consciousness in yourself? What does it say about individuality? Your agency? (Can it really be called your agency, if that's the case?)

While the book does have its brilliant moments, it does feel like it's building up so much tension that I couldn't help but feel drowned by piles after piles of *just* tension. All with very little resolve even to the very end. But perhaps that might be resolved in the second book. It asks a lot of questions. Some gets answered and some just... simmered away.