A Desolation Called Peace

Marek reviewed A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

Not quite as engaging as the first, but a solid sequel

4 stars

Content warning Not really spoilers, but some discussion of important themes

I am a big fan of "A Memory Called Empire", which I think is one of the best examples of modern space opera - up there with Ann Leckie and Iain M. Banks.

This is a good sequel, and one that pretty directly leads on from the previous one (the time between them is just a couple of months). The book has many of the strengths of the original - a very personal story that is wound into and transformed by galaxy-spanning implications, because of the way it is bound up in the politics and philosophies of different cultures and inter-stellar civilisations.

The characters are mostly admirable or likeable, and the antagonists have integrity and are themselves respectable for the main. Crucially, this is a discussion of how differences of various kinds are negotiated between individuals and groups of different kinds, and with different forms of power differential. There are no clean lines or easy solutions available to anyone, and this is encountered in ways that are confusing and frustrating in diverse ways for all concerned. It might have been better (though much less interestingly entitled "The Space Between Us").

As an individual book I didn't find this as compelling as the previous one. There are a few reasons for this, mostly to do with the nature of sequels. Whereas the previous book was a single point of view character, and a building of a world from scratch, here we have several new PoV characters, some of whom are new and some known. This of course means less time for development of each. While there is opportuntiy to explore them all more than a single perspective would allow, there's just something about them I found to be a little bit too similar (this is an odd complaint, because there are ways in which they are very different, but it does feel that each speaks in the author's rather than their own voices).

The world building is not as rich as the first too. There is some building out of the great Fleet of the Teixcalaan Empire, but not quite enough for it to really feel like more than a backdrop, as most of the PoV characters are not Fleet. The alien threat similarly are mostly an impetus rather than a main player (much as the rebel One Lightning was in the first).

A romance plays a major role in the plot, and I am rarely invested in romantic plots. Since finishing the book earlier today though, I've come to appreciate just how important and layered that relationship is, and so there is no way that it could be removed or even cut down - the nuances in that relationship are vital to perceiving other aspects of intimacy, power, and difference in other aspects of the story. Nevertheless, my frustrations with one of the characters in particular mean that this just wasn't as compelling as it might be as a main plot of the book.

All in all, still a great space opera, and good story. I will absolutely be looking forward to more from Martine, and will be picking it up when it appears.

Dee 📖 (book aspect) reviewed A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

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 …

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 warship feel dull in comparison.

The plot continues to explore the politics of empire, and their relationship to individuals. Like with the first book, Martine manages to portray empire as a system built up of individuals—same as those it looms over, poised for conquest. The grand plots of the novel are not driven by villains motivated by their own evil nature, but by people who, entwined as they are with the culture of the empire, are doing what they think is the right thing to do. This is perhaps the most compelling aspect of Martine's Teixcalaan novels—the view of empire from within, but also from the liminal space on its edges.

The one complaint to level here, though, is that the book's pacing leave some to be desired in the first parts of it. The action moves rather slowly as everyone gets from where they were at the end of the first novel to where interesting things will happen in the second one. It is in the second part that things become more interesting and compelling.

Overall, the book is likely to be enjoyable for anyone who enjoyed A Memory Called Empire. The lack of novelty inherent in a sequel means that A Desolation Called Peace does not outshine the first novel, it is nevertheless a worthy successor.

Keith Stevenson reviewed Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

Review of 'Desolation Called Peace' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I loved A Memory Called Empire but I think A Desolation Called Peace is even better. Empire did have some slow spots, particularly in the middle where I felt it dragged a little. But Peace is all killer no filler. Get it now!

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