Reading: A Memory Called Empire

[white_hart]

Arkady Martine's debut novel has been on my to-read list since it was published three years ago, but somehow I never quite managed to get round to it until now, I think because I was worried it would need concentration and my brain wasn't really up to it. And now I am not really feeling up to writing a review which does it justice, but A Memory Called Empire is as good as everyone said it was: postcolonial space opera which I found very reminiscent of Le Guin in places, considering questions of individual and national identity, empire and not-empire, as well as an interesting mystery plot and delightful, engaging characters.