Book Review: A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

This is the second book in the Teixcalaan series by Arkady Martine and follows a few months after the prior, A Memory of Empire. Here is the Goodreads blurb:

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.

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Overall Impression

This continues a few months after A Memory of Empire and has many of the same similar notes, but with a wider scope of the Teixcalaanli Empire. Some of the same characters join in and we get new ones as well. Overall, it sets the stage for a wider conflict while still keeping the interpersonal drama that was prominent in the first book.

Plot

There is a new emperor to Teixcalaan, following the turmoil in the prior novel, and many administrative positions have been shuffled about. Mahit Dzmare is still the Ambasador from Lsel Station, though she finds herself back home while she decides what to do about her parts in the upheaval as well as what to do with her broken imago. Meanwhile, the Empire is officially at war with the unknown aliens that were hinted at in the prior book and little headway has been made. That sets the stage for the novel, with several layers of external and internal conflicts, ranging from the alien invasion, to politics in both Lsel and Teixcalaan.

Characters

Many of the same characters make a reappearance here, including Mahit Dzmare, Three Seagrass, Nineteen Adze, Eight Antidote, but we also get some new ones from the military side of things, like the Fleet Captain (yaotlek) Nine Hibiscus and her adjutant Twenty Cicada. Their relationship, and what happens on their ship, is somewhat of a microcosmos of the larger tensions of Teixcalaan, its ministries, and foreign relationships. I thought it was interesting how Eight Antidote, the 11-year-oldImperial heir is portrayed. While he is privileged and educated enough to be sophisticated and dangerous, he is still a little kid and struggles with his emotions and a touch of naivete. It's an interesting blend of a capable character that is flawed due to his youth.

Setting / World Building

The setting is mainly the same as the prior novel, though we get some more tidbits of how the Empire is structured, particularly with regards to communications with distant sectors. While faster-than-light travel is possible through the jump gates, it doesn't appear that arbitrary ships possess this ability which leads to these gates as key points of expansion and control.

Beyond Teixcalaan, we get our first direct look at the aliens that had been previously observed in Lsel space. In fact, in some of the interludes we actually see their minds and get a sense of what they are that is clearer than what the individual characters themselves can tell. It harkens a little back to how the imago lines work which as you're reading will have your gears turning as to the possible connection with Dzmare's unique situation and these aliens, as well as with the Sunlit police force back at the core world of Teixcalaan and the newly introduced Shard pilots.

Final Thoughts

This was a satisfying continuation to the series and I hope to see more of it, though it wraps up so well I don't know if we should expect more stories in this series. Compared to the first novelI found it a little bit more enjoyable since it has a bit more external, overt conflict, while the A Memory of Empire was very much focused on Dzmare and the internal politics. The introduction of the alien species, and how long and difficult it was to establish communications, was cleverly done in my opinion and helps spread the tension throughout the novel. And while there is political drama in the form of the various Ministries, it's balanced with the external war against the aliens.