Mahit Dzmare, the main protagonist of the novel, lives on Lsel Station – an independent mining outpost of some 30,000 souls, located at the periphery of Teixcalaan. The station trades in rare metals and other mineral resources the Teixcalaanli Empire badly needs, which is the only reason why Lsel managed, thus far, to keep its independence and avoid the insatiable maw of Teixcalaan, ever hungry for new territories.
Mahit was always an unashamed Teixcalaan-phile and an ardent admirer of the refined Teixcalaanli culture renowned for its all-pervasive poetry, which is one of the reasons why the aptitude tests single her out as an ideal candidate for a new Lsel envoy in Teixcalaan, after the empire has abruptly demanded a new ambassador without (rather worryingly) even bothering to explain what has become of the old one.
Most of the Lsel citizens that have some vital role in government, or important specialisation, are enhanced with ‘imago-machines’ – miniature sophisticated electronic devices – that are attached to their hosts via the brainstem and which allow their users to carry in their minds the recorded memories, experiences and part-consciousness of all predecessors in the bearer’s ‘imago-line’ – thus ensuring that the lifelong acquired knowledge and experiences of the previous generations are not needlessly lost but are instead passed down the imago-line from one carrier to the next, preserved for posterity and put to good use by whoever may be the last in the long line of people within the same profession or occupation.
Most of the Lsel citizens have an imago-machine - neurological implant carrying the recorded memories and experiences of the long line
of the bearer's predecessors
Mahit is not an exception and just before her departure, she is fitted with the imago-machine – precisely calibrated neurological implant – of Yskandr Aghavn, the former ambassador from Lsel Station to Teixcalaan. However, as Yskandr’s diplomatic duties didn’t allow him to take a leave and come back to Lsel – with only a one single exception fifteen years ago – his most recent memories could not be recorded and consequently the imago-machine on which Mahit has to rely on is fifteen years out of date. Although, out-of-date imago is still better than no imago at all, as Mahit has never before visited the City a.k.a. Jewel of the World – the planet-capital of Teixcalaan – so she really appreciates any help and advice she can get, even if that advice is slightly outdated.
But things take a bad turn from the very moment of Mahit’s arrival. No sooner she sets her foot in the Teixcalaanli capital, than her imago machine malfunctions and Yskandr’s memories are no longer accessible – leaving her to her own devices with only an assigned cultural liaison Three Seagrass coming to her help in many a sticky situation she finds herself in. Mahit not only finds that her predecessor Yskandr Aghavn was most likely murdered under mysterious circumstances and with unclear motive, but also quickly realises that she couldn’t possibly find a ‘better’ time for her entrance, as she from the onset finds herself embroiled in the looming Teixcalaanli succession crisis and the threat of a civil war. His brilliance the reigning emperor of all Teixcalaan, Six Direction, is old and sickly, without a direct natural heir. Ten-years-old Eight Antidote, emperor’s ninety-percent clone and chosen successor, is too young to rule himself, so Six Direction nominates two regents – his ‘crèchesib’, minister of the judiciary Eight Loop and the scion of an influential merchant family Thirty Larkspur – to rule as co-emperors until such a time as his clone comes of age and ascends the throne.
One cannot help but notice that Arkady Martine’s debut novel bears an uncanny resemblance to Ann Leckie’s 'Imperial Radch' trilogy.
As it is pretty much obligatory in such a situation, the custodians promptly forget about their oath, take advantage of emperor’s ill health as well as heir apparent’s immaturity, and make their own bids for the throne – with Eight Loop questioning the legality of the newly-launched military campaign, Thirty Larkspur encouraging street protests and riots while using the ensuing chaos to declare himself the new emperor, and with the third player, yaotlek (high-ranking military commander) One Lightning, entering the stage and using Teixcalaanli invasion troops to occupy Imperial City and launch an outright coup attempt.
And, as one thinks that the situation could not possibly get any more complicated or worse, Teixcalaan is mounting a new expansion war – first in a generation – with Lsel Station situated directly in the way of the planned offensive and thus earmarked as the next target for annexation.
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Ever-expanding galactic empire with succession problems and political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court, self-aware city controlled by A.I., human clones a commonplace part of society, compound personal names made of numeric and noun part, the storyline intertwined with poetry references – one cannot help but notice that Arkady Martine’s debut novel bears an uncanny resemblance to, and was - more likely than not - inspired by, Ann Leckie’s trilogy Imperial Radch. OK, it were self-aware spaceships and space stations instead of a city in Ann Leckie’s novels and she used songs rather that poetry as an integral part of the plot, but that is exactly what you would do – short of resorting to bare-faced plagiarism – if you would want to write something similar yet try and avoid being accused of outright lifting someone else’s work, and if the nearly-identical structure of characters’ names used by both authors e.g. One Esk Nineteen, One Amaat, Kalr Five (Leckie) and One Lightning, Three Seagrass, Ten Pearl (Martine) is just a mere chance, I will eat the dust jacket of the reviewed novel.
Also, call me a conspiracy theorist, but is it only a coincidence that the book bears an endorsement by nobody else but Ann Leckie herself, or is she actually an acquaintance of Arkady Martine and gave her some tips on how to write this novel – which would explain the similarities?
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Without giving too much away, in the end, Mahit proves herself a worthy inheritor of the ambassador imago-line, as she – despite of her obvious handicaps of both being an uncultured ‘barbarian’ in the heart of the Teixcalaanli empire and having a faulty imago-machine – lightly treads through the foul deceptions, vile intrigues and complex politics of the Teixcalaanli imperial court and with the help of the ministerial liaison Three Seagrass along with her childhood friend Twelve Azalea and under the guiding hand of the powerful imperial advisor Nineteen Adze, manages to not only survive but, against all the odds, outwit her foes, prevent the impending Teixcalaanli civil war and above all, preserve freedom of her home – Lsel Station.