And last, Mahit develops a sexual interest in Three Seagrass, her liaison and junior staff member. Next, I’m a bit surprised that Mahit has only a single liaison for staff-considering her position and the political unrest, it seems she ought to have a security force, at least. So, either I’ve misunderstood the timeline or else this is just unexplained. I thought maybe the implant had picked up some of the dead Yskander’s memories when Mahit viewed his preserved body, but given later events, this doesn’t seem likely.
The implant Mahit is given on the Station is fifteen years out of date, but after it fails, she experiences flashes of memory that seem more recent. On the less positive side, I had an issue with the imago timeline. This signals where the next book might lead. There are shocks and speed bumps, of course, but Mahit manages to sort out the issues, and at the end of the book is headed back to Lsel Station, apparently to report to the Council and confront Councilors Darj Tarats and Aknel Amnardbat about the sabotaged imago. There’s a solid political structure and workable economics underlying the empire versus the independent mining stations, and notable cultural differences between the practical Lsel Station and the Empire, which seems highly literate and given to layered, nuanced communications framed in poetic verse. This is an impressive space opera intrigue, strongly plotted, with highly complex world building and attractive, well-developed characters. Is there a way Mahit can sort through the mess, straighten out her imago and save Lsel Station from annexation? Mahit’s imago fails, apparently because of sabotage from back home, and she receives frightening messages that Lsel Station pilots have encountered alien spacecraft-apparently the leading edge of some other inimical space empire. With the help of Three Seagrass and her friend Twelve Azalea, Mahit threads her way through the politics, where it becomes clear Yskander made inappropriate deals with the Emperor Six Direction, plus political heavyweights in the succession fight, Minister Nineteen Adze, opposition leader Thirty Larkspur and General One Lightning.
Besides that, the previous ambassador Yskander Aghvan has apparently been assassinated, and Mahit and her liaison Three Seagrass seem to be next on the list. When she arrives, she finds political unrest related to the Emperor’s impending death and a planned expansion war that will annex Lsel Station. She has been dispatched in haste, and her imago implant holding the memories of her predecessor is hastily installed and out of date. Mahit Dzmare is the new ambassador from Lsel Station to the multi-system Teixcalaani Empire. It was published by Tor on 26 March 2019 and runs 472 pages. It is apparently Martine’s debut novel, and is listed as #1 in this series, suggesting we’ll see more on the same topic. This science fiction novel is a finalist for the 2019 Nebula Award.
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