A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine

Arkady Martine's debut novel is an excellent read. Her world-building skills are superb, to say the least. The Texicalaanli empire and the political machinations surrounding it make us realize the permanence of a particular type of politics in human affairs. The Empire's hunger to swallow everything around it resonates with the actions of empires long gone, as well as the present ones. The relations of the Texicalaanli with the outsiders are beautifully brought out by Martine. Their cities, large enough to occupy an entire planet, are run by AI. A lot of the themes in the novel feel very real and current. The permissions to immigrate, the resource extraction from the far-off stations, the omnipresent AI and a lot more.

In the end it suffices to say that this novel is a welcome addition to the genre of sci-fi.