(though i wonder if they were as horny about it — but also i just realised the name's similar with Darj Tarat, and seems it's not a coincidence: Petros Getadarj was Armenian, and Lsel's language (or at least phonitactics) are inspired by Armenian according to Martine's short language description at the end of the book!)
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stuebinm quoted A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever fallen in love with a culture that was devouring their own (And for Grigor Pehlavuni and Petros Getadarj, across the centuries.)
— A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (Page 7)
this is such a good dedication for this book
stuebinm quoted A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
The problem with sending messages was that people responded to them, which meant one had to write more messages in reply.
— A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (Page 130)
stuebinm reviewed UTOPIALES 2019 by Jo Walton
Content warning thoughts on teixcalaanli succession laws
on the other hand, they claim to have been a stable empire for multiple thousands of years, so ig they have some way of dealing with that without too much instability and a year of five (or more) emperors every hundred years or so …
stuebinm commented on A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Content warning thoughts on teixcalaanli succession laws
okay, so, i've not really thought about this before, but apparently one can become Emperor by being simply acclaimed by … one's soldiers? the people in general? (i don't think the protesters in plaza central seven are meant to be military?)
and sure, the general expectation is that this'll work out, and that one has enough military prestige that one either actually becomes emperor (is there any body deciding if an emperor is 'official'? i don't think one is mentioned?) or is defeated by whoever currently holds power.
… but like, this feels weird? like it feels like the lead-up to a crisis-of-the-3rd-century style empire fragmentation once the yaotleklim realise they can just have themselves be acclaimed emperor and try to take power, and that's an accepted mode to become the legitimate ruler that's not seen as even slightly iffy; Nineteen Adze says it's not even illegal to try. Like does this state just periodically fragment itself when multiple emperors can't defeat each other?
stuebinm commented on A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Content warning Teixcalaanli reaction to imagos
i like how Twelve Azalea's immediate reaction is to assume the dead person takes over entirely. A neat bit to show how past-obsessed his culture is (& also a hint for later, of course)
stuebinm commented on A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Content warning Nineteen Adze's epiphet
"whose gracious presence illuminates the room like the edgeshine of a knife"
turns out an adze is a cutting tool, so this isn't just a statement about her, it's also a pun, and i never realised before today
perhaps i should look up more of the less-obvious names? i bet there's more things like this
stuebinm started reading A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous …
stuebinm reviewed UTOPIALES 2019 by Jo Walton
Une faute de goût (Christian Léourier)
This one's fun, and not too long. Also I'm jelous of the food now (it's about an alien species which mainly communicates through things humans can only perceive as taste, so 'talking' means 'creating elaborate dishes')
but also it ends so sad, and unrevokable? i like it though
stuebinm started reading UTOPIALES 2019 by Jo Walton
@jana oh hm, wanted to start reading sth else, but now i'm kinda tempted to reread this again just so we can have conversations about it as we read?
stuebinm reviewed Le tour du monde en 80 jours by Jules Verne
somewhat disconnected thoughts (but i thought i'd try to write an actual review)
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought! It's a fun adventure story, and I think probably fits in a lot better with other 19th century adventure stories than it does with other science-fiction of the time, though it's also not as if they were too distinct back then. But while it does obviously focus on technology and how it has changed (and continues to change) the world, it's definitely meant as a realistic, contemporary (published as a serial in 1872, afaict with the dates in the story roughly matching with actual dates) story — e.g. at particularly desperate moment the idea of crossing an ocean by balloon shows up, but is dismissed immediately as undoable.
Definitely the best parts are when Verne pokes fun at the whole British-Empire-gentlemen culture and its absurdities. It's not in any way anti-imperialist, but ig it's refreshing to read this sentiment in …
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought! It's a fun adventure story, and I think probably fits in a lot better with other 19th century adventure stories than it does with other science-fiction of the time, though it's also not as if they were too distinct back then. But while it does obviously focus on technology and how it has changed (and continues to change) the world, it's definitely meant as a realistic, contemporary (published as a serial in 1872, afaict with the dates in the story roughly matching with actual dates) story — e.g. at particularly desperate moment the idea of crossing an ocean by balloon shows up, but is dismissed immediately as undoable.
Definitely the best parts are when Verne pokes fun at the whole British-Empire-gentlemen culture and its absurdities. It's not in any way anti-imperialist, but ig it's refreshing to read this sentiment in "the other way", given how embedded making fun of frenchness often is in english culture and writing?
(also, since at some point i got asked: the voyage in the book is fictional, but apparently its popularity led to people actually trying this, and Nellie Bly did it in 72 days in 1890)
Oh also it's a product of its times, so expect racism and such, but tbh i have read much, much worse from this period, and in most of the chapters it's easy enough to ignore.