A Desolation Called Peace

"I guess this is space opera, about interplanetary conflict and first contact, not necessarily in that order. The Teixcalaanli Empire encounters a superior alien threat and Three Seagrass, the protagonist from the previous book, is brought in to try and communicate with them. She insists on getting the help of her friend, Ambassador Mahit Dzmare, hoping to stop a war. But there are factions within the empire who would like war or would find it quite useful for their careers, so there are a lot of conflicting and murky motives on display. I don’t think you need to read Empire to enjoy Peace ; in fact, not all of the judges had, since it was different group of readers. I’d read it, but that’s a few years ago now and I’ll try and read them back-to-back before the final meeting. You need to know that Mahit’s predecessor as ambassador died in mysterious circumstances and that she has an incomplete back up of him in her mind. The Teixcalaanli emperor, Six Direction, was also under attack and now Nineteen Adze has taken over the position. But there’s an eleven-year-old partial clone of Six who is taking an interest in imperial events and make possibly end up making it worse. It’s a rich brew of characters and conspiracy, but there is a useful glossary at the back, which I confess I did use as I’m rubbish with names. It’ll be up to the judges whether they feel it stands alone or is the second half of a single novel. We’ll see!"