15 new Fantasy and Science Fiction books to read in 2021
By Daniel Roman
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (March 2)
Arkady Martine‘s breakout debut novel, A Memory Called Empire, made huge waves in the science fiction community when it came out in 2019. Though it was only Martine’s first novel, it went on to win the Hugo award for Best Novel that year. So of course, anticipation has been sky high for Empire‘s sequel, A Desolation Called Peace.
The first novel followed an ambassador from an independent mining station named Mahit Dzmare, who arrives at the heart of the Teixcalaani Empire only to find that the previous ambassador was murdered. To make things worse, that same ambassador also made promises to the Teixcalaani Emperor that they were unsanctioned to make, so it falls to Mahit to navigate this precarious situation while uncovering the truth about her predecessor’s demise. Complicating things even farther is the intriguing nature of the Teixcalaani Empire itself, which draws Mahit in ever deeper.
In Martine’s own words, “It’s House of Cards in space. It’s about what happens with people who get assimilated into an empire, and about loving things that maybe you shouldn’t love.”
A Desolation Called Peace sounds like it’s going to be even more expansive and epic than Empire. The synopsis:
"An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options. In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass—still reeling from the recent upheaval in the Empire—face the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity. Their failure will guarantee millions of deaths in an endless war. Their success might prevent Teixcalaan’s destruction—and allow the empire to continue its rapacious expansion. Or it might create something far stranger . . ."
A Desolation Called Peace is due out on March 2 from Tor Books.