Friday Friyay: 'A Memory Called Empire' (Teixcalaan #1) by Arkady Martine

Happy Friday! I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. finally requested some days off, which means I've been enjoying sofa time and not doing anything this week. I spent Christmas at my mom's, which was nice, and now I'm glorying in not having anything to do. I only took off 5 days this year and I'm now realising that's not enough, because I really needed these days of decompressing and calm. One of the books I'm reading this weekend is A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine! I've wanted to read this book for ages and my sister gifted it to me for Christmas, so now I can dive in! 

Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.

Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.

Book Beginnings is at home on Rose City Reader, hosted by Gilion Dumas, and Friday 56 at Freda's Voice, hosted by Freda. Freda is taking a break at the moment, but we're keeping the spirit going! I'll also be joining the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. All quotes are taken from an ARC and may be different in the published book.

BB:

'Prelude

In Teixcalaan, these things are ceaseless: star-charts and disembarkments.

Chapter 1

And from behind the curve of the large gaseous planet at coordinate B5682.76R1, the Emperor Twelve Solar-Flare arose on the bow of her ship, and she was a radiant blaze flooding all of the void.' p.1

Ok, so I love both of these openings. First of all, the word ceaseless is hitting me in a really nice way, I like it more than endless, which she also could have used. And I am also very much here for a female emperor, even if the practice of empire is wrong. 

F56:

'"Insatiably curious and often in large amounts of trouble, especially if it involves interesting forensics or peculiar medical  practices," Three Seagrass said.' p.56

I think this is about our main character, Mahit, which means I already adore them. I enjoy a character that has niche interests and is willing to get into trouble just to find out more. I think I'm actually going to dive into this book straight after posting this xD

BBH:

This week's question comes from Billy himself:

Did you exchange gifts for Christmas with other book lovers?

Technically no? I would say many members of my family enjoy reading but it is a whole bit lower on their priority list than it is on mine, so I don't know if they would qualify themselves as book lovers. But they do know I'm a book lover, hence why I did receive a book or two for Christmas! And I am also planning on gifting a book to my mum, Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. We spoke about it a bit while I was visiting her and I think she enjoyed it, so I'm looking for the German translation now.

And that's it for me this week? What are you reading?