Arkady Martine

Last updated

AnnaLinden Weller
Born (1985-04-19) April 19, 1985 (age 40)
New York City, U.S.
Pen nameArkady Martine
OccupationAuthor, historian
Education
Genre Speculative fiction
Website
www.arkadymartine.net OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

AnnaLinden Weller (born April 19, 1985), [1] better known under the pen name Arkady Martine (Ar-KAYdee MarTEEN), [2] is an American author of science fiction literature. Her first novels A Memory Called Empire (2019) and A Desolation Called Peace (2021), which form the Teixcalaan series, each won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Contents

Personal life

Weller was born and grew up in New York City. [1] Her parents are classical musicians of Russian Jewish heritage: her mother is a professor of violin at the Juilliard School, and her father played for the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. [1] She has described herself as an "assimilated American Jew" [3] [4] and noted that, in the 1930s, Jews who moved to the United States from Europe "were basically playing classical music and inventing the Anglophone discipline of science fiction at the same time". [1]

Weller lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her wife, author Vivian Shaw. [1]

Academic career

Weller obtained a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies from the University of Chicago in 2007; a Master of Studies in classical Armenian studies from the University of Oxford in 2013; and a Ph.D. in medieval Byzantine, global, and comparative history from Rutgers University in 2014. [1] Her dissertation was titled "Imagining Pre-Modern Empire: Byzantine Imperial Agents Outside the Metropole". She was a visiting assistant professor of history at St. Thomas University from 2014 to 2015, and she was a postdoctoral researcher at Uppsala University from 2015 to 2017. She has published works on the topic of Byzantine and medieval Armenian history. [5]

Fiction writing

Writing as Arkady Martine, Weller has been publishing science fiction since 2012. [1] [6]

A Memory Called Empire

Martine's first novel, A Memory Called Empire (2019), begins her Teixcalaan series. [1] The novel is set in a future where the Teixcalaanli empire governs most of human space, and it is about to absorb Lsel (apparently from Armenian lsel, 'listen'), an independent mining station. The Lsel ambassador Mahit Dzmare is sent to the imperial capital to prevent this absorption, and she finds herself embroiled in the empire's succession crisis. Martine said that the book was in many respects a fictional version of her postdoctoral research about Byzantine imperialism on the frontier with Armenia in the 11th century, particularly the annexation of the Kingdom of Ani. [3]

On The Verge website, Andrew Liptak praised the novel as a "brilliant blend of cyberpunk, space opera, and political thriller", highlighting Martine's characterization and worldbuilding. [7] In Locus magazine, Russell Letson appreciated the novel's "absorbing and sometimes challenging blend of intrigue and anthropological imagination", as well as its sense of humor. [8] Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews magazines both gave the novel a starred review, noting the facility with which Martine brought the worlds of her "gorgeously crafted diplomatic space opera" to life, [9] and comparing Martine's novel to the fiction of Ann Leckie and Yoon Ha Lee. [10]

A Desolation Called Peace

The second novel in the Teixcalaan series, A Desolation Called Peace was first published in 2021. It picks up several months after the events in A Memory Called Empire. Mahit has returned to Lsel station; Three Seagrass has received a promotion, but she is bored on Teixcalaan; and the new emperor has assumed the throne. Mahit is trying to process the events in the previous novel, when she is suddenly thrown into a series of political intrigues; these intrigues compel her to leave Lsel Station alongside Three Seagrass, who arrives at the station to escort Mahit to a remote region of space. Their mission is to attempt to communicate with a species of incomprehensible aliens to prevent a catastrophic war. Meanwhile, on Teixcalaan, political schemes are brewing, and the young heir to the imperial throne plays a central role. [11]

Awards and nominations

Awards and honors
YearWorkAwardCategoryResultRef.
2019"The Hydraulic Emperor" WSFA Small Press Award Finalist [12]
A Memory Called Empire Dragon Award Science Fiction NovelNominated [13]
Nebula Award Novel Finalist [14]
2020 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlisted [15]
Compton Crook Award Won [16]
Hugo Award Novel Won [17]
Locus Award First Novel Finalist [18]
2021 A Desolation Called Peace BSFA Award Novel Finalist [19]
Dragon Award Best Science Fiction NovelNominated [20]
Nebula Award Novel Finalist [21]
2022 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlisted [22]
Hugo Award Novel Won [23]
Lambda Literary Award Speculative Fiction Finalist [24]
Locus Award Science Fiction Novel Won [25]
2024 Rose/House Hugo Award Novella Finalist [26]
Locus Award Novella Finalist [27]
"Three Faces of a Beheading" Shirley Jackson Award Short FictionWon [28]
2025 Hugo Award Short Story Finalist [29]
Locus Award Short Story Finalist [30]

Bibliography

Teixcalaan series

Short fiction

Novella

Short stories

  • "Lace Downstairs" (2012)
  • "Nothing Must Be Wasted" (2014)
  • "Adjuva" (2015)
  • "City of Salt" (2015)
  • "When the Fall Is All That's Left" (2015)
  • "How the God Auzh-Aravik Brought Order to the World Outside the World" (2016)
  • "'Contra Gravitatem (Vita Genevievis)'" (2016)
  • "All the Colors You Thought Were Kings" (2016)
  • "Ekphrasis" (2016)
  • "Ruin Marble" (2017)
  • "The Hydraulic Emperor" (2018)
  • "Object-Oriented" (2018)
  • "Just a Fire" (as by A. Martine) (2018)
  • "Faux Ami" (as by A. Martine) (2019)
  • "Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within" (2019)
  • "Life and a Day" (as by A. Martine) (2019)
  • "A Desolation Called Peace" (excerpt) (2020)
  • "A Being Together Amongst Strangers" (2020)
  • "Three Faces of a Beheading", Uncanny Magazine, 2024

Poetry

Nonfiction

Reviews

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Arkady Martine: Histories of Power". Locus . 20 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  2. "Arkady Martine discusses A DESOLATION CALLED PEACE". 11 March 2021 via YouTube.
  3. 1 2 Phin, Vanessa Rose (25 February 2019). "An Interview with Arkady Martine". Strange Horizons . Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  4. "the speech I gave at the 2020 Hugo Awards". Arkady Martine. 1 August 2020. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  5. Weller, AnnaLinden. "Curriculum Vitae". Uppsala University . Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  6. Arkady Martine at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  7. Liptak, Andrew (18 May 2019). "A Memory Called Empire is a brilliant blend of cyberpunk, space opera, and political thriller". The Verge . Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  8. Russell, Letson (7 May 2019). "A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine". Locus . Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  9. "A Memory Called Empire". Publishers Weekly . 19 November 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  10. "A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine". Kirkus Reviews . 21 January 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  11. "Adrienne Martini and Russell Letson Review A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine". Locus . 26 March 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  12. "Mohlere Wins 2019 WSFA Small Press Award". Locus. 20 October 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  13. "2019 Dragon Awards Winners". Locus. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  14. "2019 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  15. "The Old Drift Wins Clarke Award". Locus. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  16. "Martine Wins Compton Crook Award". Locus. 13 April 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  17. "Announcing the 2020 Hugo Award Winners". Tor.com. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  18. "2020 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  19. "2021 BSFA Award Winners". Locus. 18 April 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  20. "2021 Dragon Awards Winners". Locus. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  21. "2021 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  22. "Giles Wins Clarke Award". Locus. 26 October 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  23. "2022 Hugo, Astounding, and Lodestar Awards Winners". Locus. 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  24. "24th Annual Lambda Awards Finalists". Locus. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  25. "2022 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  26. "Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards Winners". Locus. 11 August 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  27. "2024 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. 22 June 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  28. "2024 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners". Locus. 21 July 2025. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  29. "2025 Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards Winners". Locus. 16 August 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  30. "2025 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. 21 June 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.