# A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

5 Hacker News commenters recommended A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for thoughtful worldbuilding about societies disrupted by new technology and for its distinctive take on science fiction. One critic found it less engaging than others did.

## Why people recommend it

- Thoughtful worldbuilding about technological disruption (2 comments): "incredibly thoughtful depictions of societies on the verge of disruption from new technology" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47294161)) "both of these are a fairly interesting take on scifi worldbuilding" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46396636))
- Strongly recommended as excellent and distinctive (2 comments): "These are all excellent books, each of which has something different to recommend them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48930027)) "Heartily recommend in fact." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48089141))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-hail-mary.md): 117 recommend
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division.md): 98 recommend
- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight.md): 96 recommend
- [Dune by Frank Herbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune.md): 82 recommend
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando.md): 71 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250186447?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781250186447) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine", https://hackerapproved.com/p/a-memory-called-empire/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).