Arkady Martine Teixcalaan Signed 1st Ed Set

🚀 A Memory Called Empire & A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (Tor, 2019/2021) — Signed and numbered limited first editions of both volumes in the Hugo Award-winning Teixcalaan duology. Copy #197, with matching limitation numbers across both books.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: Arkady Martine (pen name of AnnaLinden Weller, born 1985)
• Publisher: Tor (London), an imprint of Pan Macmillan
• Year: 2019 (A Memory Called Empire) / 2021 (A Desolation Called Peace) — First Editions
• Format: Hardcover in dust jackets, with removable archival sleeves
• Limitation: #197 of 200 (Memory) and #197 of 300 (Desolation) — matching numbers
• Signature: Both signed by the author in metallic gold ink on the limitation page
• ISBN: 978-1-5290-0157-0 / 978-1-5290-0162-4
• Condition: Both volumes in excellent condition (see full report below)

THE STORY

The Teixcalaan duology follows Mahit Dzmare, the young ambassador of a small, independent space station, as she is sent to the heart of the vast Teixcalaanli Empire — a civilization that absorbs other cultures through language, poetry, and bureaucratic assimilation. In A Memory Called Empire, she must solve the murder of her predecessor while navigating imperial court politics. In A Desolation Called Peace, the stakes expand to first contact with a genuinely alien civilization that doesn’t share any frame of reference with the Empire.

Martine draws on her background as a historian of the Byzantine Empire to build a space opera grounded in real imperial dynamics — the tension between cultural absorption and resistance, the weight of inherited memory, and the politics of language itself. Both novels won the Hugo Award for Best Novel (2020 and 2022), a rare distinction for both volumes of a duology.

THIS EDITION

These are the UK first editions published by Tor (London) / Pan Macmillan. Each book contains a dedicated limitation page where the author hand-numbered and signed in metallic gold ink. A Memory Called Empire was limited to 200 signed copies; A Desolation Called Peace was limited to 300. Both carry ISBNs from the Pan Macmillan imprint (978-1-5290-0157-0 and 978-1-5290-0162-4). The copyright pages credit AnnaLinden Weller — Martine’s real name — with printing by CPI Group (UK) Ltd.

COVER ART

The dust jacket illustrations are by Jaime Jones, whose artwork spans both volumes with a consistent visual language. A Memory Called Empire features a dark, atmospheric cover with an intricate metallic architectural structure in gold and brass tones, suggesting the imperial grandeur of Teixcala. A Desolation Called Peace depicts a cosmic scene with abstract geometric structures in vibrant blues and oranges against a deep space backdrop, with a solitary figure observing a vast alien phenomenon. The Arthur C. Clarke Award sticker is present on the Desolation dust jacket. The back covers feature interior artwork along with blurbs from Ann Leckie, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and other prominent science fiction authors. The naked hardcover boards beneath are dark charcoal with gold foil-stamped titles and the Tor logo on the spines.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Both novels won the Hugo Award for Best Novel — one of only a handful of duologies where both volumes received the genre’s highest honor
• A Memory Called Empire also won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Locus Award for Best First Novel
• A Desolation Called Peace won the 2022 Arthur C. Clarke Award (sticker present on the dust jacket)
• Limited signed numbered first editions in this Tor/Pan Macmillan format are uncommon on the market
• Matching numbers (#197) across both volumes makes this a true collector’s set

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? UK first editions published by Tor (London) / Pan Macmillan, 2019 and 2021. Each is a signed and numbered limited edition — #197 of 200 (Memory) and #197 of 300 (Desolation).

Are both books signed? Yes. Both are signed by Arkady Martine in metallic gold ink on the limitation page, alongside the hand-numbered limitation.

Are the dust jackets included? Yes. Both dust jackets are present and protected in removable archival sleeves. The hardcover boards beneath are also in excellent condition.

FOR COLLECTORS

Matching limitation numbers across both volumes of a Hugo-winning duology are uncommon. These UK first editions with their Pan Macmillan ISBNs, Jaime Jones dust jacket art, and gold-ink signatures on dedicated limitation pages represent a clean, complete collector’s set.

Both dust jackets are protected in removable archival sleeves.

Will ship promptly, carefully packaged, adult signature required upon delivery along with insurance for risk-free confidence.

HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-07-03

1 in stock