The Citadel of Weeping Pearls

I’ve only read a couple of stories set in the Xuya universe, but I know that there’s always one more to pick up when I’m in the mood and it’ll be a good time. And this one just so happened to be the right one for more when I was feeling too disinterested with reading. I’m not sure how to categorize this story. This is a space opera, with time travel elements, with two empires on the brink of war - and we do get to see all the tension in the mind of the Empress as well as her advisors just when they are on the cusp of making decisions that will decide their future - but ultimately this is a story about grief and loneliness and mothers and daughters. In the story of the Empress and her eldest daughter Bright Princess, the story of her younger daughter Thousand Heart with her mind ship daughter The Turtle’s Golden Claw, the story of the engineer Diem Huong and her long lost mother - we see how the realities of belonging to the empire have affected their relationships; how a mother grieves the loss of her child but cannot completely regret her decision because she did what she thought was best for the empire; how a daughter resents her mother for forcing her will upon her, and thereby feeling the same resentment towards her own unwanted daughter; how a sister is mired in her loneliness and grief due to the strife between her mother and elder sister; how a helpless daughter has waited for decades just to find a way back to her mother in the past - all their tales converge to give us a story full of reflections and introspection, with a touch of sadness. And the author manages to capture all this feeling very delicately, through her exquisite writing. Aliette de Bodard is definitely one of my favorite authors, especially for creating worlds that feel so vibrant and for characters who are fully fleshed and deep, regardless of their page time. I have also really come to enjoy the brilliance of her craft in creating stories in the short format so effectively, and I can’t wait to delve more into this universe.

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls is a novella set in Aliette de Bodard’s Xuya Universe, which is like a set of stories set within the same world and setting, but with different protagonists and plotlines. This can be read independently on its own, but there are various reading orders and recommendations on the author’s website. What I liked the most about this particular novella is that it’s set in the heart of the empire and concerns court politics. In particular, The Bright Princess Ngoc Minh who disappeared with her court, The Citadel of Weeping Pearls. War is brewing and the Empress needs the Citadel’s weapons. The Dai Viet space empire is very fascinating and while so expansive there are many stories to tell, Aliette de Bodard manages to keep it personal somehow. Family is a very important theme here, especially the bonds between women. Mother-daughter and sisterly relationships are really the center of the novella and the author explores it deftly and with such incredible skill. Aliette de Bodard has written many short stories and a few novellas set in the Xuya Universe and I will definitely be reading most, if not all of them, if I can.