I might as well cross-post the review around...

In short? I really like this book, which has Politics, Ultratech, Poetry, and a beautiful (and snobby) Empire. It is a book that is *especially* "in conversation with," as the fancy term goes...
• C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner series.
• Ancillary Justice and sequels.
• The Goblin Emperor.
• Aliette de Bodard's Universe of Xuya stories.

It was not quite the book I was expecting, but the book I was expecting was a lot lighter on the witty quips and outright funny bits that I read to my spouse and offspring from time to time, so this one is very good for those bits. (And also there were two places where I cried. *sniffle*)

Anyway, if you like any of the above books -- and especially if your tastes include all of them -- then you'll probably like this one as well.

( Perhaps that is a little too cryptic. Minor spoilers ahead. )