Incredibly strong debut about an ambassodor from a tiny independant mining station sent to the heart of a great empire where she discovers that her predecessor was murdered, there is a potential conflict of succession and calls for a war of expansion. She has to struggle with her own affinity for the culture of the empire and the danger it represents as an all-devouring beast. I can't imagine why the fraught and tangled idea of falling in love with the culture of an evil empire would be so appealing in this day and age, particularly from the point of view of a post-colonial country whpse native language has been relegated to fringe status in daily life and whose native culture has mingled with imperial cultur to create something distinct and not altogether untroubled. If you enjoyed Ann Leckie's thoughtful and exciting explorations of the ideas of empire and colonialism, you'll very much like this.