The transhumanism treatment was interesting and well done, might have carried the book for me more than the plot even.

A year and change ago, reading the Terra Ignota tetralogy, watching Foundation S1 and reading the Teixcalaan duology got me really fed up with reading about empires and emperors and the equivalence of both. I was happy to discover that, even though it does have an empire and an emperor in important roles, this book didn't hit the same notes at all.

(I'd like to have more to say about it, but I listened to this and the sequel on low spoons/bad brain days.)