A Memory Called Empire

The author is extremely good in conveying the psychological and sociological complexity of human interaction: about all the dialogues were absolutely fascinating. The writing is great, too, and so are many of the characters.
What is less riveting is the rhythm (so, so very slow, eventually growing boring) and the very low scifi-ness (let's be honest, it's actually a very good book about a foreign envoy to the imperial Chinese/Japanese court, disguised very poorly with a lame scifi background which is actually less evolved technologically, in many ways, than our present).