I finished reading this a few days ago and held off on writing down anything about until I had a chance to reflect on its brilliance. 
 Now, reflection over, and I don't really know what to say about it. So I'll start talking about something else and see where it goes. 
 The other night our neighbors were having a party. A trio of nurses live there, one bought the house and rents rooms to a couple of others. So it was 20 something degrees F and pretty chilly out there, if I do say so myself. It was pretty late, maybe one a.m. and I took our Chihuahua out. He really struggles with the whole going outside thing. We've got his to piss out there at least. But he'll shit wherever he damn well pleases - and he is not pleased with shitting outdoors. 
 I mean, I wouldn't be thrilled with it either, if it were me, but it still pisses me off. 
 Anyway, it was late, and cold. I wrapped myself up in a heavy blanket and took Gus outside (He tends to sneak off about 3 a.m. to do his unmentionables while we're all sleeping) to try to give him one more go at being a good boy before we turn in for the night. The neighbor's party was in full swing, and they had built this huge bonfire (and by huge, I mean about three feet high) and people were all standing around the fire, some were walking in and out of the sliding-glass door where, I'd imagine, the more temperate climate was. My dog was off in our yard somewhere, not shitting. 
 They were really, really loud. All the lights were off at our place, and I was sitting there at the bottom of our deck steps trying to look at the stars (cold nights make for better viewing when it's clear). I'd just finished reading this novel, which is why I was up so late, and I was trying to process my feelings about it. 
 I knew I liked it, alot. What I didn't know is if I thought it was historically amazing, or just really good. There was this girl around that bonfire, probably about 200 feet from me, drunk as hell, and ranting about something. I listened in, because she was pretty passionate about whatever it was she was talking about. 
 ... And she is such a bitch. I hate that f**king bitch. He is so sweet though, and he loves his wife so much. But goddamn. I hate that bitch so much. 
 I had no other context for what she was going on about. I listed for a few more minutes while by stupid dog wandered around the yard and didn't take a crap. But she was stuck in a loop, repeating herself. Not adding anything new. Occasionally one of her friends would grunt an affirmation for her to continue, but nothing else really was forthcoming. 
 I really wanted to know more though. I just couldn't put together a reasonable story with the info I had in front of me. It was driving me bonkers. But eventually, Gus came back and my time adventure was over. 
 It did freak me out how much I wanted to keep hearing about this story though. And it reminded me of a thing I'd heard from somewhere about how telling a story is really about withholding information. It's a lesson I think I knew anyway, but this was proof of it, right in front of me. I just had to know more. 
 Well, I didn't have to know more, because I was just fine once I went inside. But that feeling that I had on my steps was an almost perfect analogue to how I felt while reading this book. Every page was like that for me. I often had very little idea about what was going on, but it was always promising me that something really interesting was going on in there. 
 And the story, when I think about, isn't about anything unique. But it is incredible to me how well crafted it is. It picks up not long after the first book ended and continues with the tale. It's extremely good. Breq might be one of the best characters I've ever read about. I think the author has mentioned this is a trilogy elsewhere, but I believe I'll read books in this series as long as Ann Leckie feels like writing them. No questions asked.