To me this book is very much like Dune and I hope it will get the same kind of recognition. It is the same kind of story somehow. It is as philosophical, military, epic, sad and filled with action as Dune. 
 I gave up trying to comment on the book as I read it because of the seer number of things I wanted to comment on as I read. Some pages has two or three highlights in my kindle version, and I never highlight while reading. As you can probably see the language is really great and there are some quite quotable quotes in there. To mention one, the emperor says: "I didn't get where I am by having reasonable goals" 
 Gender, music, songs, memory, identity, faith, destiny and moral choices are all strong themes throughout the book. And it helps make it a really crunchy and interesting read. 
 The ending very much remind me of Dune as well, but I can hardly talk about that without spoiling it. I will just say that I will be recommending this and nominating it where-ever I get the chance. 
 I will not write more right now other than: I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who like epic science fiction of the kind that are both very personal and bigger than life. I hope you read it and enjoy it. 
 Read more of my thoughts about the book: http://wp.me/p40HVI-4Y