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dsrtao_Matter_, Iain M. Banks
It's an onion. There are layers of control, layers of indirection, growth rings and literal worlds-within-worlds. A kingdom is at stake; also a family, also a civilization or two. Despite a hundred alien names, the main characters are distinct and easy to track as they move around, some in orbits and some on pinball-like trajectories, all headed inexorably towards a climactic battle fought on multiple levels all at once, in which the personal and the vast collide.
And it's a good story.
It's an onion. There are layers of control, layers of indirection, growth rings and literal worlds-within-worlds. A kingdom is at stake; also a family, also a civilization or two. Despite a hundred alien names, the main characters are distinct and easy to track as they move around, some in orbits and some on pinball-like trajectories, all headed inexorably towards a climactic battle fought on multiple levels all at once, in which the personal and the vast collide.
And it's a good story.
