A Deepness in the Sky

It took me around 2/3 of the book to get involved in this story, where, once things settle down at the start, nothing much happens, other than fairly minor political maneuvering. Fortunately the final third picks up the pace and is more involving, but, boy, was it hard watching the page percentage creep up before getting to that point.

If you liked Fire Upon the Deep, this loosely connected prequel is probably worth reading, however I certainly wouldn't recommend jumping straight into the series here.