A Memory Called Empire

This book reminded me of a darker version of The Goblin Emperor -- a lot more violence, but still with a protagonist doing their best to try to make the world a better place with the power they've been given. It's very much a spiritual inheritor of Cherryh's Foreigner novels, where two extremely different cultures must learn how to co-exist peacefully despite the immense cultural chasm.

This was first on my Hugo ballot for Best Novel. I absolutely loved the vivid, inventive worldbuilding in it, and the well-developed characters.