I was so relieved that I liked this book. It's never easy to read a colleague's stuff and have to choke it down. I'm predominantly a fantasy reader - but I've earned my spurs reading Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, McCaffrey, Clarke, etc. - I'm no stranger to space and robots. Let there be no doubt - this is some A+ crunchy nerd stuff here.The world building in this book is, quite frankly, excellent. The level of thought Dubeau has put into every part of Capek society - how it grew from a future human civilization, how the different 'families' of robots interrelate, how the central conflict is spawned from an AI split in philosophy? That's not something you can casually toss out - or execute easily. Here it feels completely natural and intuitive. When you can make an entire race of sentient robots feel natural and intuitive - that is a rare gift. The 'process porn' alone - oh man. The sequence of Dagir's body and core faculties being built in the first act - that could have been 3 times as long and I would have kept lapping it up. The moments where the book delves into a new feature of Capek society or capability - or just the technical 'HOW DO' of it all are delicious nuggets of thought chow. And it's never -feels- like an info dump! Maybe because you just want to know more and more about how the Capeks function? But I found myself reading less for the overarching plot and more for the guided tour of these fascinating robots/aliens. There's also some great (but quiet) thoughts on identity and gender that were very nice.Characterization is also strong - Dagir is the best, of course. Dubeau seems to have an interesting bent for writing devoted, protective, skilled female characters? Her group of allies are freaking great - I hated that so little of the book's runtime was spent with 'the gang' all together. Special shout-outs to Ukupanipo and Hermes. The careful depiction of the antagonist [left unnamed here lest I spoil] is also very nice - I would have liked a little bit more, but the tantalizing tendrils that are there were great.The plot is solid, but I had some quibbles. The over plot - the galaxy spanning mystery - is fine, but it felt a bit mechanical. (pun intended) I found myself drawn much more to Dagir's emotional plot and her connections to her 'son' Jonathan - the resolution of the emotional plot was extremely interesting functionally, but it felt a bit rushed? Everything was nailed down and completed - with interesting hooks left for the planned sequel - but then the curtain came up and I WASN'T READY. LET ME CRY a LITTLE MORE DAMMIT, JF.One other minor quibble: if he Capeks are all named after human mythologies as a sort of genealogy (amazing idea), how have they not used them all up after thousands of years? Like, how are we meeting Hermes and not Hermes10111678B?I enjoyed this book immensely. The plot is a distant third, with the characters second - -and then light years ahead in first the development of a fascinating, unique setting and culture that makes this book so important to read. I had a great time, I have questions, I want to read more. I was so relieved that I liked this book. It's never easy to read a colleague's stuff and have to choke it down. I'm predominantly a fantasy reader - but I've earned my spurs reading Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, McCaffrey, Clarke, etc. - I'm no stranger to space and robots. Let there be no doubt - this is some A+ crunchy nerd stuff here.The world building in this book is, quite frankly, excellent. The level of thought Dubeau has put into every part of Capek society - how it grew from a future human civilization, how the different 'families' of robots interrelate, how the central conflict is spawned from an AI split in philosophy? That's not something you can casually toss out - or execute easily. Here it feels completely natural and intuitive. When you can make an entire race of sentient robots feel natural and intuitive - that is a rare gift. The 'process porn' alone - oh man. The sequence of Dagir's body and core faculties being built in the first act - that could have been 3 times as long and I would have kept lapping it up. The moments where the book delves into a new feature of Capek society or capability - or just the technical 'HOW DO' of it all are delicious nuggets of thought chow. And it's never -feels- like an info dump! Maybe because you just want to know more and more about how the Capeks function? But I found myself reading less for the overarching plot and more for the guided tour of these fascinating robots/aliens. There's also some great (but quiet) thoughts on identity and gender that were very nice.Characterization is also strong - Dagir is the best, of course. Dubeau seems to have an interesting bent for writing devoted, protective, skilled female characters? Her group of allies are freaking great - I hated that so little of the book's runtime was spent with 'the gang' all together. Special shout-outs to Ukupanipo and Hermes. The careful depiction of the antagonist [left unnamed here lest I spoil] is also very nice - I would have liked a little bit more, but the tantalizing tendrils that are there were great.The plot is solid, but I had some quibbles. The over plot - the galaxy spanning mystery - is fine, but it felt a bit mechanical. (pun intended) I found myself drawn much more to Dagir's emotional plot and her connections to her 'son' Jonathan - the resolution of the emotional plot was extremely interesting functionally, but it felt a bit rushed? Everything was nailed down and completed - with interesting hooks left for the planned sequel - but then the curtain came up and I WASN'T READY. LET ME CRY a LITTLE MORE DAMMIT, JF.One other minor quibble: if he Capeks are all named after human mythologies as a sort of genealogy (amazing idea), how have they not used them all up after thousands of years? Like, how are we meeting Hermes and not Hermes10111678B?I enjoyed this book immensely. The plot is a distant third, with the characters second - -and then light years ahead in first the development of a fascinating, unique setting and culture that makes this book so important to read. I had a great time, I have questions, I want to read more.