I love space opera, and I love stories that examine what it is to be human. Ancestral Night hits both those notes, and a few others (truly alien minds, transhumanism, extreme body modification, etc.).

There are at least one or two spots where I had to put the book down and wonder if Bear would really do this to me (or, her characters anyway), and just had to trust that she knew where the story needed to go. And it went. Looking forward to the second book, which I will be starting as soon as I hit "post" on this review!