Mostly escapist science fiction because I have an annoying cold and am low on energy.
It is about the clash of a post-capitalist culture and an imperialist one though, however unlikely, the "good folks" are human(oid) and the war-making imperialists are not.

It's the first of Banks' Culture novels, which I've read several times; I'm starting over though it will take me a while as I'll save them for when my attention span is low.