Space opera adventure in a relatively grimdark setting. Its depiction of women isn't the best, complete with a story of a man killed after falsely being accused of rape.

I read this because it was a major influence on the Traveller role-playing game, which is obvious to anyone reading it who is familiar with the original Traveller RPG. The interesting thing is that what it contributed was all the stuff that I disliked, didn't really care that much about, and/or never used. Fast and slow drugs that speed up or slow down the perception of the user. The Low Passage travel method that has a relatively high chance of killing the passenger. The nobility system.

Not a terrible book, but not really my thing.