Rules of Conflict

Jani Kilian dug up plenty of dirt in Code of Conduct and created quite a stir, then fled in hopes of getting away from the intrigue back on Earth. No such luck; her experimental alien-hybrid physiology has problems that no ordinary doctor can handle, and she winds up getting dragged back into the thick of things.

She has to juggle interspecies diplomacy, conspiracies among the human elite, and her own failing health. Smith does a good job depicting an alien culture, aliens attempting to comprehend humans, humans attempting to comprehend aliens, and humans attempting to keep a grip on their own humanity.

this series isn't real ambitious, but it's not bad either. kind of a cross between Lois Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan saga and CJ Cherryh's translator diplomats, you might say.