The Mantle of Kendis-Dai

This starts out as a fairly typical science ficion space opera with a galaxy spanning organisation under threat from a rebellion of inside its own ranks. THere's also a lost exploration party from Earth who find out that the galaxy is far, far stranger than they had reason to believe. In a way, it's a bit similiar to Vernor Vinge's Zones of Thought in that the galaxy is split into regions where the rules of physics can change abruptly from purely Einsteinian to more, er... exotic modes.

The novel is set in what the authors call the Starshield Universe, not a typical book serial but a set of related media like books and on-line activities. As fara as I can see, few if any of these still survive (almost twenty years later, mind!).

Pre09:

I really need to go back and read these again to make an informed review. I recall a fun romp through space. Maybe a slightly more serious Hitchhiker's Guide style. With a strong female.

It is a margaret Weis, is their more to say . As far as I can she has this space saga style of books down to a tee. it has characters and narative.