I knew I was going to like this book. A friend of mine introduced me to Ann Leckie through "Ancillary Justice" circa 2015 and we actually stumbled across "The Raven Tower" together through a bookstore. Reading the description, my friend was disappointed that it sounded like such run-of-the-mill fantasy, but I pointed out that a lot of what made The Imperial Radch series great was weird and nuanced and expansive in a way that wouldn't fit on an inside flap. My friend agreed but still set it back on the shelf (a mistake) I however, took it home and then didn't read it for five years (less of a mistake).
Ann Leckie is at her best when she's writing an intensely inhuman character being inhuman.