A Thousand Words for Stranger - Julie E. Czerneda

This is the first book in the Trade Pact series. It was published in 2012 but I only became aware of it this month. 

 

Stepping into was a bit like going to the first Star Wars movie when everything was new and unknown but it felt solid and it moved fast and you wanted more.

 

This is confident, complex, has a huge cast of characters but keeps the focus on people in the way the best Star Wars movies do.

 

My wife and I are reading it together. It's great fun.