(Caution: Do not confuse this, the novel, with Baker's novella of the same name.)

Huh. Will have to try this.

I adored Baker's Company series until it went off the rails, then doggedly plowed through the last few books because I still had to know what happened to those characters even though the story had fallen to pieces. Cursing her for the bright shining moments of beauty that kept me from drop-kicking the books into the trash can.

I vaguely remember reading the Empress novella in Asimov's magazine and being underimpressed.