Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds.
Space Opera in the hard SF mould. Full of cool neologisms (lighthugger, reefersleep) and well-written, despite a predilection for the word caul.
Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve read it before, but the scenes of carnage and mayhem seem a little bloodless, and the characters aren’t as fleshed-out as they could be. Entertaining none the less.
Soundtrack: Lisa Loeb, Cake and Pie and The Way It Really Is.