The Golden Age

Not sure if this is the right fit?

Consider Excession by Iain M. Banks. Recommended by 3 sources.

“Excession throws you into a large, satirical space-opera playground where human diplomats and vast artificial intelligences jostle for advantage. The book's strength is imaginative set-pieces and clever, often dry humor that makes machine minds feel vivid and argumentative. Its main limitation is episodic pacing and extended, brainy digressions—long strategic conversations and inside-baseball plotting that slow character momentum. Best approached by readers willing to accept detours for striking scenes rather than those seeking nonstop narrative propulsion.”