Embassytown: A Novel

In the far future, humans have colonized a distant planet inhabited by the Ariekei, sentient beings with a unique language that only a few specially altered human ambassadors can speak. Avice Benner Cho, a human colonist, returns to Embassytown after years away. Though she cannot speak the Ariekei language, she holds a unique place within it—she was made into a figure of speech, a living simile in their tongue. When a new ambassador arrives due to distant political events, the delicate balance between humans and aliens is disrupted. Catastrophe threatens, and Avice finds herself caught between conflicting loyalties: to a husband she no longer loves, to a system she no longer trusts, and to her role in a language she cannot speak but which speaks through her regardless of her wishes.