Ann Leckie returns to the Imperial Radch in a standalone novel set on Ooioiaa, where an ancient temporal shrine has long been a source of both conflict and hope. The occupying Radch see it as a relic to be absorbed and grant one final concession: a single man may join the mummified dead there to become a living saint. As food shortages and unrest spread, a would-be saint, an upended socialite, and a young man sold into servitude are all swept into what that choice sets in motion.
Summary by Loreful, from public sources