Books like Evolution's Darling

This is a very impressive book. It combines exceptional writing, a brisk tale of a galaxy-spanning civilization, interesting thoughts on the nature of sentience, and rough sex. With a droid named Darling. In short, a "sexy SF thriller with integrity" (Gary K. Wolfe, Locus 5-00). He liked it, I liked it, and I bet you will too. 4+ stars, and I should reread it.Westerfeld mentions influences from Delany, but his closest comparable (IMO) is Iain M. Banks -- in particular for madcap, manipulative, sentient starships with funny names-- and I'd have to say I enjoyed Darling more than Banks' Feersum, or even Excession. It's clear that Westerfeld has read both the classics and the competition, but his voice is distinctive and remarkably assured. He writes in a "literary" style, but don't let that put you off -- this is rich, buttery prose of the very best quality. Really, he's as good as (some) Banks, and more cheerful, too. Westerfeld has written (to my knowledge) only three SF books for adults: this one, and the Succession duo (really just one novel) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . He has written (basically) YA books since then, some of them first-rate. But I hope he returns to adult SF sometime.[Edited from my 2000 review]