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I'm reading Surface Detail (on the iPad) by Iain M. Banks, this author using his middle initial to differentiate his "Contact" or Culture novels from other work.
These are delightful sci-fis, of a vaguely British "Culture" spread out in large ships with very high artificial intelligence all over the galaxy (no planets, all navy). The ships have ominous names reminiscent of the Royal Navy, which actually DID have ships named Lurcher, Irresistable, Inflexible, and other comically dire names.
The Culture ships have names like "I'm Counting," "I Blame the Parents," and "Well Paved and Gently Sloping."
The Culture has a diplomatic service named "Contact," which tries to improve with negotiation some of the worst of the pan-human civilizations, and their "Special Circumstances" branch with license to kill and very amusing flying drone robots of high intelligence and personality to do the killing with.
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