zkrisher, 
I've finished: Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Tchaikovsky explores some very interesting themes in this novella.
· Sufficiently advanced technology as indistinguishable from magic.
· Interstellar colonization.
· Linguistics.
· Mythology.
· The prime directive.
· Lowliness.
· Depression.All packaged in a quest to save the kingdom from a mysterious threat.
A beautiful tale that can be regarded as a homage to Ursula K. Le Guin.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/47631f94-a73d-4c72-8af4-42a1bae89fea