To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars by Christopher Paolini
Science fiction. Self-gift purchased from Vroman's Hastings Ranch Apr2024.
Liked it. Space opera, humanity only sentient living civilization. Has space travel and FTL using cryosleep.
An ancient artifact is found, and the main character becomes fused to the creature/artifact/automomous sentient thing.
Adventures ensue, as upon the main character becoming fused to the thing, sentient aliens appear. Things further happen.