Dr. Joshua Palmatier (who also writes as 
The Skewed Throne by Joshua Palmatier
Varis is “gutterscum,” a girl — as much animal as girl — who survives as a sneak-thief in the horrid slum of Amenkor known as “The Dredge.” But even in the slum, rumors are spreading about The Mistress, who governs the city from the mystical Skewed Throne — rumors of insanity after a tidal wave of mysterious white fire sweeps through the land. After Varis stabs a criminal in self-defense, she comes to the attention of one of the Mistress’s guardsmen-assassins and begins to help him in tracking his “marks.”
Read More
Thanks, Kat, great input!
Marion, thanks for the audiobook article! Interestingly, they list All Systems Red by Martha Wells. Here's part of my review…
And, oh...as to that 2.5-star rating: I think I gave Damon Knight's "Beyond the Barrier" a similar halfhearted rating earlier…
And speaking of mixed, that's how the book left me...mixed! As in MIXED UP!
[…] marketing materials for itself, the ultimate cargo cult, dedicated to spam, stranded on the terminal beach at time’s end.…