L. E. Modesitt, Jr's Empress of Eternity piqued my interest because it centered on the study of a mysterious artefact (the Big Dumb Object trope).

Unfortunately, I found the novel dragged for me a little. I didn't particularly care about the characters, and often found myself trying to straighten out who was who in my mind.

It's set over three points in time millennia apart, which reminded me a little of A Canticle for Leibowitz. I wouldn't recommend this novel unless you're a die-hard L. E. Modesitt, Jr. fan, or a fan of the BDO genre.