The problem with (formerly) working at, and (currently) living a block away from the third or fourth public library in the country is that while I can inhale an enormous number of books on a weekly basis, there apparently isn’t enough room in my head to remember piddling little details like titles, authors, or all but the broadest outlines of the plot for some of the stuff I’ve read.
So, I’m going to give you what I remember of Some Science Fiction Book, by Some Guy, on the off chance that somebody can point me in the right direction. I’d like to see if it’s part of a series.
Setting: 10,000 (or something) years in the future. Humanity has been brought in to the fold of galactic society as slaves to a race of beings called the Masters. The Masters apparently look like a cross between a giant squid, a lizard, and a sperm whale.
Directly below the masters on the social ladder is are another species who kind of serve as their viziers and administrators. The Masters give the orders, and these dudes make sure humans and other lesser beings carry them out. The whole system is highly bureaucritized, and the protaginist is a human in the Galactic Service (or whatever.)
The Masters are dying out, and the plot of the book centers around the social consequences of their extinction for all the sentient species who serve them. The vizier-types (as well as high-ranking humans) are expected to commit suicide on the death of the particular Master that they work for. Some of the viziers are resisting offing themselves, and stay behind the scenes to cause problems via various machinations for the humans et al.
That’s about all I’ve got, other than that the story opens on a central government world with an artificially-constructed Saturn-type ‘ring’ that serves as a space port and military base. The other major players in the story are a sentient species who vaguely resemble bears, and are basically equal to humanity on the social ladder. Though the Bears have been enslaved longer, humanity has made more progress more quickly, because of humanity’s supposedly more ambitious and/or “live fast, die young” psyche.
I’m probably conflating about five different books, but any clues anybody could give me would me much appreciated.
Thanks.