Cyteen

Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh

This one is the story of Ari Emory, over a span of about 25 years, beginning a few years before her death and extending through the ascent to power of her clone, who is raised to be a mental (as well as physical) duplicate. It's a complex weaving of Ari's point of view and some of those surrounding her, some of whom don't have a complete picture of what's going on at the time they tell their stories.

Lovely, complex, political, science fiction. Identity, trust, cool science (taped learning and made-to-order artificial people)... Why didn't I read more Cherryh earlier?