Eyes of Nine
Everything's Fine
Yes, had same feeling with Cyteen - by the end I had no idea what was going on.I've read the Ancillary books and The Raven Tower, but don't recall aliens - which likely has more to do with my memory than anything else. CJ is just so EXTREMELY psychological in her writing - I honestly can handle the SF, but some of her fantasy was just beyond. I read Fortress in the Eye of Time and by the end had virtually no idea what was going on. (I've since acquired another copy and most of the sequels, so someday...challenge on!) Accessibility is definitely an issue with her.
Imperial Radch books - Ancillary series didn't have much alien representation except off screen. However Provenance goes way deeper into the aliens in the Radch local space.
And then Translation State (haven't read yet, but on my list) apparently also centers aliens