Consider Phlebus by Iain Banks

There is a war between the Idiran and the Culture. The Idiran are large, three-legged aliens who are devout in their faith and have destroyed or throttled numerous civilizations. The Culture are machines (Minds) and include the humans that serve them. The Culture want to cleanse the galaxy and the Idiran oppose them. Bora Horza Gobuchul is a human Changer, which is what it sounds like: he can change his appearance. Horza is an agent of the Idiran because he is against the Culture, not because he supports the Idiran's religion.

The novel opens after Horza has been caught impersonating a Gerontocrat and is being executed in a gross way. The Idiran rescue him and give him a final assignment: go to Schar's World and capture the fugitive Mind that fled there. Practically right after he's handed this assignment the Culture attack. Horza is jettisoned in just a suit so if the ship falls, he will survive and be picked up by the fleet. Instead he is picked up by pirates and has no choice but to join them. And this is all within the first 3 chapters! More exciting (and some heinous) things happen to Horza and at about 50% of the way through the book, we get back to the main story line and head to Schar's World. Honestly after all that stuff happened to Horza, I totally forgot about the mission to find the fugitive Culture Mind.

The story was exciting and engaging but I felt like the ending was wrapped up quickly, like Mr. Banks was tired of these characters and wanted to move on to the next book. I think if it were a standalone novel instead of the first of a series, I would've enjoyed it more expecting the tidy up at the end. That being said, I liked this book and I think the following sequels will be good as well.

Visit Iain Banks' website for more information about the author and how to purchase his books.