I also thought it was weaker than AMCE! Possibly I read the AMCE in a sleepless haze so it was harder to keep track of all the foreshadowing, but ADCP felt more straightforward plot-wise? I thought it didn't have as many new and interesting thoughts on empire either.

(Also Martine clearly doesn't care about the physics and only a little bit about the biology haha. But I guess the politics is the draw.)