To Sleep In a Sea Of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Kira is an xenobiologist working in space and her life is forever changed after she finds an alien ruins and a lifeform attaches itself to her by encasing her in a skin suit that works with her emotions and impulses. The being/suit called "The Soft Blade" takes some getting used to and it can send its memories to Kira's brain and cause great violence both a good thing and bad. It is an interesting partnership to say the least and one that will lead her and a ragtag spaceship crew to where another alien species is threatening to take out most of the Universe. This is a bit of a mashup between Star War's Princess Leia and the rebels, meets superhero spacesuit, meets the mind take over of Stephanie Meyer's THE HOST. There is enough action to satisfy the space junkies, wicked good banter of a ship's intelligence ( ala Hal from 2001 SPACE ODDESY) and Paolini does a good job of world building. I don't know if his earlier fans will be disappointed that there are no dragons here (spoiler!) but he has proven that he can write for an adult audience.  4 stars