top of page

Floating Hotel - Grace Curtis

Writer's picture: Sheridan IrvineSheridan Irvine

Book cover of Frontier by Grace Curtis

Not long after I purchased Frontier by the same author, I was made aware of the existence of this magnificent collection of words and bought it before I'd even finished Frontier. I'd heard from a few sources that both would be right up my street and I can now say, after finishing both, that the assessment was not wrong! Vast dodgy Empire aside, this firmly falls into the category of "books I want to live inside of".



The Plot

The story takes place on a luxury space hotel called the Grand Abeona Hotel, cruising its way through the stars from system to system playing host to those privileged enough to enjoy its stellar hospitality (who doesn't love a well placed pun?), and breathtaking views (a little laboured, but there's no breathable atmosphere in space, see...).


While the Abeona is known primarily for its luxury status as a hotel destination for many years, it's much more than that to the staff who run the place. It's safe haven. A no-questions-asked safe space to which many have fled and found themselves staying, having found the family they sought or didn't know they needed. It's now also become a place of interest to The Department, a wing of the Empire shrouded in mystery, after they discover a pattern to messages received throughout the Empire from an anti-empire citizen known only as The Lamplighter, pointing them to the Abeona's well established flight path. Now, the Abeona plays host to the somewhat dangerous unravelling of the years-old mystery of The Lamligher's identity, throwing the safety of those who call the Abeona home into the air, and raising the question of; Do all good things need to come to an end?



The Characters

Such a fantastic and diverse mix, each with their respective complex or mysterious past, their self-made Abeona identities, with a heartwarming display of personal growth and forged friendships.



The World

The Abeona cruises through Empire territory, a galactic human run governmental body, lead by an Emperor said to be hundreds of years old, shrouded in a bit of mystery and a heavy does of totalitarianism. Humanity thrives where it can, but there are huge disparities in wealth and the health of communities across the Empire, and people like The Lamplighter are a danger to the Empire's largely unquestioned narrative and process status quo. The Empire is filled with those who condemn The Lamplighter and their revelations of truth, and those who quietly support them but dare not say so aloud lest they are punished for doing so.


In this world, the Abeona and the characters create a wonderful and heart-felt warmth in this most unlikely of world setting.



Should I read it?

Yes. Why aren't you already reading it?


Get your copy here!




Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page