Summary from the back of the book:
Welcome to the Grand Abeona Hotel: home of the finest food, the sweetest service, and the very best views the galaxy has to offer. All year round it moves from planet to planet, system to system, pampering guests across the furthest reaches of the milky way. The last word in sub-orbital luxury—and an absolute magnet for intrigue. Intrigues such as: Why are there love poems in the lobby inbox? How many Imperial spies are currently on board? What is the true purpose of the Problem Solver's conference? And perhaps most pertinently—who is driving the ship?
This is another science fiction novel my son read first, then loaned to me. I am a sucker for novels set in hotels, so I was eager to read it. It starts out as a simple story about a ship that functions as a luxury hotel, going from planet to planet, with guests and occasionally employees taking time to visit the planet below. Eventually more and more facts about the ship and its visitors reveal that it may be much more than it seems to be. There is definitely a mystery at the core of the story, and there are even elements of espionage.
Most of the chapters focus on a single character or in some cases a couple or a group of characters. The first chapter is about Carl, the manager of the hotel, who first boarded the ship as a stowaway at the age of twelve. There were a lot of characters, which can get confusing. I loved the way the story is gradually revealed, although even at the end I was still trying to figure out parts of it.
The story is described as cozy science fiction, but initially I disagreed with that categorization. Not cozy at all. There is humor, but the story is serious, and a bit too much violence and villainy to be called cozy.
I enjoyed this story; for me, it was a good read, and I rated it 5 stars. It had a lot of intrigue, and only 324 pages. I could easily read it again. First I will find some of Grace Curtis's other books to read.
Regarding the designation of this book as "cozy," I found an article at The Herrick District Library website titled "Cozy Sci-Fi: The Subgenre You Never Knew You Needed." In addition to explaining about this subgenre, it pointed to two series that fit that definition: The Wayfarers Series by Becky Chambers and The Murderbot Series by Martha Wells. That seemed reasonable to me, since I had read books from both series.
7 comments:
OK, now this sounds intriguing, Tracy! I like books set in hotels, too, and I can just picture all of the characters who are there. And the mystery behind it all sounds appealing. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Very interesting idea. A science fiction novel set on a floating 5 star hotel that goes from planet to planet picking people up and dropping them off. I like sci fi that pays attention to character and a rather straightforward story not too technical. This one sounds good.
Margot, it was the perfect mix of genres for me. Several subplots came together for a good ending.
Kathy, this story did concentrate more on character and relationships, but there were some parts that were not so straightforward. Many of the employees had been together for so long that they felt like one big family, but there were bumps along the way.
It's funny, I can identify a cosy mystery, no problem, but cosy sci-fi? Not quite so sure. I like Becky Chambers' books a lot but am not at all sure I would call them cosy. The Monk and the Robot ones, yes. The space series? Not certain. Anyway, I love the sound of this hotel sci-fi and have not only grabbed it for 99p for my Kindle, I grabbed one for a friend too.
Tracy, I will admit that I have not heard the term 'cozy sci-fi'. However, a lot of genres seem to be overlapping a bit these days and I have had people tell me they like the Becky Chambers books and others. Sci-fi is not really my area, but I'm glad you liked this one. I'm still figuring out what 'romantasy' books include. Enjoy your reading!
You probably already know I'm going to say this, but I love that cover and the story sounds wonderful. My Libby let me tag it with "notify me" if they get it and I've put it on my wishlist at Amazon. I've way to pricey there in any form.
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