In its heyday, the Grand Abeona Hotel was the ultimate status symbol. Only the most affluent of high society could even consider staying on the ship, but those days are long past. The Grand Abeona isn't what she used to be, but her notable past still makes it a prestigious place to vacation. While its staff roster isn't as filled out as it used to be, those who work and live on the Grand Abeona are its heart and soul, and at the center of that group is Carl, the hotel manager who started his life on the Grand Abeona as a stowaway. Some forty years back, Carl left his home planet and became a cabin boy. Carl worked his way up through the ranks and, when the hotel's previous manager/ owner/ creator passed away, she left the running of the ship in his capable hands. But Carl isn't really the protagonist of this book.
Uwade is the hotel's concierge, but that isn't how she started out in life. As the daughter of an aristocratic family, she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. When the local economy failed and times got hard though, Uwade's parents pressed her to earn a living and support them. Uwade became a famous musician and, for a time, helped her parents, but eventually the pressure got to be too much. Now, Uwade helps the guests at the Grand Abeona and she is damned good at it. Lately though, she has been noticing a series of strange classical poems moving through the hotel's messaging system. Each time she finds one, she tries to figure out what it could mean and who is sending them, but the answers remain just out of reach. But Uwade isn't really the protagonist of this book.
Dunk is the assistant cook aboard the Grand Abeona, but he wasn't always a cook. He started life in the military. When he was shot and lost his leg, he had to find a new course in life. When the Grand Abeona pauses over his home planet, the head chef sends him down to get supplies. The chef has something in particular in mind and she is relying on Dunk's knowledge of the local markets to get what she needs. Dunk's journey back home leaves him reliving a lot of experiences he would just as soon forget, but he ultimately comes through for his new home in an unexpected way. But Dunk isn't really the protagonist of this book.
Sasha is the ship's mechanic. She keeps the whole hotel going, but as you might have guessed, she has a past. The first time she set foot on the Grand Abeona, she was planning on stealing a famous jewel known as the Tamara. Exactly how her heist goes down and why she ends up hiding away as the ship's mechanic is her story, and it's a story that spans the height of the hotel's glory to the aging state it's in now. But Sasha isn't really the protagonist of this book.
Look, I could keep doing this. Each chapter in Floating Hotel follows a different character and we get in-depth glimpses into each of their histories and roles on the Grand Abeona. We follow a woman who was the assistant to a rich, entitled woman, but when she gets fired, she decides to become a waitress on the Grand Abeona. We follow a pair of scientists who are tasked with deciphering a strange series of numbers that could rock the foundation of the Empire. There's a guest who is apparently seeking out a mysterious subversive character known only as the Lamplighter. Then there are the various imperial agents who are also seeking out the Lamplighter. But in all of these cases, these people are not the protagonist of this book. They are the protagonists of their individual stories though, and as each story unfolds, we learn a bit more about what is going on (past and present) with the Grand Abeona Hotel.
Over the decades, there has been a series of publications written by a mysterious person known only as the Lamplighter. No one knows where they get their information or how they can disperse their radical newsletters across the Empire's network without getting caught. Writing after writing sheds light on the lies the apparently immortal Emperor uses to keep his people under his thumb. Now, after all of these years though, it seems many people are honing in on the Lamplighter's identity and they have decided it is someone in the Grand Abeona Hotel.
As each story unfolds, the overall plot of the book advances in the background. No one character is responsible for the progression of the story, but instead, each one contributes in some way to the eventual conclusion this book reaches. So while Carl, Uwade, Dunk or the other dozen or so characters you read about in Floating Hotel aren't the protagonists in this book, they all are in their own story and the hotel itself becomes more than just a setting. It's the hotel's own history that makes it the protagonist, for without it, none of the strange collection of people would come together to live their lives.
I am very impressed with Curtis' attempt to tell one big story but from the perspective of many people in a shared space. This is something I don't see too often, but when I do, I am always pleased with the effort. For those "Constant Readers" of Stephen King, this book reminded me somewhat of Hearts in Atlantis, where all of the stories were about various characters, but one character was only ever in a support role for the others. As a result, the book as a whole was about her even though she was never the main character.
Floating Hotel was a very interesting read and I plan on keeping an eye out for future books from Grace Curtis.
