Frontier

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The dystopian world is Earth, populated by the religious fanatics who decided to stay on the devastated near-dead planet when everyone else was evacuated. They wanted to remain close to the Earth God Gaia, and saw space flight as a sin. I adored the narrative structure of this novel, much to my own surprise. Having each chapter from a different POV, with little exception, sounds incredibly difficult to pull off, but Curtis does so with fluid elegance and believability. Each chapter’s narrator feels distinct, but somehow the reading experience isn’t disjointed whatsoever. I absolutely loved the experience of spending a little time in so many people’s heads: seeing characters we’d got to know through narration filtered through the eyes of others, or jumping into the POV of someone unexpected, or who you’d been hoping to inhabit. Moreover, you will wholeheartedly love everyone you spend time with, however short, in a way that is fundamental to themes of the novel. Curtis writes with such astounding empathy, and her strength of imagination goes beyond the interior lives of others… The book opens with a crashed space ship, and the rather dodgy individuals who find it. They don’t last long. This Sci-Fi book is very much a dystopian type, with ecosystems in collapse. The landscapes are obviously desolate, with a lawlessness in many areas, but some that are ruled by ruthless Sheriffs or law enforcement. Kwaku Osei-Afrifa, former editorial assistant, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Zoe Plant at The Bent Agency. Molly Powell, editorial director, will publish Frontier in March 2023. A North American deal has been concluded with Jim Killen at Rebellion US, to publish in February 2023.

An empire, aristocrats, spies, conspiracy theories, a code to decipher... It's exciting to start a new chapter and discover a new character. Frontier is The Mandalorian meets Mad Max, with the emotional heart of the Wayfarers series. But at its core, Frontier is a love story, about two women who find each other, lose each other and then find each other again. Grace Curtis captured the real thrill and soul of Westerns in Frontier. I'll admit, this book started off a bit slow for me but as the story started to unfold through what felt like a collection of short stories, I fell in love. Not only is this a tale of one woman's journey through the wasteland that was once our vibrant Earth but also vignettes into other's lives and their personal struggles and passions. The characters come to life with their own personalities and the way they interact with and view our heroine, slowly helping bring to light just who this woman who fell from the stars is and what she wants. Our heroine only wears one hat during her adventure (well and a bonnet) she wears many names as she weaves through the stories of others trying to find the only thing worth finding in a wasteland, love. Honestly, I wish the story would've continued like it did at the beginning. The relatively calm and peaceful life of the staff members running a luxury hotel in space. I would've loved to see Carl's original story too, as opposed to him ageing forty years between the prologue and the real first chapter. The prologue really got me excited for Carl's story, only for it to be skipped. Ah well. In terms of Romance, I would characterize it more as a “love story side plot.” Getting to her girlfriend is the driving force of Kai’s journey, but it doesn’t fall under the tropes or 3-act structure of Romance as a genre. I liked the relationship quite a bit (it’s a little bit enemies-to-lovers and I love a soldier + scientist couple). They were so cute!

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One character, Kipple, is non-binary (THE FIRST!! IN ALL THESE YEARS!!). They get they/them pronouns as if it's just as natural as she/her or he/him - it's not even mentioned or pointed out once. They're just allowed to exist. Similarly, several characters are lesbian, pan, or bi, and it's not even mentioned with any label. It's completely normalised. THIS is the type of inclusion we're looking for. Throughout the story, there is a mystery about a dissident troublemaker who is a stowaway on the ship who

The character development is some of the best I’ve ever encountered—succinctly managed, and with a sharp understanding of ‘show, don’t tell’. The plotline(s) wander about in an easy, organic fashion, and while they might seem to be disjointed in the moment, each proves in the long run to be anything but. To my astonishment, I learned that this is Grace Curtis’s debut novel. I absolutely want to read more from her in the future. This cozy debut science fiction novel tells a story of misfits, rebels, found family—and a mystery that spans the starsThe story of Floating Hotel seems a bit mixed in ways that don’t seem intentional. There are the moments of “cozy”, especially when we are having a closer look at some of the characters and their interactions amongst themselves. There are the moments of the mystery and political intrigue that keep you guessing until the end. There is the puzzle set forth by the Problem Solver’s conference. These are all great stories, but it almost seems like they each could have been their own book within a series set on the Grand Abeona Hotel. One of the most expertly done aspects of this novel was the way it used other characters to tell her story. Not everyone is likeable but everyone is intriguing, everyone is interesting. I came to care for the side characters who only make a small indentation on the story: a child in need of insulin; a woman in need of resolution to stories—her own and one from a comic book; a boy who learned some hard truths about his faith. These people who made up a sliver of the Earth population showed so much about how the world runs, who's in charge, and why, without ever feeling heavy handed. The interludes tell one story, while the chapters tell another. Eventually, they twine together. The worldbuilding that created this post-apocalyptic Earth is strong enough I could almost taste the dust in the air while squinting at the scenery, from small decrepit towns, to open desert, to a huge and crowded city. The author crafts a future Earth that wobbles between the brink of despair and the edge of hope. Which way will it ultimately tilt? In the distant future most of the human race has fled a ravaged Earth to find new life on other planets. For those who stayed a lawless society remains. Technology has been renounced, and saints and sinners, lawmakers and sheriffs, travelers and gunslingers, abound.

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for allowing this.

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What's great about this is that for every reader there's at least one point of view character they'll enjoy reading about, but at the same time it's hard to get truly, deeply invested in anyone when so little space is devoted to each storyline. In this aspect the book would have benefitted from being longer, or from focusing on fewer characters. The stakes waiver a bit in terms of tension, especially in the first half, as because Kai isn’t really sure where she’s going, we’re also not sure where the story is going, but as her goals become more concrete, the story becomes very engaging. And when The Courier’s vignette ends, she becomes The Tramp to a small boy struggling with the local concept of God. Later, she is The Stowaway on a problematic train ride. As she continues the struggle to reach her destination and fulfill her dream of finding her lover, she becomes The Traveler, Darling, The Guest… and when the time is right, we learn that she has a name. I know this seems like a broad category, but I simply wanted to give the book credit for being an approachable science fiction novel. I enjoy science fiction, but it’s certainly my most read genre. I found Floating Hotel to be approachable while still being firmly planted in space. Frontier is a fascinating instance of a character remaining nameless for the majority of the narrative. Rather than giving the protagonist a singular name, Curtis referred to her instead by a myriad of names, each reflecting the way she was viewed by the people surrounding her. This allowed me as a reader to build a unique sense of the protagonist’s identity, as I understood her through everyone’s eyes but her own. Additionally, this allows readers to meet a barrage of fascinating side characters, each with their own journeys and motives. This writing technique is not one I have seen before, but was very impactful on me as a reader, and contributed to my overall obsession with this book.

Like Frontier, this book is heavily character driven. We meet a new character each chapter, dipping into their world and their story. While it was the main character’s journey that helped string the previous book’s chapters together, in this book it is the hotel, Abeona. Each chapter gives insights not only into the characters, but the hotel. You could argue the hotel is the main character. Frontier is a collection of short vignettes telling the story of a mostly unnamed narrator as she searches a scorched, post-apocalyptic Earth for her lost love. The two were on a mission of aid and peace to the planet and were shot down. We follow her through the eyes of the people she meets and interacts with along the way, and we see the best and worst of the planets inhabitants. This book was such a fun and comforting read. It's rare that a book with so many different points of view can make you feel so emotional and curious about each of the characters' fates, but this one manages it!

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Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of these characters, a different one each time. There is just one character who gets two chapters, and by the time that happens, you will be expecting it. This is much less confusing than it sounds. Each character mentions some of the other characters, just a few in the earliest chapters. Thus when one of those characters gets a chapter of their own, you're ready for it. I never found the story hard to follow. I was also so pleased with the prevalence of climate issues in this book. We learn that the reason people are even in this galaxy is because Earth was stripped of its resources and became uninhabitable. The Empire carries on the same practice for many of the planets in their new home galaxy, and this particularly impacts vulnerable, lower-income, and working-class populations (aka not the elite and wealthy). This felt very well-delivered and poignant! When reviewing a book, I feel it is unfair to hold all books to the same standard. Floating Hotel is advertised as a cozy science fiction novel, but it also has aspects of a mystery as well, so I am going to review it on a number of criteria. Frontier is a debut novel by Grace Curtis, a writer and video game journalist. In the distant future, climate change has ravaged Earth to a wasteland. Saints and sinners, lawmakers and sheriffs, gunslingers and horse thieves abound. Society is as diverse and divided as it has always been - except for its shared suspicion when a stranger comes to town. One night, a ship falls from the sky bringing the planet’s first visitor in nearly three hundred years. This visitor is looking for someone, and this someone is a past lover. As I finished Floating Hotel, I found myself happy to have read it, but with the wish that it had been three books; a cozy slice of life aboard a spaceship, a mystery novel, and a space exploration epic.