Camp Zero

Very slow, dull read! Confusing at the end! This did win a Libby award! I never have luck with SF books! David N.

I think this was a really beautiful story with a feminist and anti-colonialist/anti-capitalist angle that was explored in such a unique way. Beautiful writing, beautiful imagery, and beautiful displays of greed and sisterhood.

However, one of the downsides of multiple POVs is that we all have favorites. I was never emotionally invested in Grant's story. And I also disliked his character, but maybe that was the point? Idk I just despise it when privileged people want to escape to another world to avoid acknowledging they have that privilege, only to realize everywhere else is a dump and they wanna go home to their daddy (but don't, just to prove him wrong). And once we (finally) got his backstory with Jane, I came to my own conclusion that he's just a shit guy who refuses to take responsibility for his own ego. He's always being rescued and knows there will always be someone to save him. My problem with this is i'm not sure if that characterization was on purpose. Are we supposed to be rooting for him? Are we meant to be blame his parents solely for Jane's death instead of him? Ya know, the one who refused to go to a secondary location before a bad storm against his girlfriends wishes, only to have his father save him during the thick of it and leave his girlfriend to die? I hope, if there is a sequel (this book surely deserves one), that Grant's ego and privilege is explored in a more realistic way that doesn't sugarcoat his ills.

The Blooms were so cool and I loved what we learn about their connection to White Alice at the end. I honestly didn't expect it. White Alice was definitely interesting, but was too fast paced and skipped so much time. I also struggled to keep timelines with them. I originally thought the book was too populated with them and they were not distinguished well enough from the Blooms. As the book continued, I had an easier time separating them. But in the beginning, there were moments where I genuinely forgot I was reading about one group when it was really the other. I think this is because there were just too many characters. I couldn't keep up. It's incredibly frustrating to be 40% the way in and still not be able to get anyone's names. And that's not to say you can't have a bunch of characters, you just have to make them memorable. For example, Willow was easy for me because her temperament and look was described as wildly different than the others. She was recognizable, not just a name on the page attached to dialogue.

I think the feminist angle was sometimes a bit plainly put, if that makes sense. It was trying to encapsulate the pains of women by very broadly accusing men of everything. Idk how to explain it (and this is coming from someone who, for a long while, basically considered themselves a misandrist). It just felt like the anger was not misDIRECTED, but oversimplified. I think that anger is valid and the environment they're in probably forced them to simplify it, but there are tons of women who engaged in the manipulation and murder going on in this book that were never spoken about. I just think the discussion of men is surface level and runs into territory of just being man-hating? I'm not totally opposed to it, you just run the risk of people not taking you seriously when it's simplified into “all men are murderers and rapists and we will never find peace because of them”. Now, this is honestly how I feel all the time!!!!! but there's a more nuanced explanation for it that could've been explored.

Ultimately though, I just got bored in the middle and that made pacing and certain details feel more annoying than they are! Great writing and the premise is super cool but I felt myself waiting for the ball to drop, for something exciting to happen. And it kind of did at the end with the plot twist. But it was so far in that I almost didn't care or notice it. The back and forth POVs just dissipated any momentum the story was working up. This soured the experience a bit but I still think this was awesome and courageous. I imagine it's incredibly difficult to weave these three groups together and it works out great. I hope Sterling is in the process of writing a sequel because she's set it up perfectly for one!!

Synopsis: In remote northern Canada, a team led by a visionary American architect is break¬ing ground on a building project called Camp Zero, intended to be the beginning of a new way of life. A clever and determined young woman code-named Rose is offered a chance to join the Blooms, a group hired to entertain the men in camp—but her real mission is to secretly monitor the mercurial architect in charge. In return, she'll receive a home for her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother and herself. Rose quickly secures the trust of her target, only to discover that everyone has a hidden agenda, and nothing is as it seems. Through skill¬fully braided perspectives, including those of a young professor longing to escape his wealthy family and an all-woman military research unit struggling for survival at a climate station, the fate of Camp Zero's inhabitants reaches a stunning crescendo. Atmospheric, fiercely original, and utterly gripping, Camp Zero is an electrifying work and a masterful exploration of who and what will survive in a warming world, and how falling in love and building community can be the most daring acts of all.
Thoughts: The book failed to captivate me from the start, and I struggled to maintain interest throughout due to its slow pacing and lack of a cohesive story arc. While the premise held promise, the multiple storylines didn't blend well, leaving me disconnected and unengaged with the characters. Although the writing was technically sound, I found it challenging to connect with the characters or care about their outcomes due to the absence of a compelling plot. While this book doesn't receive my recommendation, I'm intrigued by the author's potential and hope to see improved execution in future works, as the underlying idea was intriguing despite its current shortcomings.

A climate fiction told through 3 perspectives set in Canada's cold north, where the oil embargo left previous digging sites sitting empty. The world is ravaged by climate catastrophes, while the super wealthy huddle in smart cities floating in the ocean. But that life of luxury still needs rare earth metals.

A story about power dynamics and exploitation. A secret mission to infiltrate an architect's building sites of a new utopia in the north. Tech billionaires and visionaries who can buy everything including their women. A survivalist commune of women finding peace within yet who stop at nothing to get their necessary supplies.

I loved the White Alice parts, and how it all tied together. Rose has played too many roles and felt a bit empty. And there could have been less of Grant.

The writing was just ok here, and a bit slow or uninteresting in parts. It is also difficult to trudge through some of the prose when the main character is a prostitute and much of the main story is her making her way through an organisation as some sort of spy...yet it's a little vague and broad what it is she is even after. You can even throw in a few clichés - like falling for someone not a client or someone taking it too far just because of her line of work - and the ‘world building' also seems like a half-measure, where it is somewhat dystopian but yet most amenities are still available to much of society. Additionally, the main technological advancement that underpins society was underdeveloped and confusing, while it felt like the emotional stakes around it could've been a bigger part of the narrative. The big reveal (only in the last handful of pages in the book) is also just about telegraphed and while there is some resolution with the ending, there are a couple of major plot threads that simply end prematurely and abruptly.

Clever. Unique. Makes you think. 

Recommend. Let me start off with that. It didn't wow me (hence three versus four stars), but I find this a very unique read with a fascinating voice. The concept is compelling, and the principle characters are folks you really want to sit with and explore.

Most of the other characters, though, even the important ones, get short shrift. The narrative is more than a bit uneven here and there as well, but the pacing is great and the book starts off really strong.

The science: The author needed to spend a bit more on verifying the science. Even some relatively basic things, she misses the mark (insect drones are male. always. oil is not explosive. etc.).

BUT!

Great story, nice and twisty with an unexpected ending that in retrospect is perfect. I really enjoyed this.

Dystopian plots fascinate me. Many times they're prophetic. It's especially interesting to read one set in the nearish future. Camp Zero has a great premise, but I wish I hadn't spent most of the book trying to figure out what the focus of the book was.    Set in a future suffering from the results of harsh climate change, Rose agrees to work as a spy to provide housing for her mother. Meanwhile, Grant wants to break away from his family's past. The two meet at Camp Zero. It becomes a part that this place is harboring secrets.    As I mentioned, I have no idea what the central focus of this plot is. Climate change is the obvious answer, but with minimal world-building and context so much was lost. From page one it felt like I was supposed to already know what was going on as I entered the story. The names (or lack of) were confusing, the POV shifts added to the trouble getting my bearings... I overall felt like I was left out of the loop.    I enjoyed the writing itself. With more world and character building I think I would have loved it. My feelings are mixed. 

Nope

Set in the future, this story follows multiple climate change survivors. They're all going to Canada to help build a new settlement called Camp Zero. It's supposed to be a new way of life.
While they all want a better future, they each have an ulterior motive for going. No one is who they seem to be, and it's difficult to know who to trust.

I enjoyed the writing and most of the story, but the flashbacks were not my favorite.

This book is disturbing in that it could happen, and the behaviors of some of these people were disturbing as well. I'm curious to see where they end up.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an e-arc.

This was a pleasant surprise. Camp Zero is swiftly paced, has solid twists, and features multiple compelling interwoven storylines. Michelle Min Sterling's vision of the future is intriguing, alarming, yet totally plausible.

The separate POVs are well-differentiated, as each character brings a unique perspective to the story and they intersect in surprising ways. Each narrative thread has mysteries to unspool and Sterling doles those out in a consistent and continuous manner so you're never waiting too long for the next reveal. Sterling's utilitarian prose is effective at moving the story forward, as well.

I had hoped for a tidier ending, but the conclusion sticks to the book's themes of societal disarray and desperation that all the characters confront throughout, so I can't complain too much.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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The world has heated up so much that rich are creating floating cities and settlements as far north as they can. We have 3 POVs here: Rose, a sex worker doing a stint at a northern camp in exchange for something she desperately needs, Grant, a teacher from Boston trying to escape his past, and White Alice, a collective of research assistants running a camp even further north.
I LOVED this. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I loved Rose and White Alice and would have stayed with them another 500 pages. This is not my first cli-fy or eco-horror novel, but Camp Zero is one hell of a ride. LOVED this.