Hardcover, 304 Seiten
English language
Am 1. Januar 2023 von Atria Books veröffentlicht.
In remote northern Canada, a team led by a visionary American architect is breaking 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 skillfully 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 …
In remote northern Canada, a team led by a visionary American architect is breaking 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 skillfully 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 page-turner 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.
This was better than I expected from a random impulse read. It's a pretty good mix of characters in a climate-themed story that is consistent, makes some cultural commentary, and tries some unconventional narrative devices that work pretty well. There are scientist characters, but it's not a particularly science-driven story.
Content warning Contains spoilers
The three intertwined storylines of a post-climate-change future were interesting and compelling. At first. Two relate the story of a project to build a utopian city for people fleeing northward. Except, of course, it might not be what it seems, and the idealistic leader might or might not realize that. The third concerns a group of women at "White Alice", a climate research station somewhere in northern Canada, a couple of days travel from the other story lines. Abandoned by their home base, they must learn to survive on their own and find new beginnings on their own terms.
It's this third story line that unraveled the book for me. The book sets up severe contradictions between the group's stated aspirations and their actions, yet never addresses this. Their code of life includes such niceties as love of family and the environment as well as never killing without a reason. Yet they continually murder people, often quite brutally, and the reason is always that they want their victim's money and possessions and don't want to leave behind someone who might identify them. A person minding their own business camping in a van is told that they've lost their dog and that they need help finding it. When he volunteers to help, they kill him and take his van. They set pit bulls on people who are sleeping and, once they've been mauled to death, cut out their teeth as souvenirs. The contradiction between their high minded ideals and their actions as a band of serial killers is never addressed.
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.
