Camp Zero
A Novel
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3.7 • 142 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick
Libby Book Award Winner for Best Diverse Author
In a near-future northern settlement, the fates of a young woman, a professor, and a mysterious collective of researchers collide in this mesmerizing and transportive debut that “delivers its big ideas with suspense, endlessly surprising twists, and abundant heart” (Jessamine Chan, New York Times bestselling author).
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We couldn’t put down this exciting eco-dystopian adventure from debut author Michelle Min Sterling. It’s 2049 and climate collapse has ravaged the earth, with the rich ensconced in floating cities while the rest of humanity fights for survival. Rose has secured a place for her immigrant mother in one of these wealthy enclaves—as long as she agrees to move to a desolate settlement in the frigid North and spy on its mysterious architect. Along her journey, Rose encounters intriguing strangers, including a professor with a dark family history and a fierce collective of women scientists. With its spare prose and shifting perspectives, Camp Zero paints a disturbing and suspenseful portrait of slow-motion apocalypse while exploring issues of gender and race. The result? A disturbing near-future thriller with a big heart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sterling's stunning debut offers a glimpse into a climate change–ravaged future in which resources diminish quickly and new frontiers are hard to find. In desolate northern Canada, the enigmatic architect Meyer is building a settlement that promises hope for climate refugees. A group of escorts called the Blooms are flown into the build-site to be a sliver of beauty in the snowy wasteland. Among them is Rose, who hails from the Floating City, a luxurious, man-made metropolis that floats in Boston Harbor. She was secretly sent by a high-profile client to investigate the camp in exchange for an easier life for her Korean immigrant mother, but setbacks, mysteries, and a captivating man called the Barber hinder her progress with her mission. Meanwhile, Grant, who signed on to the project to extricate himself from both his wealthy family's long shadow and a relationship that left him heartbroken, learns from the Diggers he's been hired to teach that construction may well be futile. Nearby in a leftover Cold War station, a group of female experts in climate research grow from colleagues to friends to lovers as they unravel the cryptic mysteries of the team of men assigned to the same station before them. Sterling's future is close enough to the present to be entirely recognizable, underlining this cleverly constructed climate fiction mystery with palpable terror: this world feels like one many readers could see within their lifetimes. This should earn a place on shelves alongside Station Eleven and Annihilation.
Customer Reviews
Powerful beyond words!
I absolutely loved this book. This is the most powerful and moving story. I love how it gives you the insight of future. Absolutely and highly recommend it.