The setting of Not-Hoth is a symbol of alienness and unfamiliarity, especially of the ways in which these elements can be both negative and positive at different times.

At first, the brutal weather conditions of Not-Hoth act as a form of secondary antagonist in the novel. While the cold atmosphere is technically survivable by humans, Georgie notes it continuously as she travels through the barren landscape, looking for some way to help her fellow women. Even after she connects with Vektal, who grants her more climate-appropriate clothing, the physical makeup of Not-Hoth provides obstacles for the text, including crucial dilemmas. In particular, the unbreathable nitrogen-like element in the atmosphere means that humans will die within a week of living on the planet if they do not accept the khui symbiont.

Despite its harsh weather and unfamiliarity, Not-Hoth is also, to Georgie and some of the other women including Liz, a site of considerable natural wonder. They are amazed and somewhat alarmed, for example, by the sight of the sa-khotsk, which is described in terms similar to prehistoric mastodons, albeit with distinctly alien features like four eyes and numerous long, spindly legs.