The Summer Queen (The Snow Queen Cycle, #3)

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The Summer Queen (The Snow Queen Cycle #3)

3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 · rating details · 1,595 ratings · 39 reviews

Sequel To The Hugo Award-Winning Bestseller The Snow Queen

The Summer Queen is the extraordinary sequel to one of science fiction's most celebrated novels, The Snow Queen. Set in a fully realized universe of wonders, this spectacular space epic, itself a finalist for the Hugo Award, is one of the most remarkable novels in the field.

A story that spans millennia, from the ru...more

Paperback, 688 pages

Published May 1st 2003 by Tor Books (first published November 1991)

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Jun 15, 2011 Aerin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, well-that-was-awesome, female-sf-authors-of-the-80s-90s

If The Snow Queen was a perfectly-formed racehorse, utterly streamlined, beautiful, and fast-paced, its sequel The Summer Queen is more like one of those elephants you see rajas riding in old movies about India. It's massive and plodding, and takes forever to get to its destination, but at the same time is beautiful, ornate, and an experience not to be missed. I love The Summer Queen, but I have difficulty getting through this massive tome.

To describe its galaxy-spanning plot without vitally spo...more If The Snow Queen was a perfectly-formed racehorse, utterly streamlined, beautiful, and fast-paced, its sequel The Summer Queen is more like one of those elephants you see rajas riding in old movies about India. It's massive and plodding, and takes forever to get to its destination, but at the same time is beautiful, ornate, and an experience not to be missed. I love The Summer Queen, but I have difficulty getting through this massive tome.

To describe its galaxy-spanning plot without vitally spoiling The Snow Queen and writing endless paragraphs of exposition would be a futile endeavor. The best I can do is say that it concerns the mers - the intelligent, artificially-created sea creatures of the planet Tiamat - and the Water of Life - an eternal-youth-granting serum harvested from their slaughtered blood. The ultra-rich throughout the interstellar Hegemony have been paying exorbitant sums for access to the Water of Life for centuries, but the mers' depleting population spells doom for the entire galaxy in a way that only Moon Dawntreader, the newly-crowned Summer Queen of Tiamat, fully understands. Unable to share her secret, she must find a way to convince the Hegemonic leaders to stop the trade of the Water of Life - without being able to even hint at why.

I love this book for how utterly engrossing it is, for its amazingly real worlds that just beg you to get lost in them, for its story full of secrets and intrigue and forgotten history and human folly, for its wide spectrum of fully human characters, for its depth and breadth and the feeling I get while reading it that it is not just a story, but an alternate universe I am stepping into.

But I have read it three times, and have never been able to finish it in under a month. The story is beautiful, but moves slowly. The plot has dozens of threads that shift back and forth so often it's easy to forget what's going on. Vinge repeats herself and constantly rehashes the events of The Snow Queen and World's End. The book could have benefited enormously from a good editor lopping off a hundred pages or two.

But I still recommend this book. It's not the perfectly-formed masterpiece that its predecessor is, but it definitely satisfies that longing for more that I always feel so desperately when finishing The Snow Queen. And there is so much to love and to marvel at within its pages.(less)

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Nov 24, 2009 Patrick Burgess rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

More Fantastic Scifi At Its Organic Best!

Okay, sounds like I'm talking about alfalfa... or bean sprouts. But I'm not!!!

The Summer Queen is Vinge's fabulous sequel to Snow Queen and continues the saga of Moon Dawntreader, sybil and newly-crowned Queen of Tiamat's Summer reign. Moon has taken up the task of encouraging technological progess independent of the Hegemony, now that the interstellar Black Gate has closed taking with it every bit of advanced tech Tiamat was able to acquire during its 15...more

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Apr 10, 2009 Caitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

Great book & a continuation of the story begun in The Snow Queen. There's one in the middle, World's End, but I never liked it as much - I think I just didn't like the character it explores as much.

This is a character-driven book with not a lot of action. If you're looking for space adventure - look elsewhere. Having said that, the last third of this book is so suspenseful that I almost missed my stop because I was reading it on BART.

Lots of levels and lots of layers. Ms. Vinge really loves...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Wendy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Usually authors start out clean and pure and then, as popularity grows, they get raunchier slowly over time. Like Michael Crichton. However, Joan Vinge didn't do the gradual thing. She completely changed between one book and another. This book had tons of sex and "f" words. I ended up skimming over lots of stuff, just to find out how the Snow Queen series ended. In the end, the two books don't seem to gel since they have such different styles. Plus, the characters are so self-centered that you j...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Kerith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fairy-tales, fiction

Bleaker than the first one (Snow Queen), this story reminded me of how Terry Goodkind flays one alive while reading. Vinge really brings one's emotions into play. Helpless anger over the Hegemony's utter arrogance in insisting on merhunts to obtain the water of life. Complete selfishness everywhere. The poor Summer Queen was misunderstood by just about everyone.
Unlike the first book this one does not rally around an Andersen fairy tale. Instead it tells a true story of humanity. One can recogniz...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Sci-Fi fans

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In the sequel to her epic The Snow Queen, Joan D. Vinge creates a whole slew of worlds and characters that stand out among the worlds created by mediocre SF writers. The Summer Queen, Moon Dawntreader, forces her world to rebuild after the offworlders leave through the black gates after the last Festival. She convenes a sibyl college to help the Tiamatans recreate the technology that has been taken from them. She is met with anger, frustration, rebellion, and also enthusiasm and eagerness to bec...more In the sequel to her epic The Snow Queen, Joan D. Vinge creates a whole slew of worlds and characters that stand out among the worlds created by mediocre SF writers. The Summer Queen, Moon Dawntreader, forces her world to rebuild after the offworlders leave through the black gates after the last Festival. She convenes a sibyl college to help the Tiamatans recreate the technology that has been taken from them. She is met with anger, frustration, rebellion, and also enthusiasm and eagerness to become self-sufficient.

Along the way she discovers that the mers, the creatures the offworlders exploit for the life-prolonging water of life, are actually sentient creatures. At first she doesn't realize the import of this beyond the fact that the hunts for the water of life must be stopped. Eventually she comes to realize how vital they are to the survival of the Sibyl Net and sibyls on worlds everywhere.

While Moon is trying to make her world technologically self-sufficient, BZ Gundhalinu has become a sibyl and is attempting to stabilize the stardrive plasma on World's End so that the Hegemony can get back to Tiamat, and he can get back to the woman he loves. Reede Kullervo, also known as The Smith (which isn't explained until much later in the book), reaches out to him and helps him so that he can steal the plasma for his own organization, an arm of a greater force they both belong to.

Their worlds crash together when Gundhalinu brings the stardrive plasma back to the Hegemony. He is appointed Chief Justice of Tiamat and sent back to the planet early to re-establish the Hegemony's power and begin harvesting the water of life. But when he gets there he prevents the hunt, and resumes his affair with the married Moon Dawntreader. Reede ends up on the planet as well, trying to make a copy of the water of life for his own organization which doesn't require the destruction of mers and can be mass produced. Finally, the three players in the sibyl net's plan are together, and the possibility of saving itself can be realized.

I loved this book. My major problem with it was that it took me so long to read it. I started it on 6/2 and finished it three months later! There was so much in this book, it could have been published as two books instead of one. The first half is focused too much on world-building and story-building, and not enough on plot and progression. Also, in the second half of the book, the amount of sex scenes was completely overwhelming (and, in my opinion, quite unnecessary).

The character dynamics were extremely interesting. Once Sparks finds out that Tammis and Ariele weren't his genetic children but instead were Gundhalinu's, he completely shuts them out of his life. When Ariele's life is threatened and almost taken away, he realizes that he has been their father all along, whether they are his or not. I loved that he took the chance to save Ariele's life and did everything he could to get her back from the Source.

I appreciated the fact that Moon struggled with her passions for Gundhalinu for a long time before she gave in to them. She was loyal to Sparks in act, if not in thought. Sparks' infidelity bothered me because he hadn't been faithful to her and yet felt resentful that she wasn't being faithful to him. It made me very sad to see their relationship fall apart in such a drastic and dramatic way. The entire first book was their attempt to get back to each other, while this book was about their estrangement. Just goes to show that even if you love someone, it may not work.

The end of the novel was a little too quick. Tammis' death and the mourning that happens before Gundhalinu's release from prison on treason charges take up a mere couple of pages, while the queen's happiness at the end and the resolution between Ariele and Reede seem like they've been months in the making. In fact, it's only been a matter of days (possibly a couple of weeks). I'm glad, though, that everyone mostly got what they wanted, except perhaps Merovy, who lost her husband as he was finally trying to make it work between them.

There were a few plot points I didn't really understand, like when Reede tells the queen that Sparks is dead. Why not just say that he wants to leave and let her live her life with Gundhalinu? Maybe it was necessary for her closure to think that he was dead, and could give herself to the man she loves. I disagreed with that plot point. I also didn't understand the point of Ananke being revealed as a woman. It was only part of the story once, and then never again. She continued to be a man to all concerned parties, and even at the end she is still a man. Why bother? What did it add to the story?

In all, I could have done without all the sex, without the strange points that didn't contribute to the story, and I would have preferred this to be two books. I don't have a problem with long books when it's really necessary, but this was essentially two books in one, not just one long book. It was, however, overall a great book. If you've read The Snow Queen you should read The Summer Queen.(less)

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Feb 17, 2008 Roxanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Really, really good. Fulfilled all the promise and expectation of the previous book. It was the sort of book where you know that everything is going to come out all right in the end, but you need to read the whole book in order to know how it comes about, or even what "all right in the end" will even mean. I was really interested in Moon's character in these books. In Snow Queen, Moon was set up as a paragon of youthful virtue and innocence and sweetness, everything that Arienrhod was not. But M...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Alicia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Best. Sequel. Ever. The Snow Queen is by far my favorite but the sequel is clearly where Ms. Vinge shows us her writing guns. The anthropologist can spin a yarn like no other with her extraordinary world-building skills and story-telling genius. In this book we finally learn the secret of the sibyls and their origins. The scope of this story is what truly makes me a fan. Engaging dialogue, extreme character development and elegent prose bring the story to life.

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Oct 31, 2012 Delicious Strawberry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: joan-d-vinge, science-fiction

A good sequel to a fantastic book. The timeline and plot have clearly been well thought out. While I enjoyed Snow Queen more, this book was still an excellent read. The ending surprised me, but it was also a rather satisfying one. It's not absolutely necessary to read this if you have read Snow Queen, but if you do, you won't be disappointed.

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Apr 17, 2010 Nina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Great futuristic scifi novel, third part in a trilogy of sorts following the Snow Queen. Although Snow Queen was a great new story, this is longer and more intricate, with more subplots than the previous book. Although a very, very long read, I enjoyed reading about the mers as an artificial intelligence.

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Feb 21, 2010 Jessi Lyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another favorite. It's a sequel to Snow Queen but definitely stands on it's own. I've also read and re-read this one over and over and still can't get enough. Even if you're not big into Sci-Fi you should give this book and Snow Queen a shot, they're simply amazing stories.

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Dec 05, 2008 gabrielle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

I didn't enjoy this as much as The Snow Queen last time I read it (a while ago). We'll see if that's changed.

...

It hasn't. This just feels like a slog compared to The Snow Queen. (It doesn't help that the edition I've read is littered with typos. That always lessens my enjoyment of a book.) It's a good story, but there's too much material here; lots of repetition, and too many ellipses. Ungh.

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Jul 27, 2012 Arsine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Easily my favorite book of all time. I was mesmerized by the first book the Snow Queen and completely captivated by this other world and universe. I never wanted this book to end. I wish they made The series into a movie.

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Jul 19, 2011 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars

A follow-up to the Winter Queen this is an extremely good sequel. Lots of politics and complicated characters...and surprising characters. I love it when a character that seems minor suddenly becomes the center of a book.

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Sep 06, 2011 Brandy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I still think about this book and it's companion, The Snow Queen, even having read it when it first came out in 2003. Until now I did not realize there are 2 more books. I will be re-reading this series very soon!

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Aug 29, 2012 Chani rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

This took a long, long time to finish. While it has the same characters and a few extra ones, it seemed to lack the drive and passion. I was so inspired and amazed at the first book and this finishing one seemed more of a 'duty' write. As if the author had to tell us the rest of the story. This one did not seem to have the balance and lightness of the first one. It was rather depressing, though the first book had its share of negative things, this book just wasn't as delightful. Perhaps, it was...more

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Feb 12, 2009 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

The Hegemony has left Tiamat and now the people of summer have 100 years to restore the planet to readiness for their return and for the Mer to repopulate.... Dawn Moontreader Summer is the Summer queen, despite being a genetic clone of the Winter Queen, the hated Arianrhod.

What most of her people don't know is she's also a Sibyl, which will help with matters that it can, but her family is another matter altogether...

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Aug 15, 2008 Swankivy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a continuation of the story begun in The Snow Queen , and to tell you the truth it was so complex that I don't remember much of what happened in it. I remember enjoying reading it but feeling lost while doing so. Perhaps that's because I was really young when I read it. In any case I do remember one thing about the ending and all I can say is that Ms. Vinge has this almost pathological determination to take things away from her characters whenever they find something that means something...more

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Oct 06, 2010 Estelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Epic sweep, but the story, while enjoyable,does not quite warrant the 950 page count

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Feb 16, 2009 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've read this book 4 times so far. I don't know why, but I just love it.

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Apr 29, 2010 Katie added it · review of another edition

Shelves: never-finished

I stopped reading this book. Why? I found myself totally confused too often. The author would be referring to information that we hadn't been introduced to but the character had, so it left me in the dark. Ironically, the other reason I had to stop reading this was the fact that Vinge is fond of infodumps. She does NOT handle exposition well, and it drives me nuts.

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Jul 29, 2011 Anthony Mcanallen added it

Not as good as its forerunner, but still very enjoyable.

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Jul 22, 2012 Mystii rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction

Excellent continuation of the Snow Queen story!

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Jan 01, 2011 Doug rated it 3 of 5 stars

Good, largely satisfying ending to the series. It did seem a little overlong and inefficiently paced at times, though that may have been a result of how large a story Vinge was telling.

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Mar 04, 2013 Dante D'Anthony rated it 5 of 5 stars

Richly detailed, engaging.

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Mar 25, 2010 Danielle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, recommend-to-joci

Epic tale. Three-dimensional characters. Difficult to wade through in sheer size, as well as the number of characters to keep track of. But the author, Joan Vinge, definitely focused in on a core set of really interesting characters who forced me to finish this tale, almost reluctantly, because I knew from experience that she would make it all worthwhile in the end. And she did; I'm glad I finished it, glad I now have that vast and meandering tale swirling around in my brain to take out and enjo...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Howard rated it 4 of 5 stars

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May 15, 2012 Claire Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: grown-up, lbgtq, old-fashioned-romance, poc-diverse-cast, speculative-fiction, disability, want-to-own, space, sci-fi

Wow, that was EPIC!

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Aug 09, 2011 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, cover-pretty-white-girl, cover-faceless-female

I read this a while ago. Decided not to re-read it, as (while I've forgotten most of the content) most of the protagonists seem to be unhappy most of the time. Combined with the information-density of this book, this is not really holding my attention.

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Mar 24, 2007 Tyrin rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is the culmination of Snow Queen and World's End. It's harder going than the earlier books because of the sense of sadness and dread throughout the book, but the sense of place and character made it fascinating.

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About Joan D. Vinge

Joan D. Vinge (born Joan Carol Dennison) is an American science fiction author. She is known for such works as her Hugo Award-winning novel The Snow Queen and its sequels, her series about the telepath named Cat, and her Heaven's Chronicles books.

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The Snow Queen (The Snow Queen Cycle, #1)

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Quotes from The Summer Queen

“There are two tragedies in life. One is never getting your heart's desire. The other is getting it.” — 18 people liked it

“Life scars us with its random motion, he thought. Only death is perfect.” — 4 people liked it

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The Summer Queen (The Snow Queen Cycle #3)

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