The Snow Queen

by Joan D. Vinge

The Snow Queen

published

February 1st 2001 (first published 1980) by Aspect

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binding

Paperback, 448 pages

literary awards

Hugo Award for Best Novel (1981); 1981 Locus Awards Winner (SF)

isbn

0446676640 (isbn13: 9780446676649)

description

The imperious Winter colonists have ruled the planet Tiamat for 150 years, deriving wealth from the slaughter of the sea mers. But soon the galactic s...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 466)

All ratings | 5 stars (115) | 4 stars (134) | 3 stars (88) | 2 stars (11) | 1 star (2) | avg 4.00

all | this edition

Swankivy

Swankivy rated it:

08/15/08

Read in January, 1993

I enjoyed reading this but found it a bit confusing. Ms. Vinge is my favorite author, but sometimes her plots and huge cast of characters become overwhelming. The basic gist of it began with two opposing cultures--the Summers and the Winters--and how the queen of the Winter culture has to be destroyed when it's time for the Summer Queen to rise. It follows the life of Moon Dawntreader, who's got a curious connection to the reigning Queen, and the culture of the "sybils" who can answ...more

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Kirsten

Kirsten rated it:

03/15/08

bookshelves: own, read-pre-12-07

Read in January, 2004

I've owned this book for a very long time, and actually started reading it twice, only to get distracted. This time I finished it, and I was not disappointed. It starts off kind of slow, but then Vinge gets all of her different plots going and the thing sort of gathers this incredible momentum. It's an sf novel about a world called Tiamat, which orbits two stars and a stable black hole. Due its idiosyncratic orbit, every 150 years Tiamat's atmosphere radically changes. During the cold years, the...more

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Christy

Christy rated it:

08/08/08

bookshelves: feminism-and-gendersexuality-studie, readinglist2--sf, science-fiction-and-fantasy

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I'm torn between three and four stars on this one. I greatly enjoyed most of the book, but it does take a long time to set all the events and characters in motion and then, because so much is going on, it takes longer than I'd like to conclude. On the other hand, after the action gets going and before it concludes the book becomes difficult to put down. I decided it deserves four stars because not only was it a fun read but it is a really interesting read in the following ways:

1) Without...more I'm torn between three and four stars on this one. I greatly enjoyed most of the book, but it does take a long time to set all the events and characters in motion and then, because so much is going on, it takes longer than I'd like to conclude. On the other hand, after the action gets going and before it concludes the book becomes difficult to put down. I decided it deserves four stars because not only was it a fun read but it is a really interesting read in the following ways:

1) Without being overtly political, Vinge makes a feminist statement in this book. The fact that the world of Tiamat is ruled by women could cut both ways, but the Snow and Summer Queens are far from the only strong female characters. The ratio of strong female to strong male characters is probably pretty balanced, actually, which is a rarity in my SF reading up to this point. Prior to the 1970s, to find a strong female character in SF was a surprise and a treat.

2) Vinge raises questions of ethical behavior toward not only other human beings but toward nonhuman creatures as well in the relationship between the mers--intelligent waterdwellers on Tiamat (basically merpeople) who, as it turns out, had been created by the Old Empire as part of a scientific experiment--and the human inhabitants and visitors of Tiamat. The mers are regularly slaughtered for their blood, which has life-preserving qualities that allow the humans who use the "water of life," as it is called, to stay young and live forever--as long as they keep ingesting this substance. Vinge asks us to consider whether this is justifiable, even if the mers are not intelligent creatures, and this echoes real-life issues of animal rights and anti-colonial movements.

3) Although The Snow Queen, based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, is in some ways very much in the tradition of epic fantasy, complete with royalty, palace intrigue, and apparent magic, Vinge refigures the fantastic in favor of the scientific. Here, fantasy is transformed into science fiction by simply providing an explanation for the magic of Tiamat. The sibyls, who are worshipped as specially able to communicate the words and knowledge of the Lady, a goddess, turn out to be able, instead, to communicate with a computer system because they have been genetically engineered to be able to do so. The mers aren't fantasy creatures divorced from reality but are the result of scientific experimentation that have a purpose. And the central issue of the book is that of progress through technology and the rights of the people of Tiamat to improve their lives through technology. The goal is not to return to a primordial time of innocence and wonder but to change the world for the better. As Moon, the protagonist, says, "Change isn't evil--change is life. Nothing's all good, or all bad. . . . What you choose to do with your life doesn't matter, unless you have the right to choose anything" (489).

4) Vinge explores quite thoroughly the various ways in power can change those who hold it. Arienrhod, the Snow Queen, is completely corrupted by her absolute power over her subjects, and Sparks is changed from an innocent and good young man to an executioner and murderer at the hands of Arienrhod and with the power their relationship gives him. Jerusha, the police inspector who becomes commander, is changed by the power she gains as well; although she does not become corrupted herself, she does lose a great deal of herself to the position she has taken on. Even Moon, the most good-hearted, well-informed, and well-intentioned character in the book risks losing that. As she realizes when she becomes Summer Queen, "becoming Queen did not mean absolute freedom, but the end of it" (528). As we see in Jerusha and Moon, however, power does not have to mean corruption. Jerusha resists that corruption and her position and prestige in order to do the right thing and we can only hope that Moon, in the following books of the series, will be able to do the same.

5) The concluding chapter includes a couple of statements that I, quite simply, really liked and was moved by. BZ Gundhalinu, a police inspector, tells Jerusha what he has learned through the painful experiences he has endured and says,

"A man without armor is a defenseless man. . . . But maybe he's a freer man for it. . . . Anything becomes possible, after you find the courage to admit that nothing is certain" (532).

In the same conversation, Jerusha tells Gundhalinu that the real danger of the world is indifference. It is, she says,

"the strongest force in the universe. It makes everything it touches meaningless. Love and hatedon't stand a chance against it. It lets neglect and decay and monstrous injustice go unchecked. It doesn't at, it allows. And that's what gives it so much power" (533).

These two concepts play a huge role already in my personal philosophy and it's nice to have them articulated so well here. ...less

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1 comments

Ashley

Ashley rated it:

01/06/08

bookshelves: science-fiction-and-fantasy

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: Anna

The most tragic romantic and melodramatic Sci-Fi novel of our time. The winner of the 1981 Hugo (Best Science Fiction novel) award, this book tackles the oppression of women, the subjugation of animals for human vanity, racism, and imperialism. The book is about the power-hungry and vain "Snow Queen" of the planet Tiamat, the "backwards" planet of the Hegemony's galaxy and the only source of the "water of life" that works like a fountain of youth. On Tiamat the &...more

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Anja

Anja rated it:

01/20/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: sci-fi readers

I spent hours and hours just trying to get through the first hundred pages of this book- it was not easy. This is a dense sci-fi book but unlike other sci-fis I have read is has a more in-depth stories and believable characters. Like all sci-fi books you really need to let go of this world to understand the world which The Snow Queen is set in.

Youth and beauty are the ultimate goals to the Winters living on Tiamat, The Snow Queen has ruled for the last century and a half stealing b...more

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Triffany

Triffany rated it:

06/12/07

Read in June, 2007

recommends it for: Science Fiction Lovers

I think if I followed Science Fiction writing better than I do, I'd have enjoyed this book more. The story line was fantastic, but it took me 1/2 the book just to get used to the names of places and people. That's no fault of the writer, just my feeble ability to assimilate new information.

Vinge has an art for the analogy and uses it often to bring the reader into her story, but she doesn't trust the reader to draw his/her own conclusions or parallels when reading the dialogue - this is de...more

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Karina

Karina rated it:

(review of isbn 0739459074)

12/26/07

bookshelves: own

Read in December, 2007

I rarely have stuff to say about books I really liked. It was excellent. I heard that the sequel wasn't so good, so I probably will simply cherish the hopes that the Summer Queen will succeed in everything, and that time will heal Sparks.

One of the small things I liked were the names: Sparks and Moon Dawntreader, Fate Ravenglass, Arienrhod. Another is the way a biohazard trefoil has sort of become a thing of beauty, divinity, or power; and deducing that the Old Empire must have been us -- E...more

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Fondren Library

Fondren marked it as to-read

05/12/08

bookshelves: summer-leisure-reading, to-read

recommended to Fondren by: Alice Rhoades

Fondren Library Has This Book: PS3572.I53 S58

Science Fiction-

The imperious Winter colonists have ruled the planet Tiamat for 150 years, deriving wealth from the slaughter of the sea mers. But soon the galactic stargate will close, isolating Tiamat, and the 150-year reign of the Summer primitives will begin. All is not lost if Arienrhod, the ageless, corrupt Snow Queen, can destroy destiny with an act of genocide. The author uses the popular folktale as the blueprint for this science fiction...more

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gabrielle

gabrielle rated it:

11/15/08

Read in November, 2008

Another one of my all-time favorites.

Like this review? yes

1 comments

Jake

Jake marked it as to-read

11/17/08

bookshelves: hugos--read-, to-read

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Todd

Todd added it

11/16/08

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Licinda

Licinda rated it:

11/11/08

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Eric Vincent Guilmette

Eric Vincent rated it:

11/07/08

bookshelves: read-non-graphic-and-fiction, read-not-owned

Read in January, 1983

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Mike

Mike rated it:

03/01/08

bookshelves: scifi-fantasy

This series opened my eyes to Joan D. Vinge and how well she can tell a story. There is no way to predict what will happen in this story until near the very end. Yes, she does have some of her own pet philosophies she throws into every book, but unlike Asimov or Greg Bear, they are easy to take. Who really cares if an author believes in preserving species or is against pollution? If you like Sci-fi and were looking for a new author, check out this series and Ladyhawke.

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2 comments

Tracy

Tracy rated it:

09/06/08

bookshelves: fantasy

Read in September, 2008

For a Hugo Award winner, I wasn't that impressed. While the characters and story were somewhat interesting, the writing style was rather flat. I also found the presentation of the "themes" to be rather blunt. Vinge was clearly trying to make points about feminism, exploitation, and tolerance. Rather than subtly weaving these things into the story, the discussion was often overt, which I found annoying.

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Luke

Luke rated it:

09/07/07

Read in September, 2007

I wish sometimes that goodreads had a category for books that you didn't really, really like, but that you thought were important and worth reading anyway. On the whole I felt that this was a little uneven. There were parts that the only way I could keep reading was to remind myself that this was written in 1980; but then again there were parts that I couldn't believe were written in 1980.

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Amie

Amie rated it:

11/25/07

This was my favorite book when I was 22-- it was one of those books that spoiled me for all other books for a while after reading it. The world is huge and rich. It was when reading Cloud Atlas years later that I realized that the science fiction I really like has the ability to take on culture in a big way-- it's kind of the straw man of anthropology. This book does that.

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Alex

Alex marked it as to-read

10/29/08

bookshelves: to-read

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Black Samvara

Black Samvara added it (review of isbn 0445205296)

10/29/08

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Anna

Anna added it

10/24/08

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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 4.00 (350 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 4.00 (339 ratings)
number of reviews: 28

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quote

""I am only a cup that knowledge holds. It does not to knowledge matter how poor the cup is. It is the wisdom of those who drink of me that me wise makes. Fools make a sibyl foolish, wherever she is." " more quotes »