Reviews for The snow queen

The average rating for The snow queen based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-10-31 00:00:00 Ben Richards This is higher end political space opera that borrows a number of themes and central plot components from Frank Herbert's Dune, while creatively retelling the Han's Christian Anderson story for which it's named. I found much to like here. Vinge has quality prose skills and does a excellent job with both world-building and layering in a well thought out political structure. She has also peopled her narrative with strong, determined, intelligent central characters, all of whom are women. A nice change from the mostly male dominated SF of the period. Finally, she has deftly wrapped all of the above inside a complex, engaging plot that I found very entertaining. Yeah, this is science fiction done right and this story definitely deserves a wider readership. BACKGROUND/BACK-STORY From the wreckage of a large, powerful galactic empire, a small group of planets have organized into a consortium calling itself the Hegemony. The Hegemony is glued together by its ability to connect to member planets via leftover empire technology. These black gates (think miniature black holes/worm holes) allow instantaneous travel between the vast distances separating member planets. One of member planets (and the star of our tale) is Tiamet. However, because of a unique solar phenomenon, Tiamat is only accessible by the other Hegemonic worlds for 150 out of every 300 years. The rest of the time, Tiamat is completely isolated. Tiamat's importance to the Hegemony stems from it being the only source of the spice melange "water of life," a drug that completely retards the aging process. In order to keep Tiamat dependant on the Hegemony wares and thus allowing the Hegemony to keep itself drenched in the "water of life," Tiamat is prevented from establishing its own technology base. The "water of life"...must...flow. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION The government of Tiamat is matriarchal and constituted in a manner directly tied to the 150 year periods of access and isolation to the Hegemony. The population of the planet is radically divided into two groups that have a serious nasty on for one another. Group 1 is comprised of the Winters who rule during the 150 years of Hegemony access to Tiamat. The Winters are gadget-loving, hedonistic technophiles who welcome the hegemonic traders and all the advanced baubles they bring to make their lives comfy. Group 2 is comprised of the Summers who rule during the 150 years of isolation from the Hegemony. The Summers are environment-worshipping luddites tied to folk-traditions who despise both the Hegemony and the Winters for the devastation they cause to the environment, specifically the hunting to near extinction of the peaceful, marine-faring Mers (think adorable, highly intelligent sea otters larger than killer whales). PLOT SUMMARY Against this richly textured backdrop, the Snow Queen is a deftly executed example of the hero's coming of age journey that leads to a reordering of the status quo and a brighter future for the hero's people. To tell this tale, Vinge gives us 3 very strong central characters all of whom play a key role in the outcome of the story. First we have Arienhod, the titular Snow Queen. Arienhod has ruled for the entire 150 years of the Winter Cycle (thank you "water of life"). Now the time of the Change is approaching when a Summer Queen will be named and Arienhod will be become a sacrificial offering to usher in the new regime. As you might imagine, Arienhod doesn't like that plan and is working on an alternate arrangement that will keep her in power. Second, we have our hero, Moon Dawntreader Summer. Moon, a member of the primitive Summer tribe, pursues her life long ambition to become a "sibyl," a sacred position among her people similar to an oracle (the true nature of the "sibyl" is one of the mysterious of the story I don't want to spoil but I thought Vinge did a great job with the concept). To achieve her goal of becoming a "sibyl," Moon is forced to give up her relationship with her cousin/lover Sparks. The fall out from this relationship plays a pivotal role in the rest of the story as Sparks eventually comes to the attention of Arienhod. After assuming her role as "sibyl" and due in no small part to the loss of her relationship with Sparks, Moon finds herself on a voyage of discovery that will take her from Tiamat to the heart of the Hegemony and back again as she unravels the mystery of her ancestry, the purpose of the "sibyls" and the ancient legacy of Tiamat that holds the key to her planet's future. The final main player in our space drama is Jerusha PalaThion, my favorite character of the novel. Jerusha is a police inspector stationed on Tiamat and responsible for protecting the interest of the Hegemony by preventing unauthorized technology from being created. Jerusha acts as both obstacle to and facilitator of various plot components and ends up playing a crucial role in the final resolution of the story. Jerusha was the most three-dimensional of the novel's characters and thought Vinge did an excellent job with her. OVERALL Overall, I thought this was intelligent, well written space opera that deserves a far larger audience than it seems to have. My only gripe is that the pacing was a bit uneven at times and there were some dry parts that I thought could have been spiced up a bit. However, the story as a whole was very good and I would certainly recommend it for those that enjoy less action-based and more plot-focused science fiction. 4.0 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-03-06 00:00:00 Gary Squires [no, I'm not going to do it! I've already spent too much time this month on this book! I'm just going to copy and paste the comments I made in the group that inspired this read: my feelings about this book really turned around somewhere in the middle. the characters just really drove me up the wall. except for the intriguing Elsevier, everyone was so flat and static and uninteresting. the only dynamic character was Sparks, but his character change made little sense (except when viewed in context of the original fairy tale) and he was actually the most annoying yet boring character of all. I appreciated the focus on women and the exploration of issues that women have to deal with. but when you have a female villain who comes across as excessively petty and immature (even though she's over a century in age!), and a lead character whose sole motivation is her bizarre love for her pathetic cousin (who also happens to be the most uninteresting character)... I don't know how successful that exploration is. loved the universe, so intriguing. especially loved the sibyl Transfer concept. those two things were enough for me to enjoy the first part of this experience, and to not give it 1 star. but in the end the tedious characterization just made this such a fucking chore to get through, pardon the language. (hide spoiler)]