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Summary: A Science Fiction Fairy Tale
Review: In my opinion, the one thing that makes Joan D. Vinge a great writer is her ability to create people you care about, who have their own goals and dreams and hopes, and who can not be easily defined as good or bad. This is even more true in "The Snow Queen", but is not, in itself, the real reason this book is one of a kind. Somehow, in this particular book, Joan Vinge found the exact blend of science fiction and fantasy to make you feel like you were at the same time reading a science fiction book about the conflict between an advanced federation of planets and a small primitive civilization and an old fairy tale about love and sacrifice. Its two sequences "World's End" - which you could easily skip - and "The Summer Queen", aren't in the same level, even though the later is also a great book.
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Summary: I tried, but couldn¿t relate
Review: Joan D. Vinge won the acclaimed Hugo Award with this re-telling of a Hans Christiansen Andersen story, set in a futuristic universe, where the Planetary Empire has fallen, and the Hegemony rules over some planets, keeping them out of the technological ring with the help of its governants. Arienhrod, the Snow Queen, is one of such governants, ruling the Winter in planet Tiamat. But the time of the Change has come, and Arienhrod has to step down from her throne. To prevent this, she creates a clone, named Moon, one of the summer people (who will rule Tiamat after the Change has been completed), and expects Moon to help her keep her high place. The plot is much more complicated than that, with lots of twists and many well-composed characters. Tiamat and its main city, Carbuncle, is also interesting, as is the governing system, the interaction between Tiamat and the Hegemony, the religious system of the planet and some other things. And yet, I couldn't bring myself to fully enjoy this book. Not that I didn't want to. I think what I didn't enjoy was Vinge's style of writing: it is too academic and slow. I was able to glimpse the beauty behind a layer of intelectual mist, but Vinge's sentences and chapters couldn't make me see the complete colors of her story. Unfortunately, I only kept reading because I thought there was some improvement toward the end. There was not. I'm certain this is a good book, but was wasted on me. Grade 6.0/10
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Summary: Big Themes, But A Bit Simplistic
Review: Moon Dawntreader Summer is a holy woman of her people - a mysterious sibyl, keeper of ancient knowledge. When she is accidentally removed from her planet of Tiamat, she discovers that the Galactic Hegemony purposefully keeps her planet in a technological stone age. Moon must return illegally to her planet to free her people and rescue her onetime lover, Sparks, from the clutches of the evil Snow Queen. Some great themes are explored in this Hugo-winning novel. The tension between primitive and technological societies is central. In addition, Joan Vinge writes about the conflict between duty to government and duty to oneself, and creates some fine science fiction style mysteries for the reader to ponder while awaiting the climax of the book. I thought the plot of this book moved a bit slowly, with too much time spent describing the angst experienced by most of the main characters throughout. In addition, the writing style was a bit too simplistic for my taste, with too much about the world being explained by the author before I had a chance to really wonder about what was going on. I think that younger science fiction readers would really enjoy this one, but those who have read a lot of sci-fi or prefer harder, more technically-driven writing would probably find it slow. Those seeking more "literary" sci-fi should probably avoid this book as well. Still, the book has its fans and a great following, and was recommended to me by someone whose opinion I respect. I'm sure The Snow Queen deserved its Hugo Award in 1981, but it's just not my cup of tea.
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Summary: a first-rate adventure, a future classic
Review: since i bought this book around four years ago i got hooked and read it maybe 3 to 4 times already. now i'm reading it again. it has the feel of dune yet more subtle. the visions, landscapes and people are amazingly vivid almost like i'm watching a star wars episode. i wish there'd be a film done on this.
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Summary: Space Opera on the grand scale.
Review: Taking as its general guide the fairy tale "The Snow Queen", wherein a brave little girl rescues her childhood friend from the cold-hearted titular queen, the novel forms a fantastic journey that only minimally resembles the fairy tale -- yet has surprising similarities. Those who love space opera will not be disappointed here. The scope is grand and awe-inspiring, reminiscent of Asimov's great Empire. The characters are richly drawn and complex, with even the "bad guys" having understandable motivations. The Snow Queen, Arienrhod, is desperately trying to keep her planet from losing its technological momentum as the planet moves away from the wormhole that connects it to the Empire for only 150 years at a time, which will bring about a long period of isolation. She is devious, artful, and wicked, and yet her general thrust isn't evil. She seems quite realistic to me. She spawns a clone, hoping that clone will be an exact duplicate of herself (in a merciless characterization that shows that the Queen may be devious, but she still doesn't know beans about the technology she's after). Moon, the clone, grows up with her lover and cousin, Sparks, but the two are separated, with Moon illegally leaving the planet and Sparks becoming the lover of the Snow Queen. Moon endures much hardship to get back to Sparks and win him back from her "mother", and she learns some interesting things about her planet and her people along the way. Vinge has come up with a believable mix of sf and fantasy. There are some cliches here (such as the "Old Empire" that seems to figure into EVERY grand epic), but they work within the context Vinge has created. Vinge has a gift for dialog and narrative that has rarely been duplicated, and quite a good hand as a storyteller. Her stories move without making you aware that you're BEING moved to her chosen destination. And oh my goodness, if I *ever* come up with a backstory half as cool as what Vinge has created for Carbuncle, I'll be happy to let you know about it. Very clever. And very thought-provoking. Vinge has created a series that actually *says* something. That's quite an achievement.
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Summary: The Snow Queen
Review: The book The Snow Queen, has a great plot development, and the characters seem to spring to life. I enjoyed it a lot because it had a lot of sub-stories that interact with each other, and show many points of view on one topic. I found the book a little hard to understand in places, but I suspect that it's because I'm not an adult reader.
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Summary: An exciting world to visit
Review: The many regions of the world of Tiamat were so well described that I still remember them, even though I read this book while in high school. Even minute details stand out to make this world seem real. Even more important, however, I still rememember the characters -- both good and bad and ... undecided. Was the heroine "too good to be true"? Maybe so. But in this book, I wouldn't have it any other way. Another type of heroine would not have suited this book. Anne M. Marble Reviewer, All About Romance
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Summary: A nice setting, with (unfortunately) weak storytelling
Review: The Snow Queen rules over one of the more interesting worlds that has been invented in Science Fiction. First, it is located close to a black hole (used for faster-than-light travel), but is only accessible at certain times, due to the stars orbiting the singularity. Secondly, the oceans of the planet contain a unique species, whose blood contains a lifetime-lengthening chemical (virus) that cannot be replicated anywhere else. The Snow Queen, named Arienrhod, trades the "water of life" for the technology her planet needs. The suppliers of the technology do their best to keep Arienrhod's people technologically ignorant to maintain their bargaining position. Further tension is added by Arienrhod's plotting to maintain her rule past "The Change," when the stargate closes and the people of the planet choose a new queen. To me, this was a terrific setup, with a wealth of possibilities. The racial conflict between the indiginous races on the planet, and even between the offworlders from different planets is well executed, if simplistic. Unfortunately, the details of the story are poorly carried through. You cannot develop sympathy for most of the characters (the police prefect is a notable exception) because they seem to shift their personalities at the whim of the plot. In addition, the writing is turgid - the subtitle could have been "flogging a dead horse," the author repeats herself so often. A more ruthless editor could easily have saved this novel by cutting 100-150 pages (of 450 or so). The end is especially bad, adding new motivations for the characters from nowhere, seemingly just to fill more pages. I am probably being harsher on the book than I should be. That is because with such a promising premise it was hard to read the morass that the story sunk into, and to accept the lack of strength of the main characters.
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Summary: A tale of colonialism in the stars
Review: The story of Tiamat, a world of change and adventure, its people mariners and hunters. It is a primitive world exploited and held captive by vastly more powerful civilizations, whose only wish is to loot its treasures for their own gain. The Snow Queen is the tale of Moon, a young girl of the mariner Summer people. She must learn who she is, what secret ties her to Arienhod, the Snow Queen, native ruler of her world. She must discover the truth behind the strange calling of the Sybil of which she is a part, and in the end, the true nature and fate of her world. A thrilling tale, mysterious and well written.
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Summary: Great ideas, execution worrying....
Review: The Winter Queen has as its basis a wonderful idea. I feel the problem was the execution. The idea of the changing from Winter to Summer, the sybils, the mers...all these are wonderful rich ideas, that should be taken further. I found the major problem was the writing style and "coincidence" factor which was streteched to far at times. Motivation also needs to be looked at, reasons should relate to action! But the ideas are here..unpredicitability does happen, and it is worth reading. Vinge can write, but I feel that this would have been a much more effective and slick tale if the "epic" feel had been left aside, and the concentration on the charcters and thier motivations without ultimate recourse to "conincidence" would have been unecessary. It is a nice read, but not a classic.
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