The Snow Queen

 The Snow Queen (1980) by Joan D. Vinge

On the planet Tiamet, a far-flung outpost planet of the Hegemony (a league of eight worlds, things are about to change. For eons, the Winter folk have held sway for 150 years while the Black Gate was open and trade could be commenced between Tiamet and the other worlds of the league. The Winters prospered, taken advantage of technology and the means to make their lives comfortable. The richest also take advantage of the "water of life," an agent harvested from the mers who swim the ocean, an agent that provides long-life to those who can afford it. Meanwhile, the Summers lived a simpler life--fishing and working the land. But after 150 years, the Gate closes and Tiamet is cut off from the other worlds. Offworlders leave and many of the Winters with them. They take all technology with them and leave the world in darkness. And the Queen of Winter, who has reigned (benefit of the "water of life") the entire 150 years gives place to the Summer Queen who rules according to Tiamet legend and Summer practices.

But this time, Arienrhod, the Winter Queen, has plotted to circumvent the descent into technological ignorance. She wants to live on--through a carefully chosen clone, outwit the Hegemony's officials, and keep technology. Does she want to do this to benefit the people of Tiamet? Not really--she just can't stand the thought of the Summers taking over again. And if she can't be the one to rule as Summer Queen, at least her clone can be groomed to take her place. That's almost the same thing...

Or is it? Of the nine clones implanted during the last cycle's festivities (masked revellers drinking and paring up in the grand finale), only Moon Dawntreader Summer is suitable. Moon doesn't know she's the Queen's clone. She doesn't know that the Queen has plans for her. She only knows that she wants to be a sibyl--one of Summer people's wise women (and men) who see visions and answer questions. But when she begins her journey, she learns that there is more behind the sibyls than a connection to the Lady (the Summers' goddess of the sea). Her knowledge brings her to the realization that she should be the Summer Queen....but not the Summer Queen that Areinrhod has planned. There is battle coming--not of weaponry--but a battle nonetheless for the future of Tiamet. Oh...and there's the battle for Moon's pledged love, Sparks, who was convinced to turn to the Queen when he thought he'd lost Moon forever.

I fell in love with this book when I discovered it back in the '80s. I had worked my way from Star Trek novelizations to Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov and other male science fiction authors and was finally finding the women of science fiction. Vinge is one of the early feminist SF writers and she writes a powerful story. The world-building is terrific and my teenage self connected with the young Moon and Sparks as they tried to find their place in the world. I was rooting for them to find each other again and live the life together they had dreamed. Reading it today, I appreciate the nuances of the story which reflected the tensions in late 1970s/early 1980s society...tensions that haven't gone away as we hoped they might. There are still the haves and the havenots. People are still judged by where they come from or who their parents were. The rich still get richer and everyone else has to make do...or live without. I still like the hope that's given at the end. A hope that if everyone works together we can make the future better...for everyone. Currently, it's not looking likely--at least not in the near future. But maybe one day.

The other thing that really draws me in is Vinge's characters. She gives each one, even those who are peripheral characters, a depth and reality that make the reader feel like they know them. Some, like Arienrhod and the first Starbuck, we may wish we didn't know--but Moon and Sparks and all those they meet along the way we are glad to have met. Most of them we'd want on our side if we were going to take on an oppressive government and those who wanted to keep us down.  

I gave this ★★★★ when I first read it and I see no reason to change that now.

First line (Prologue): The door swung shut silently behind them, cutting off the light, music, and wild celebration of the ballroom.

First line (1st Chapter): Here on Tiamet, where there is more water than land, the sharp edge between ocean and sky is blurred; the two merge into one.

There are two tragedies in life. One is never getting your heart's desire. The other is getting it.

Most people simply aren't unhappy enough with the known to trade it for the unknown.

Maybe everything we do is meaningless. But we have to try, don't we? We have to go on looking for justice...and settling for revenge.

"I love you," he whispered again, wonderingly, as he understood at last how a lifetime together with someone that you loved could seem like an eternity, and yet not be long enough.

Indifference, Gundhalinu, is the strongest force in the universe. It makes everything it touches meaningless. Love and hate don't stand a chance against it. It lets neglect and decay and monstrous injustice goe unchecked. It doesn't act, it allows. And that's what gives it so much power.: (Commander Geia Jerusha PalaThion; p. 462)

Last line: He smiled, and then he began to laugh; and together they started back through the abandoned halls--returning to Carbuncle, going home.