A review by melaninny
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
4.0
Part of an unofficial book club in which we read the books that have won both the Hugo AND Nebula, as featured in this article:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/the-novels-that-won-both-the-hugo-and-nebula-awards-ranked/
--
We're reading in article order, which means the author of said article thinks this one was the "worst" of the award winners.
If this is the worst, then I am highly looking forward to the next ones on the list. This book was equal parts eerie, immersive, and interesting. Having recently acquired a pet snake, I was ready for this to be some sort of weird fantasy with unrealistic snake magic. Instead it was post-apocalyptic science fiction and the snakes are portrayed (very accurately) as fairly brainless, relatively untrainable animals.
The plot... meanders. The pacing was definitely odd, not always in a way I disliked, just in a way that I was unaccustomed to. Our book club had trouble agreeing on why it was so odd or what would have made it better. One of us wished that it was longer and the first in a series, and I do agree that some of the world-building would make more sense if there were more books to come. Since it was written in 1978, that is clearly not the case.
I also enjoyed how progressive Dreamsnake was for its time. Is this the time period the rabid puppies want to return to? Because this book follows a female lead, a healer, on her journey. She is both soft and independent as a character, feminine and bold, and she doesn't wait around to be saved in the end. Peppered with details like the men being in charge of caring for the babies once they're born, and the odd use of "bio-control" birth control that requires both men and women to take equal responsibility for their reproductive health, and you have a complex look at gender roles transposed on a science fiction backdrop.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/the-novels-that-won-both-the-hugo-and-nebula-awards-ranked/
--
We're reading in article order, which means the author of said article thinks this one was the "worst" of the award winners.
If this is the worst, then I am highly looking forward to the next ones on the list. This book was equal parts eerie, immersive, and interesting. Having recently acquired a pet snake, I was ready for this to be some sort of weird fantasy with unrealistic snake magic. Instead it was post-apocalyptic science fiction and the snakes are portrayed (very accurately) as fairly brainless, relatively untrainable animals.
The plot... meanders. The pacing was definitely odd, not always in a way I disliked, just in a way that I was unaccustomed to. Our book club had trouble agreeing on why it was so odd or what would have made it better. One of us wished that it was longer and the first in a series, and I do agree that some of the world-building would make more sense if there were more books to come. Since it was written in 1978, that is clearly not the case.
I also enjoyed how progressive Dreamsnake was for its time. Is this the time period the rabid puppies want to return to? Because this book follows a female lead, a healer, on her journey. She is both soft and independent as a character, feminine and bold, and she doesn't wait around to be saved in the end. Peppered with details like the men being in charge of caring for the babies once they're born, and the odd use of "bio-control" birth control that requires both men and women to take equal responsibility for their reproductive health, and you have a complex look at gender roles transposed on a science fiction backdrop.