History Literature / TheSnowQueenSeries

Tiamat is a mostly oceanic world which orbits a black hole, and seasons there last for hundreds of years. In the warm years, the Summer Queens rule and the planet reverts to primitivism; in the cold years, a single Snow Queen is kept perpetually at age 18 by the water of life, a youth serum extracted from the blood of the native "mers". In the Winter years The Hegemony, remnants of a once mighty star-spanning empire, are able travel through the nearby black hole to exploit Tiamat’s resourcesp; in the Summer years, the black hole becomes too unstable for space travel, and the planet loses whatever luxuries and technology it had.

* EvilAlbino: Arienrhod, although she is not so much evil as ambitious and decadent. However, [[spoiler: she did also try to kill her Summer subjects by infecting them with an offworld virus.]]

* HeroicAlbino: Moon Dawntreader, though not technically an albino, is described as having pale skin and hair like cream, with light green eyes the color of moss and mist agate.

The Snow Queen series, by Joan D. Vinge, is a series of four books set in the far future world of the Hegemony. The first and titular book, ''The Snow Queen'', is a multifaceted, old-fashioned SpaceOpera cast in the form of a high-tech fairy tale, with nods to ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' and [[Myth/CelticMythology Welsh Mythology]]. It won the 1981 Hugo Award for its author.

** In ''Tangled Up in Blue," [=LaisTree=] and Gundhalinu are facing death when the Hegemonic Police bust in [[spoiler: and turn out to be equally murderous bad guys, making this an aversion.]]

''The Snow Queen Series'', by Joan D. Vinge, is a series of four books set in the far future world of the Hegemony. The first and titular book, "The Snow Queen", is a multifaceted, old-fashioned SpaceOpera cast in the form of a high-tech fairy tale, with nods to ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' and [[Myth/CelticMythology Welsh Mythology]]. It won the 1981 Hugo Award for its author.

Basically there is something for everyone in this book: feminism, adventure, romance, empire building, love triangles, exotic cultures. A sequel, "The Summer Queen", was later written, as well as two ancillary novels, World’s End and Tangled up in Blue, which fill in the plot and answer questions about what happened between the two longer books. The books were published in this order:

** The Snow Queen (1981)
** World's End (1984)
** The Summer Queen (1991)
** Tangled Up in Blue (2000)

However, the timeline of the books is as thus:

** The Snow Queen
** Tangled Up in Blue
** World's End
** The Summer Queen

* MosesInTheBullrushes: attempted by Arienrhod.

* TheWoobie: BZ Gundhalinu suffers, nobly, through a lot of undeserved crap.

* EvilIsSexy: Arienrhod, and she is not afraid to use it.

* EvilisSexy: Arienrhod, and she is not afraid to use it.

* GoingNative

* {{Jerkass}}: Herne, and arguably [[spoiler: Sparks Dawntreader.]] Herne also qualifies as a JerkassWoobie before he's done.
* JunkieProphet

* SpiceofLife: Because of its youth-extending powers, The Water of Life is a hot commodity on the interstellar market.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In the course of the series, both BZ and Sparks, the two men who love Moon, will sacrifice their own happiness for her sake.

* NobleBigot: As a Kharemoughi Tech, BZ Gundhalinu begins the storyline by genuinely believing that his people are better than the rest of those in the Hegemony, and that the people of Tiamat are nothing but savages. That said, he does his best to protect those "savages," shows a lot of courage and integrity, and is unshakably loyal to the beleaguered [=PalaThion=]. KR Aspundh, another Tech, likewise deeply believes in the superiority of his own people (and unlike Gundhalinu, does not change his mind in the course of the story), but does not hesitate to do his duty in teaching Moon, even though he realizes this is not in Kharemough's best interests. He also keeps his word to look after his sister-in-law Elsevier, even though he doesn't share her cause, and may not even care for her.

** The planet of Kharemough, which dominates the Hegemony, has three castes: Tech, NonTech, and Unclassified. Techs are the highest, Nontechs comprise artists, and Unclassifieds act as Untouchables.

''The Snow Queen Series'', by Joan D. Vinge, is a series of four books set in the far future world of the Hegemony. The first and titular book, "The Snow Queen", is a multifaceted, old-fashioned SpaceOpera cast in the form of a high-tech fairy tale, with nods to ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' and [[Myth/CelticMythology Welsh Mythology]]. It won the 1981 Hugo Award for its author.

''The Snow Queen Series'', by Joan D. Vinge, is a series of four books set in the far future world of the Hegemony. The first and titular book, "The Snow Queen", is a multifaceted, old-fashioned SpaceOpera cast in the form of a high-tech fairy tale, with nods to ''{{Dune}}'' and WelshMythology. It won the 1981 Hugo Award for its author.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Arienrhod's goal in having herself cloned is to prevent Tiamat from voluntarily abandoning high technology during the Change, and position itself as a full partner in the Hegemony instead of as the victims of FantasticRacism. To that end, she commits murder, enables crime lords, and plots genocide.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Mers have never been known to harm a human, but humans slaughter them regularly, for the sake of their longevity-granting blood. [[spoiler: And then we learn they're ''intelligent''!]] Dillyps are shown several times as being considered less than human; it's telling that Arienrhod is ''relieved'' when she learns the intelligent being slaughtered at Starbuck's last Hunt was a dillyp.

* NobleBigot: As a Kharemoughi Tech, BZ Gundhalinu begins the storyline by genuinely believing that his people are better than the rest of those in the Hegemony, and that the people of Tiamat are nothing but savages. That said, he does his best to protect those "savages," shows a lot of courage and integrity, and is unshakably loyal to the beleaguered [=PalaThion=]. KR Aspundh, another Tech, likewise deeply believes in the superiority of his own people (and unlike Gundhalinu, does not change his mind in the course of the story), but does not hesitate to do his duty in teaching Moon, even though he realizes this is not in Kharemough's best interests. He also keeps his word to look after his sister-in-law Elsevier, even though he doesn't share her cause, and may not even care for her personally.

* CloneDegeneration: Three of Arienrhod's nine clones don't survive birth; five of the others are physically or mentally handicapped. Presumably averted with Moon herself, who is as intelligent and capable as her clone-mother. Arienrhod and Herne speculate harshly that this may have taken place nonetheless, as Moon lacks Arienrhod's callousness. BZ argues that Moon, as a clone, "could be better, for the things that were gained or lost inadvertently."

* NobleBigot: As a Kharemoughi Tech, BZ Gundhalinu begins the storyline by genuinely believing that his people are better than the rest of those in the Hegemony, and that the people of Tiamat are nothing but savages. That said, he does his best to protect those "savages," shows a lot of courage and integrity, and is unshakably loyal to the beleaguered [=PalaThion=] KR Aspundh, another Tech, likewise deeply believes in the superiority of his own people (and unlike Gundhalinu, does not change his mind in the course of the story), but does not hesitate to do his duty in teaching Moon, and keeps his word to look after his sister-in-law Elsevier, even though he doesn't care for her personally.