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29th Jan '13 5:09:34 PM Xtifr

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''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 space opera cast in the form of a high-tech fairy tale, with nods to Dune and Welsh mythology. It won the 1981 Hugo Award for its author.

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 kept perpetually at age 18 by the water of life, a youth serum extracted from the blood of a native sea mammal. 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 resources and use it as an R n’ R stop; in the Summer years, the black hole becomes too unstable for space travel, and the planet loses whatever luxuries and technology it had.

The story begins when Arienrhod, a Winter Queen whose reign is soon to end, seeks to break the cycle of exploitation by cloning herself among the Summer fisherfolk, with the idea of retrieving her daughter at adolesence and having her reign as the next Summer Queen. However Moon, her clone daughter, has other ideas for her life; raised among simple villagers, she falls in love with her cousin Sparks, becomes a sacred advisor/prophetess known as a Sibyl, and is kidnapped and taken off-world where she learns the true nature of the sibyl network and the decay of the forner Empire. Sparks, meanwhile, travels to the capitol city of Carbuncle to find his fortune and becomes the Snow Queen’s lover and chief huntsman responsible for the slaughter of the sacred mers that provide the means to eternal youth. This is only the rough outline of the plot.

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

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!!Contains examples of:

* AfterTheEnd: The Hegemony is all that remains of a once mighty human starfaring Empire.
* AIIsACrapshoot
* BizarreSeasons: Though the exact length in Earth years of Tiamat's two seasons is never explicitly stated, Arienrhod reflects she has barely been given two (human length) lifetimes for her reign, so 160 for each is a good guess. Enough to turn over 8 generations.
* BlindSeer: Fate Ravenglass. She even has a [[ThirdEye third artificial eye]] in the form of a band across her forehead.
* CloningBlues: Moon differs significantly from her clone-mother Arienrhod.
* CoolChair: Arienrhod's throne is made from clear, ornate glass, with a velvet cushion for her head.
* CorralledCosmos: The Hegemony comprises at least eight planets, but because interstellar travel is only possible through black holes, they are in actuality thousands of light years apart.
* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Sparks Dawntreader, who is half Kharamoughi (a dark-skinned offworlder race.)
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: Arienrhod's nobles are described as favoring bizarre, androgynous fashions and trying to play-kill each other with stunguns. They are also hinted to have group sex with each other.
* DiabolicalMastermind: The Source, who also TheFaceless because of his aversion to light.
* 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.]] 
* EvilisSexy: Arienrhod, and she is not afraid to use it.
* FantasticCasteSystem: There are several.
** The Tiamatans are divided into two great clans, Winters and Summers. Winters favor technology and dominate when the offworlders reside on Tiamat, while Summers are more religious and primitive, and dominate when the offworlders leave.
** 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 planet of Samathe has two: Talls (normal humans) and Shorts, who have been dwarfed by genetic damage.
* FantasticDrug: The Water of Life, the youth serum extracted from the blood of mers.
* GoingDownWithTheShip: Elsevier.
* GoingNative
* 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.
* ImmortalityImmorality: The wealthy, decadent few who can afford to take the Water of Life.
* LoveTriangle: Moon, Sparks, and BZ Gundhalinu; also Arienrhod, Moon, and Sparks. 
* {{Jerkass}}: Herne, and arguably [[spoiler: Sparks Dawntreader.]]
* JunkieProphet
* MasqueradeBall: These are held by the Snow Queen to honor the Hegemony's periodic visits. Moon was implanted in a Summer woman at one of them.
* NewMeat: BZ Gundhalinu.
* ReentryScare: When Elsevier takes Moon back to Tiamat, their ship is shot down. 
* SapientCetaceans: The mers, even though they are more seal-like. They sing like whales though.
* SingleBiomePlanet: Tiamat is a water world with a few scattered islands.
* SpiceofLife: Because of its youth-extending powers, The Water of Life is a hot commodity on the interstellar market.
* StarcrossedLovers: Moon and [[spoiler: BZ Gundhalinu]].
* SuperVillainLair: The Royal Palace, which is full of CCTV networks so Arienrhod can spy on her court, as well as a bottomless pit filled with dangerous winds all visitors must cross.
* ViceCity: The capitol city of Carbuncle, because, acording to the author, "It can be either a jewel or a fester, depending on your point of view." In Winter times, it is a city dedicated to the pleasure of the offworlders, and criminal gangs, smugglers, and worse run rampant.
* WorldBuilding

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22nd Sep '12 1:17:43 PM CoolKitten

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6th Apr '12 9:35:47 PM Neurotica