Customer Reviews

Dreamsnake

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Vonda N McIntyre rose to fame with this book, which won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. I believe that this book represents a totally different form of science fiction from the type representative of John Campbell which is deeply scientific in nature. McIntyre is more concerned with characterization and this is what makes this story so unforgettable.

Snake, the protagonist is especially well drawn out, someone any reader can relate to, yet possesing her own character traits. Her sense of duty as a healer is well portrayed. In fact, most of the characters in the novel, with the exception of the villian North, were extremely well drawn.

This is essentially the tale of how Snake searches for a new Dreamsnake, which she uses to cure illnesses, and recounts the situations Snake finds herself in. The presentation of the post nuclear holocaust world and its distopic and fractured society is highly believable.

I agree that the story is somewhat fractured and that the plot seems to me to be stuck together, but McIntyre links it together brilliantly through her narrative. The narrative succeeds in casting a spell on the reader, such that the events no longer become the focus. My sister, when I asked her about the book several months after she read it, could tell me little of the plot, but commented on the lyrical quality of the narrative.

In conclusion, it is a captivating book, and worth reading.

This is a delightful and haunting mix of excellent, gripping prose, and a totally new idea for a sci-fi/fantasy novel. The protagonist uses snakes to heal people. I happen to love snakes and have several as pets, but to those of you who do NOT like snakes, get this book and read it! You'll love being freaked out by the author's excellent descriptions of her healing reptiles.

Not that the book is all about freaking out anyone: the story is that the healer's snake, Grass, gets killed by frightened villagers. This is a tragedy because all Grass ever did was help patient's feel comfortable and happy. Without Grass, she can't heal, so she goes on a quest to find another dreamsnake. A unique and interesting surprise ending reveals the origins of the snake.

Part adventure, part ancient medicine, part love story, this is a haunting, lovely book.

Dreamsnake is one of only 15 books to win both the Hugo and the Nebula. As such, I had high hopes for it, and I was not disappointed. True, it doesn't have ground-breaking vision of books like Gateway or Ringworld, but what it lacks there, it more than makes up in conventional world-building and, even more importantly, characterization.

The story takes place in a post-holocause Earth, where a limited amount of bio-technology is all that is keeping humanity to shrinking back to a hunter-gatherer society. The most obvious example of this is the dreamsnake, whose venom enables healers to ease the pain of the wounded, and comfort the dying. Snake, the main character, is such a healer. However, her dreamsnake is killed, and she must seek out another, or cease to be a healer. The story carries the reader from the Great Dessert, to the healer station where they breed dreamsnakes (with little luck), to Center, the sole spaceport where humans from off-world still come, and finally to the mysterious domes. And as we explore this compelling world, we also get to explore the inner workings of Snake, and see what makes her tick.

However, while the story is a very pleasing one most of the way through, one gets to the end and can't shake the feeling that the author left some important questions unanswered. This story is definitely ripe for a sequel, but McIntyre doesn't look to be very interested. Pity.

This would have to be my all-time SF/PAF novel of all time. It blew me away 20 years ago when I first read it, and I despaired of ever owning another copy. Go Amazon, you fantastic resource for us antipodean bibliophiles!

This book is truly an inspirational tale of feminine courage, resourcefulness and intelligence. It embraces both the feminine and masculine and celebrates them equally, but for their own uniqueness.

A highly trained woman with a gift in healing, not only physical damage, but psychological as well, she shares her gifts with all who cross her path. Her special relationship with her serpents as healing tools is magical, and the death of the most unusual of these is the impetus of her journey of discovery and self-discovery.

I urge you to take the journey yourself!

I picked this book up ten years ago for the silliest reason (it was next to Anne McCaffrey) and I haven't put it down since. This is one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite, science fiction book for many reasons. The first, and most trivial, is that I love snakes, and their starring role made this an appealing book. I especially like that they are a crucial plot element, and that McIntyre gets FAR away from the traditional views of snakes as evil. Moving on, I have found myself thinking of the characters many times in other contexts and find them to be well-drawn. Whenever I read it, I wish that Arevin had a larger part, but it is Snake's book, not his. I read this when I was 13 and the sexuality in it was a revalation. Looking back on it, I realize that it was age appropriate for me then (a mature 13) and it still is now. I agree that North is a fairly thin villian, but that is more than made up for me by the intriging bad guys in the dome. I have also always wanted to know what their story was. I own two copies--my paperback, and a hardcover that I was elated to find at a used book store for $2.50! I also like the scientific emphasis of it, though it is set in such an uncivilized world.

I really enjoyed slipping into the mind of McIntyre for a few hours as I followed Snake (the heroine) around a strange and hopefully alternate future. Part of what I enjoyed is that McIntyre left the reader in just as much confusion over aspects of how this future world worked as she did her protagonist. So as her protagonist found some new knowledge or discarded old false ideas, so did the reader.

There is one thing that I would like to point out for anyone who has not read this book yet, and that is don't go into this expecting your usual form of science fiction here. This is more of a mystical journey where the mood created by the author is half of the fun. I kind of equate this book with the 'Kin of Ata are Waiting' in writing style. Other than that it is unusual against the books that I have stumbled across.

I would highly recommend this book as a light and un-taxing read. It is not Pynchon or Proust, just a gentle pleasant story.

First, I will have to admit that I have not liked other Vonda McIntyre books I've read - the only reason I picked this one up was because it won the Hugo AND the Nebula, so it seemed like I should read it. After a bit of a rocky start (VM seems too rushed in trying to set up the initial crisis that you haven't developed any empathy for the heroine yet), you get engrossed in the story of a healer in a post-apocolyptic world that uses snakes as a type of hypodermic needle. When suitably drugged, her rattlesnake and cobra produce antitoxins and medicines instead of venom. The titular dreamsnake is an alien species of snake whose venom produces an analgesic/anesthetic effect, which the healers use instead of traditional drugs for the very ill. When the heroine's dreamsnake is killed by a superstitious tribesman, she blames herself and sets off on a quest to atone for the loss (i.e., finding more dreamsnakes).

As mentioned, the initial crisis, the death of the dreamsnake, occurs before you know (or care) much about the world and the heroine. Perhaps it was written this way on purpose, but it doesn't work. It isn't really until half-way through the book that you start to get into the story, but the wait is worth it. By that point, you're drawn into the world and begin to understand it. The same can be said of the healer, you've finally got to know her and like her.

The other characters are not as well written, and you care little for them. This is not a major drawback, because most of the other characters are of minor importance, existing primarily to further the plot. The story itself is engrossing, and contains a number of loose ends where sequels could be possible, but oddly, McIntyre has not written one. These "jagged edges" seem realistic to real life, if a little frustrating.

Overall, it's a good book, and enjoyable to read. You'll have to trust me on that, because after the first 30 pages, you'll be thinking otherwise, but stick with it and you'll be rewarded.

Reading this book is like dreaming, except that it makes sense.

Now that Vonda McIntyre is famous, everybody loves this book. I loved it before anybody had ever heard of her, when the book was still a short story, called Grass. (In case you don't 'get it,' that's the name of one of the heroine's snakes.) The short story eventually became the first third or so of the novel, and there's still a timeless, lyrical, almost ecstatic quality to that part of the book that gradually disappears during the rest of the story, and rightly so.

The story is about a healer who uses snakes as assistants and their bite as medicine. When she loses her healing snake, she must undertake a journey to find another.

Like many 'journey novels,' Dreamsnake's strength is not in the plot but in the characterization. The heroine's insights, strengths, and fears make her so real that you feel deprived when the book is over, except that she will stay with you forever after, both in your dreams and out.

McIntyre has written many wonderful books now, but this one is still my favorite. It's one of my 'top six best science fiction works of all time' picks.

This is my all time favorite book ever!

I am actually an avid murder mystery buff and dabble in fantasy, sci-fi, and other fiction. But I became totally immersed in this story.

I was first given this book to read when I was in high school, by my mother who had always feared snakes (as the people at the beginning of the book). So unlike others, I thought the beginning did work. Snake knew nothing about the people and the people knew nothing about her. The reader was just as "clueless" about the significance of the snake and the fear of the people as the characters were.

As Snake's plans are constantly diverted by events as she initially attempts to return home defeated, we come to know Snake a little more and a little more. Like real life, you don't know everything about her upfront. You don't understand her but you are intrigued and keep reading.

Things turned out very different than Snake ever imagined. Sometimes life is like that.

I re-read this book in my early 20's and now at 34 just listened to the unabridged audiotape (since a working mom has no free time except the work commute!) This is the book I turn to when I feel like what I am doing has little meaning or worth. I use it to go on a mental journey and refocus.

I have now addicted my husband who listened to Dreamsnake on a 24 hour drive to Arkansas and is listening again, looking for excuses to keep driving the car, just to listen a little longer.

I found this Nebula award-winning book when it was first published in 1978 and have read it nearly once a year since. The protagonist, Snake, is a profoundly caring healer with a mission for knowledge that will help post-apocolypse earth. I've found the characters intriguing for years and the ideas simmer in my mind much of the time. I love this book and care about these people. Snake's empathy for those on her lonely path and her courage in making necessary, hard choices make her a compelling hero. Thank you, Vonda N. McIntyre, wherever you are, for this beautiful story