.jpg) Cover of first edition (hardcover) | |
| Author | Vonda N. McIntyre |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
Publication date | 1978 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 277 |
| Awards |
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| ISBN | 0-395-26470-7 |
Dreamsnake is a 1978 science fiction novel by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre. It is an expansion of her 1973 novelette "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand", for which she won her first Nebula Award in 1974.[1][2] The story is set on Earth after a nuclear holocaust. The central character, Snake, is a healer who uses genetically modified serpents to cure sickness—one snake is an alien "dreamsnake", whose venom gives dying people pleasant dreams. The novel follows Snake as she seeks to replace her dreamsnake after its death.
The book is considered an example of second-wave feminism in science fiction. McIntyre subverted conventionally gendered narratives by rewriting a typical heroic quest to place a woman at its center, and by using devices such as avoiding gender pronouns to challenge expectations about characters' gender identities. Dreamsnake also explored varying social structures and sexual paradigms from a feminist perspective, and examined themes of healing and cross-cultural interaction.
The novel was well-received, winning the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award, and the Locus Poll Award in 1979.[3][4] The strength and self-sufficiency of Snake as a protagonist were noted by several commentators. Reviewers also praised McIntyre's writing and the book's themes. Scholar Diane Wood wrote that Dreamsnake demonstrated "science fiction's potential to produce aesthetic pleasure through experimentation with linguistic and cultural codes",[5] and author Ursula K. Le Guin called it "a book like a mountain stream—fast, clean, clear, exciting, beautiful".[6]
- ^ Ashley 2007, pp. 23–26.
- ^ "Nebula Awards 1974". Science Fiction Awards Database. Locus. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ^ "Dreamsnake". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ^ "Vonda N. McIntyre Awards". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ^ Wood 1990, p. 63.
- ^ "Dreamsnake". The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. 54 (4–6): 31. 1978. Republication of Le Guin's comment in the book's blurb.