The Snow Queen Summary
Joan D. Vinge

The Snow Queen Summary

One major theme of The Snow Queen is that the indiscriminate pursuit and use of technology is immoral and can be disastrous. The other major theme is that wanton slaughter of any creature diminishes all humans and can also be disastrous. At the beginning of the book, Arienrhod subverts Hegemony technology to obtain an illegal clone of herself. Her goal is to use the clone to continue her own life once the fountain-of-youth elixir ceases to work on her original body. Arienrhod is also determined to make sure Tiamat becomes and remains a self-sufficient high tech world, a goal the Hegemony is equally determined to thwart since its rulers are dependent on the fountain-of-youth elixir. To obtain her goal, Arienrhod also plans to defy the traditions of her world as well as its natural laws. Tiamat's orbit between twin suns and a black hole causes major climatic changes...

(read more from the Short Guide)