Perhaps it is still impossible at this stage of consciousness-raising to envision a woman character alone, uninvolved with a man…. [However, the heroine of "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" possesses] some degree of autonomy and, just as importantly, [is] involved in an interdependent relationship, rather than one in which the male takes the lead and the female is the submissive follower. The two give and take, sharing weaknesses as well as strengths. (p. 350)

Snake, the heroine of "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" rejects a relationship with a man until she has made amends with herself and her teachers for having lost one of the snakes on which her healing skills depend…. Snake impresses the reader as a human being, one who possesses skill, courage, and emotional understanding, rather than as the clichéd science-fiction female who may feel, but only the gentler emotions, and who certainly...