Science Fiction & Fantasy Award Winning Book Group discussion

Hey everyone, this is for discussion of August's group book:
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Unless it’s a very general comment make sure you use spoiler code.
< spoiler>Comment< /spoiler> Without the spaces.

All I know about this one is it's got good reviews from people I trust and it's considered rather unusual in content.

I listened to this on Audible about a year ago, and most of my memories of it are feelings of "meh". I could have sworn I gave it 3 stars, but apparently I rated it 4 stars on GR. Might have to re-visit it to really figure out what my thoughts are on it.

I read this as a teenager. The only thing I remember about it is that I liked it so I'll probably reread it this month.

Chapters 1 - 3

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Interesting character and set up so far. You gain the idea of her life being very lonely and isolated and her only joy being her snakes and then the rarer of the three gets killed, which is brutal. Has an unusual feel to it but liking it so far.
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Chapters 4 - 6

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An interesting few chapters. Learning about the culture and way of life with the little villages was unexpected but it was done really well. I’m still waiting to find out more about where Snake is from and how that works. Sounds like a spiritual retreat of sorts where you go and learn this unusual snake based healing.
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Chapters 7 - 9

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The part with Ras abusing Melissa for all those years was disturbing to read. I’m now hoping he suffers some slow painful death before much longer but suspect that’s asking too much. I’m curious what will happen with the dreamsnake and this settlement; will they interact with them or are they just going to remain shut off.
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Chapters 1 - 3

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The only things that I remembered from my first read of this book were a tent, poisonous snakes and something bad happening. Those memories were all handled in these first few chapters. I'm interested to see if anything else is familiar as the book moves along.
Dystopias aren't my favorite genre but so far so good. I really like the idea of using snakes as a mobile pharmacy. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 4 - 6

(view spoiler)[ This looks like it's going to be a simple quest story as Snake tries to get another dreamsnake and she has adventures along the way. In this section she arrives in a small town whose mayor has more problems than just the infected wound on his leg. Snake tries to fix as much as she can. I thought that we would have learned more about her background by this point but it hasn't happened yet. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 10 - End
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So much happened in these last four chapters. I can’t guess what the function of the dome could of been originally but now it’s the salvation of the healers by providing them snakes and the knowledge to continue without needing to rely on others again. I didn’t see the need for a romance subplot in this at all. I suppose it’s nice to see that Snake can have relationships despite her unusual and hard lifestyle but still thought it a little odd.

I was a little disappointed that nothing was explained about North or the central city and their relutance to interact with anyone outside; plus their relationship with the ‘aliens’. My idea is that they have the knowledge of the dreamsnakes and have no wish to let others know it; wanting to keep a monopoly on it for themselves and so have a untouchable position.
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Overall I’m not sure if I liked it or not. I liked parts a lot but other sections not so much.

Jon, (view spoiler)[I was expecting it to be a little more developed at that point too. It just seemed to be taking it's time getting started.(/spoiler) (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 7 - 9

(view spoiler)[ Snake tries to finish cleaning up the mayor's mess and in the process picks up a 'daughter'. She also sends the mayor's son off on an adventure of his own. Arevin is on Snake's trail. It was nice to see a little of her past/training through his eyes. After all the buildup about Center and how it might help Snake and the healers, that confrontation was handled in just a few pages. I was a little disappointed there. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 10 - End

(view spoiler)[So Snake finally meets up with the 'crazy' that has been following her and through him learns of a place where she might be able to get more than one dreamsnake. She travels through the mountains and finds a melted dome that contains a variety of weird and interesting things and through her actions lives up to the expectations placed upon her when the healers named her.

The melted dome is a prime example of the biggest problem that I had with this book. Much like Joe said there is so much that is described but nothing is explained. Nuclear war, humans on other planets, aliens, the plastic domes, the dome being filled with alien plants some of which were trying to escape, the Center, healers have two earth snakes and one alien snake, what happened to Gabriel . . . The list goes on. There was so much in this book that just seemed to be casually thrown in. I'm surprised there doesn't seem to be a sequel or another story set in this same world. Maybe some of this was explained in the novella?

Joe, you're right about that insta-love plotline. That probably could have been handled in a different way.

Even with all of that I did enjoy it as a simple quest based story. I have to admit that after the first few chapters I didn't remember any of the story. I'm starting to wonder if I ever finished it the first time. (hide spoiler)]

Looks like I was wrong in my previous post. There's at least one other book set in the same world - The Exile Waiting. I might have to go find that one.

Jon,

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I found it to be throwing ideas into the mix but not explaining fully how they work together. I didn't know there was another book set in this world which I would now like to read. It was written before Dreamsnake too so hopefully might have some interesting insights.
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(view spoiler)[I was intrigued by the world. The city, the hints of offworlders, the domes. I was disappointed we didn't learn more about it. Particularly the mysterious domes. Does anyone have any guesses as to their origin or purpose? They didn't have a compelling reason to exist when we got so little info about them, imo.

Why did North suddenly decide to try to get bitten by the dreamsnakes, after (presumably) years of steadfastly avoiding it? It didn't make sense: it was explicitly stated that he was free from bites, and implied that he kept control of his followers by staying "sober". Why would he throw this away? I don't see how a confrontation with Snake relates.

The ending seemed contrived. A number of unlikely events had to happen: Snake had to escape, survive a confrontation with North and/or his followers, Melissa had to escape, and Arevin had to find them - all at once. After this unlikely series of events, it abruptly ended. I would have liked some kind of epilogue, at least, where the trio make their way to the healer's station, we get some glimpse of what is to become of North and co., and maybe something about the city as well. (hide spoiler)]

Jon wrote: "I have to admit that after the first few chapters I didn't remember any of the story. I'm starting to wonder if I ever finished it the first time."
I read this as a teenager and have absolutely no memory of it. It's quite funny to see you all talking about why this or that happened when the only thing that stuck with me was that a) Snake was cool and I loved her at the time and b) (view spoiler)[the snakes procreate in threesomes instead of pairs? Did that even happen or did I dream it? (hide spoiler)]
Which is a roundabout way of saying that I'm sorry not to be able to contribute more to the conversation about abrupt deadends and world-building holes.

Ryan wrote: "I was intrigued by the world. The city, the hints of offworlders, the domes. I was disappointed we didn't learn more about it. Particularly the mysterious domes. Does anyone have any guesses as to ..."

I think that Joe and I had the same problems with the world building. I have a copy of The Exile Waiting headed my way and maybe this will fill in some of those details. It was written before Dreamsnake.

It's been long enough since I read this that I don't remember enough to try and respond to some of your other questions. Maybe I'll reread this after The Exile Waiting. I used to reread novels all of the time and I haven't done enough of that lately.

Nick, b), yeah that's how I remember it too. Can't remember why though or if there was a reason given.

Yeah, the snakes procreated in threesomes. The reason was just that these snakes were extraterrestrial and had different biology.