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ashlanswain 's review for:
Dreamsnake
by Vonda N. McIntyre
One of the things I like about science fiction is the variety--sometimes it's space battles Michael Bay would weep to produce, sometimes it's lovingly detailed descriptions of engineering challenges, and sometimes it's about what kind of people we will need to be in order to live in the world that might come. Dreamsnake is about an ambiguously distant future where different cultures coexist, sometimes uneasily, in a battered and largely abandoned world. The threads of old technology are important, but they're not enough; it's the connection of human relationships that knits both the society and the story together. The protagonist is a strong woman (but not of the "man in a dress" variety), bringing medical services to remote parts of the world and doing her part to keep humanity moving along. The antagonists have comprehensible motives, and fear and ignorance are the underlying enemies. Although I often dislike post-apocalyptic science fiction, I found Dreamsnake to be both an engaging and satisfying read.