The Snow Queen (Vinge novel)
Cover of first edition (hardcover) | |
| Author | Joan D. Vinge |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Leo and Diane Dillon Michael Whelan |
| Cover artist | Leo and Diane Dillon |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Snow Queen Cycle |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Dial Press |
Publication date | 1980 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 471 |
| Award | Hugo Award for Best Novel, Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (all 1981) |
| ISBN | 0-8037-7739-6 |
| OCLC | 5412267 |
| 813/.5/4 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.V78 Sn PS3572.I53 |
| Followed by | World's End (1984) |
The Snow Queen is a 1980 science fiction novel by American writer Joan D. Vinge. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1981, and was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1981.
Based on the 1844 fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, The Snow Queen takes place on a mostly oceanic planet called Tiamat. Tiamat's suns orbit a black hole, which facilitates interstellar wormhole travel and connects Tiamat to the rest of the civilized galaxy (the "Hegemony", the remnants of a fallen Galactic Empire).
The Snow Queen was influenced by the poet Robert Graves' 1948 study of mythology, The White Goddess.