Dream Snake
by Vonda N. McIntyre
Winner of Nebula and Hugo Awards
Published Year: 1978
Page Count: 318 pages
Medium Used: Kindle Paperwhite
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fantasy, 2024-read.
Rating: 3.25/5
Plot and Story Overview
Snake is a healer from a society of people who immerse themselves in training and genetic manipulation experiments to assist people with healing skills. Apparently, this story is taking place at a time in future after nuclear war has ravaged and destroyed many parts of Earth. She uses her three snakes - Mist, Sand and Grass (the DreamSnake) to heal and cure infections and other diseases for people scattered across the desert and mountainside. On one expedition, she accidentally loses her dreamsnake and that becomes a set back to her profession. She feels immense guilty to go back to her camp and ask for a new one because of the unavailability of these dreamsnakes with/to her people. Mist and Sand are genetically modified and when drugged, they produce antigens for several diseases. Grass, the dreamsnake, on the other hand is given by aliens and gives pleasant dreams and keeps the patient peaceful and happy in the process of dying. They haven't found a solution to creating or hatching more of these dreamsnakes in their laboratories because they didn't figure what conditions help/aid in the process of maturing the sperm, ova of these snakes and mate them to produce new offspring - and hence the dearth. They repeatedly request the other world aliens for these snakes but are stalled off by the intermediaries. So, when Snake needs a dreamsnake and cannot find it, she pairs up with a crazy man and goes in search of a man named North - who might be an alien harboring many such dreamsnakes. She doesn't know that she is jeopardizing hers and her adopted daughter's life in the process.
My Impressions reading this Book
First of all, I didn't get that this story is taking place at a time well ahead in future. The narrative and the settings felt surreal enough to convince me that the planet might be some place other than Earth. Some classics feel timeless and ageless but this book felt strictly belonging to the time it was written - I don't understand how but it felt old. Like reading a very quaint, old book/narrative which may or may not jive with the current readers. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two thirds of the book when there was a dearth of dreamsnakes and the main character, Snake, goes out on trials to find some for replacing her dead one. The turn to the story of a man named North harboring many of them and using them as a manipulation and control agents felt like a turn off. I wished she had conversations with the alien off worlders who are usually the source of these dreamsnakes and procured some for her people - would have been like true science fiction of the Arthur C. Clarke kind then!
I am deeply moved and touched with Snake's attitude towards these snakes. It's like she is a deep nurturer to all snakes, not only her snakes she uses in healing. I would recommend this to people who are interested in getting to know better of snakes - I have learnt a lot of stuff about their behavior and how to tame them. It might be a long time before the narrative in this book becomes a reality - using the snake produced poisons as antigens for diseases but it sets up a good precedent in naming the agents to use : snakes!!