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Recommendations based on The Snow Queenby Joan D. Vinge
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A Fire Upon the Deep
by Vernor Vinge
An interstellar adventure of exploration, uncovering a powerful and mysterious force.
An expedition from Straumli Realm, an ambitious young human civilization in the high Beyond, investigates a five-billion-year-old data archive in the low Transcend that offers the possibility of ... (Wikipedia)
Snow Crash
by Neal Stephenson
A hacker's quest in a futuristic America dealing with a mysterious computer virus.
Hiro Protagonist is a hacker and pizza delivery driver for the Mafia. He meets Y.T. (short for Yours Truly), a young skateboard Kourier ( courier ) who refers to herself in the third person , during ... (Wikipedia)
A Deepness in the Sky
by Vernor Vinge
A futuristic story of two civilizations clashing on a distant planet.
The Qeng Ho arrive at the OnOff star shortly before the Emergent fleet, a few years before the sun turns on, at which point the Spider civilization will "wake up" and continue its climb into a ... (Wikipedia)
The Bone Doll's Twin
by Lynn Flewelling
A young princess must confront her hidden destiny to save her kingdom from destruction.
For three centuries a divine prophecy and a line of warrior queens protected Skala. But the people grew complacent and Erius, a usurper king, claimed his young half-sister's throne. Now plague and ... (Wikipedia)
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
by Robert A. Heinlein
Revolutionary group fight for freedom from an oppressive lunar colony.
In 2075, the Moon (Luna) is used as a penal colony by Earth's government, with three million inhabitants (called "Loonies") living in underground cities. Most Loonies are criminals, political exiles, ... (Wikipedia)
Doomsday Book
by Connie Willis
A time-traveling historian struggles to contain a deadly pandemic in the Middle Ages.
For Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi ... (Goodreads)
Mirror Dance
by Lois McMaster Bujold
A genetically-engineered clone confronts his identity and struggles to overcome destiny.
Mark, Miles Vorkosigan 's clone , masquerades as him and dupes his mercenary force, the Dendarii, into undertaking a mission to free clones held "prisoner" on Jackson's Whole, an anything-goes ... (Wikipedia)
The Gate to Women's Country
by Sheri S. Tepper
In a post-apocalyptic world, women and men live in separate communities. A woman's discovery of a forbidden truth threatens the status quo.
The Gate to Women's Country is set in the future, 300 years after a nuclear war destroyed most of human civilization. The book focuses on a matriarchal nation known as Women's Country , and ... (Wikipedia)
Excession
by Iain M. Banks
An interstellar culture encounters an enigmatic, ancient entity and must grapple with its implications.
The Excession of the title is a perfect black-body sphere that appears mysteriously on the edge of Culture space, appearing to be older than the Universe itself and that resists the attempts of the ... (Wikipedia)
Redshirts
by John Scalzi
A group of space explorers uncover an unlikely conspiracy while on a mission to an alien planet.
In the prologue, several senior officers of the Intrepid , flagship of the Universal Union, lament the unusually high number of casualties of low-ranking crew members during recent away missions and ... (Wikipedia)
Ringworld
by Larry Niven
A sci-fi adventure to an artificial ring-shaped world, full of unexpected challenges.
On planet Earth in 2850 AD , Louis Gridley Wu is celebrating his 200th birthday. Despite his age, Louis is in perfect physical condition due to the longevity drug boosterspice . He meets Nessus , a ... (Wikipedia)
The Many-Coloured Land
by Julian May
Adventure into an alternate reality, where humans and alien species fight for control.
When a one-way time tunnel to Earth's distant past, specifically six million B.C., was discovered by folks on the Galactic Milieu, every misfit for light-years around hurried to pass through it. Each ... (Goodreads)
War for the Oaks
by Emma Bull
A fairy tale of music, magic, and a young woman's journey of self-discovery.
Acclaimed by critics and readers on its first publication in 1987, winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel, Emma Bull's War for the Oaks is one of the novels that has defined modern urban ... (Goodreads)
Stranger in a Strange Land
by Robert A. Heinlein
A human raised by Martians must find his place in a hostile Earth society.
The story focuses on a human raised on Mars and his adaptation to and understanding of humans and their culture. It is set in a post- Third World War United States, where organized religions are ... (Wikipedia)
Hyperion
by Dan Simmons
Epic science-fiction story of a journey to the distant planet Hyperion.
In the 29th century, the Hegemony of Man comprises hundreds of planets connected by farcaster portals. The Hegemony maintains an uneasy alliance with the TechnoCore , a civilisation of AIs . Modified ... (Wikipedia)
The Dispossessed
by Ursula K. Le Guin
A sci-fi exploration of utopian and dystopian societies, and the struggle for a better world.
Librarian note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN, 9780061054884,. Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the ... (Goodreads)
The Left Hand of Darkness
by Ursula K. Le Guin
A diplomat's mission to a distant planet, exploring themes of gender and identity.
The protagonist of the novel is Genly Ai, a male Terran native, who is sent to invite the planet Gethen to join the Ekumen, a coalition of humanoid worlds. , Ai travels to the Gethen planetary system ... (Wikipedia)
The Fall of Hyperion
by Dan Simmons
Epic space opera, exploring the consequences of a universe-shattering event.
The Hegemony is an interstellar governmental entity formed by many planets, most of which are connected by instantaneous farcaster portals. Some worlds, like Hyperion, have no farcaster portals and ... (Wikipedia)
Paladin of Souls
by Lois McMaster Bujold
A fantasy tale of a woman facing her own dark past to save her kingdom.
In a land threatened by treacherous war and beset by demons, royal dowager Ista, released from the curse of madness and manipulated by an untrustworthy god, is plunged into a desperate struggle to ... (Goodreads)
Second Foundation
by Isaac Asimov
A quest to find the mysterious force controlling the fate of the galaxy.
Part I is about The Mule 's search for the elusive Second Foundation, with the intent of destroying it. The executive council of the Second Foundation is aware of The Mule's intent and, in the words ... (Wikipedia)
Uprooted
by Naomi Novik
A young woman's battle to save her home from a magical force, while uncovering secrets of her past.
“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human ... (Goodreads)
A Man Rides Through
by Stephen R. Donaldson
A journey through a post-apocalyptic world, as a man seeks redemption.
In The Mirror of Her Dreams, the dazzling first volume of Mordant's Need, New York Times bestselling author Stephen R. Donaldson introduced us to the richly imagined world of Mordant, where mirrors ... (Goodreads)
The Demolished Man
by Alfred Bester
In a world where telepathy is the norm, a wealthy businessman plans a murder, but a telepathic detective is on his trail.
Ben Reich is the paranoid, impetuous owner of Monarch Utilities & Resources, a commercial cartel that the Reich family has possessed for generations. Monarch Utilities & Resources is in danger of ... (Wikipedia)
This Immortal
by Roger Zelazny
Conrad Nomikos, an immortal, escorts a group of tourists through a post-apocalyptic Earth while dealing with political intrigue and personal demons.
After being devastated by a nuclear war, the Earth is a planet with a population of only 4 million, overrun by a variety of mutated lifeforms. Worse, much of the Earth is now owned by the Vegans, a ... (Wikipedia)
Foundation and Empire
by Isaac Asimov
A quest to save the Galactic Empire from destruction, featuring advanced science and politics.
The first half of the book, titled "The General", tells how the enterprising General Bel Riose of the Galactic Empire launches an attack against the Foundation. The Empire still retains far more ... (Wikipedia)
The Mirror of Her Dreams
by Stephen R. Donaldson
A woman's quest to discover her true identity amidst a fantastical world of dreams and magic.
Terisa Morgan opens the series living a vacant life, supported by her father from afar and volunteering at a mission for lack of anything more purposeful to do with her time. She fills her apartment ... (Wikipedia)
Stalking Darkness
by Lynn Flewelling
A young thief and his mentor are caught up in a dangerous game of politics and magic, as they try to uncover a sinister plot.
With the Leran threat laid to rest, Alec and Seregil are now able to turn their attention to the ancient evil which threatens their land. The Plenimarans, at war with Skalans, have decided to defeat ... (Goodreads)
The Last Unicorn
by Peter S. Beagle
A magical journey of a unicorn seeking to restore her lost kind.
The story begins with a group of human hunters passing through a forest in search of game. After days of coming up empty-handed, they begin to believe they are passing through a Unicorn's forest, ... (Wikipedia)
Tailchaser's Song
by Tad Williams
A young cat sets out on a perilous journey to find his friend, encountering danger and magic along the way.
The novel is set in the world as cats see it, with humans being mysterious and distrusted creatures in the eyes of feral cats . The cats see themselves as the first and most important species; the ... (Wikipedia)
Parable of the Sower
by Octavia E. Butler
A post-apocalyptic story of survival, hope, and the power of community.
This highly acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from award-winning author Octavia E. Butler "pairs well with, 1984, or, The Handmaid's Tale," (John Green,, New York Times,)–now with a ... (Barnes & Noble)
