Nebula Award Best Novel Winner

Dreamsnake

by Vonda N. McIntyre

Summary

Vonda N. McIntyre follows Snake, a healer who travels a post apocalyptic Earth using three serpents whose venom she transforms into medicine. When her rare dreamsnake dies, she sets out across deserts and isolated communities to find a replacement and continue her work. The novel weaves compassion, healing, and an inclusive vision of human relationships through a vividly imagined ruined world.

Historical Context & Significance

Dreamsnake won the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Awards, and it grew out of McIntyre's earlier novelette Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand.