Tangled Up in Blue

by Joan D. Vinge

Book Overview

In a novel set on the world Tiamat, two groups of policemen show up at an unauthorized raid of a warehouse full of forbidden smuggled technology with deadly results.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312871961
• ISBN13: 9780312871963
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

On a Vinge Kick...excellent addition

It was so wonderful to see another addition to the Classic "Snow Queen" Series from Joan D. Vinge. I was wholly impressed with this prequel story and a look at chararcters made famous by her. BZ Gundhalinu, a fav of mine, starts to show some of the spark that made him so endearing to me through "The Snow Queen" and "Worlds End" and on into "The Summer Queen." It was nice to see some of the events that so affected his life and were alluded to in the later books. I liked the new characters introduced as a foil for the story, and though I was not as attached to them as I was to poor tortured BZ, they kept my attention throughout the story. It was nice to see Mundilfore again as well, as sinister and slippery as ever! I was electrified by the "Artifact" that was the center of the story in this novel, and immediately recognized the signifcance of it for one Reede Kullervo! It was nice to see how the Sibyl net had allowed that to become "common" knowledge for the Golden Mean as well as for the Brotherhood! Ms. Vinge another outstanding addition to your already impressive library...I can only hope my own books will be as well recieved!

Tangled up in Noir

In "Tangled Up in Blue," Joan D. Vinge returns to Tiamat, and creates a hard-boiled nourish tale with some of the same characters who appeared in "The Snow Queen" trilogy ("The Snow Queen," "World's End," and "The Summer Queen). This time out Vinge zooms in on what starts out as a personality conflict between police sgt. B.Z. Gunhalinu, familiar to Vinge's readers, and officer Nyx LaisTree. Eventually the two are forced to team up to thwart a conspiracy that reaches into the highest levels of the police force, and the Tiamat government. Other familiar characters from the "Queen" novels pass through--Jerusha PalaThion, Fate Ravenglass the Maskmaker, the Snow Queen herself, along with her consort Herne, but Vinge keeps her cold eye directly on the action at hand, which involves vital pieces of the "Maguffin" tech (never mind what--it hardly matters) that everybody wants.With its naive, conflicted heroes, who never quite figure out what's going on, the tale owes as much to Raymond Chandler as to the "Masters of Science Fiction." Chandler once wrote in a letter that he was interested in "the strange, corrupt world we live in," and while Tiamat's world is hardly Chandler's LA, the same thing could be said of it.The action moves along swiftly, convincingly, and skeptically. (That's hardly a surprise, as most of Vinge's later work has turned more cynical. She's surely unafraid to give her loyal readers something they haven't expected, and her chance-taking is to be admired.) While "The Snow Queen" novels (and they're surely among sci-fi's masterpieces), are epic and mythological, this time out, Vinge is more detail-oriented. Imagine a Bosch canvas with a corner blown up and tricked up as a miniature portrait.

far future Noir!

thank you Joan Vinge for returning me to one of my favoriteworlds of SF, Tiamat. This sf novel skillfully combines the seedy nature of film noir and dazzling imagination of far future sf as she tells us a gripping story of corruption, murder and intrigue that threatens a interstellar civilization!Hegemonic cop, Nyx Laistree and his partners are vigilante cops who destroy property of criminals who are above the law but one of their raids go wrong and they are all killed except for Tree who loses his memory in the attack. He is suspended from the force and must try to figure out what happen that night.Tree only allies are by-the book sergeant Gundhalinu who hates him and mysterious shapeshifter prostitute with her own agenda.this novel is filled with scenes of deception and characters who motives no one can be sure of. This leads to a thrilling climax and final denoucement against the villians.Vinge's world-building skills are still amazing as she takes us once again to her beautiful world of Tiamat with the ruthless Snow Queen, the honorable Hegemonic police, the sinister crime lord called the source! Gripping entertainment not to be missed!

Vinge has written another winner

In Tangled Up In Blue, Joan D. Vinge returns to the universe of her Hugo-Award winning novel, The Snow Queen, with another top-notch adventure. Set on the world Tiamat, the book takes place in the city of Carbuncle during the reign of the Snow Queen. Several officers in the police force carry out an unauthorized raid on a warehouse chock full of forbidden smuggled technology. Unexpectedly, two other groups of officers show up--and what should have been a simple raid goes explosively wrong.It fast becomes clear that far more is going on here than your garden-variety smuggling. The complications faced by the officers in blue are soon folding one on top the other, all of it tangled up in the machinations of the Snow Queen and the intrigues of enigmatic offworlders.Tangled Up In Blue is a stand-alone novel, so you don't have to know the other Tiamat books to enjoy this one. New readers may find it a bit hard at first to follow the world-building, but it comes together fast. The story pulled me in and kept me reading all night. It also made me want to read The Snow Queen again.However, comparing Tangled Up In Blue to the The Snow Queen is like comparing a sapphire to a diamond. Both are gems, but different. The Snow Queen is a sweeping adventure in the tradition of The Heritage of Hastur, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Lord Valentine's Castle, by Robert Silverberg. Blue retains the emphasis on character and world-building of those books, but with less of the planetary sweep and more focus on the events unfolding in Carbuncle. It also has an edgier feel, bringing forward the action and mystery aspects of the plot.This book combines a sensibility of today's science fiction with the best of the qualities that brought many of us to the genre. Vinge's work takes the sense of wonder that defines the top science fiction and blends it with a depth of world-building. At the same time, she has a gift for characterization. She can catch the bittersweet quality of human interaction and make a reader care about the people she creates. Subtly worked into the weave of her stories, those threads offer thoughtful insights into human nature.If there was anything I wanted to see more of in Tangled Up In Blue, it was, well -- more. The story is complete, but the novel is on the short side. It leaves some tantalizing loose ends, encouraging the reader to hope that more of Vinge's rich Tiamat stories are yet to come.Tangled Up In Blue has it all: a fast-paced plot that won't let go until its thrilling climax, clever ideas drawn from science, romantic interludes, a great cover by Michael Whelan, and a plot with more twists and turns than the exotic alleys of Carbuncle. Vinge has written another winner.

TUiB: "Buddy Cop" Noir set in the Tiamatan Underworld

Returning her focus to the planet Tiamat at the end of the Snow Queen's reign, Joan D. Vinge provides a bittersweet vignette of pain, loss, vengeance and recovery that will no doubt leave many loyal readers ecstatic that they are allowed to glimpse some of their favorite characters in action again, while simultaneously saddened that the trip is over all-too-quickly after such a long wait.A group of the cops (known as Blues for their uniforms) that serve as the peacekeepers between the Tiamatan natives and the offworlders have turned vigilante -- the only method left to them for serving justice while their official capacity is left impotent by the local politics. Their actions land them in the middle of a literal crossfire between two warring factions of a secret society, and the criminal underworld manipulated by the Snow Queen herself. Two survivors from different elements of the bloody massacre, Patrolman Nyx LaisTree and Sergeant BZ Gundhalinu (!), must come to grips with their far-reaching political and societal differences in order to solve the mystery of exactly who the other participants in the slaughter were, and what they were after. The story follows them on their journey through the spectrum of grey that is life in the criminal underworld of the city of Carbuncle."Tangled Up In Blue" is an expertly solid retelling of vice cop drama set in the lavish reality that Vinge created over the course of the original epic. The brilliant rookie officer from high society, our young Sergeant Gundhalinu from the original stories, must begin to apply his theories of justice to the realities of law enforcement. The more weathered beat cop with a tragic past, Tree, plays the loose cannon as he goes on a regulations-be-damned trip through the seedy side of Carbuncle to determine who is responsible for the death of his older brother. While running headlong down his suicidal path, Tree also finds himself under the spell of the wildly attractive Devony Seaward, a shapeshifting, prostituting informant for the Snow Queen. The questions become: Is it remotely possible Dev has fallen for Tree as well? Can these loners overcome their hardened fears and distrust and bridge the gaps between them? Will they even survive the climactic fray?While some readers may argue that not much new ground is covered in terms of the basic elements of noir storytelling, it must be argued that Vinge is a mistress of playing the heartstrings to full effect. There is something to be said for taking a formula and executing on it so well.The feel of the book is a particularly enjoyable blend of the lonely desperation and longing that permeated the mood of the second installment in the Hegemony books, "World's End," and the grittiness of the Cat stories, set in another of Vinge's realities. Readers who are familiar with the previous books in the "Snow Queen" cycle will be more than rewarded with a solid taste of the same magnitude of e