Multiple reviewers highlighted "Dreamsnake"'s strong female protagonist. Snake's centrality to the book allows McIntyre to explore gender as its central theme. McIntyre uses her character to subvert gendered tropes: Snake, like many of McIntyre's protagonists, is an assertive woman in a traditionally male role, although she is a healer, rather than an archetypal male hero. Most of the male characters in "Dreamsnake" are depicted in a negative light, as with the mayor of Mountainside, the abusive stablemaster, or North; Arevin, who is "gentle and persistent", is in the background for most of the book.