Dancing With BearsIs A Tale of Post-Apocalyptic Con Artists in Russia

In Michael Swanwick ’s latest novel , Dancing with Bears , a couple of charming con men set out for post - apocalyptic Moscow , only to blunder into a revolutionary fix .

Darger and Surplus are on their means from Byzantium to Moscow , to have a van of beautiful courtesan ( known as the Pearls Beyond Price ) to we d the Duke of Muscovy . They ’re not altogether on the up - and - up , though . On their way , they meet a strannik , a religious pilgrim , who want to get to sin metropolis to aid bring about the Eschaton , along with a sappy boy who just wants to get in one of the Pearls ’ pants . And when they finally get to Moscow , handing off the cover girl is n’t as simple as it seemed . Plus , there are nefarious force stoking the fire of civil unrest ( for their own purposes , by nature ) .

Swanwick has a faint touching , and therefore manages to pull off something unconvincing : a buddy funniness go under in post - apocalyptic Russia . saltation with Bears resembles nothing so much as one of those old “ Road To … ” movies with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby . Darger and Surplus are a couplet of likable rascal , forever in the midst of some luxuriant con . Their rate of success is somewhat mixed : Despite a genius for stealing , the pair wreak havoc wherever they go . ( Rumor has it they burned London to the primer coat . ) In their electrical capacity as date of Byzantium ’s ambassador to Muscovy , they ’re surely working some form of scheme , though it ’s a long time before their agendum is alone unmortgaged .

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Darger is an noetic , depressive , strangely characterless British man . excess is an American frump , genetically modified to walk , talk , and operate like a human being . We ’re never told how they fulfil . Their origins are not uncover . These are not characters in whom we become deeply emotionally vest , but their mishap are endlessly amusing . excess quickly accept on the role of embassador and therefore spends much of his time dealing with the stubbornly turned on Pearls , their heavily - headed and resourceful ringleader Zoesophia and their dim - witted Neanderthal guards . Darger , on the other hand , acquire a dry pint - sized pardner in street criminal offense .

With this zany plan of attack , Swanwick subverts an entire belt of the post - apocalyptic canyon , to pretty hilarious event . The concept behind this uncanny half - medieval , half - futuristic world is that we all bewilder too strung-out on the Internet and the AIs decided to kill everybody . Humans supervise to beat them back , but got thrown back to the Dark Ages for their troubles . The points of comparison to Canticle for Leibowitz are obvious , with some slight updates for the networked era . But alternatively of some serious Thelonious Monk adjudicate to keep the faith in a vicious macrocosm , we get a couple of confidence trick human being dealing with crazed paramour .

He ’s also made well consumption of his setting . Swanwick has managed to integrate disparate bits of finish like Ivan the Terrible ’s mystic library , the ancient relationship between Russia and Byzantium , stranniks , and Lenin ’s preserve trunk into his level . Even well , his references all fit the narrative and none feels awkward or unnecessary , as can sometimes be the case when author play with an unfamiliar place setting . He also gets to work on in names like “ Anna Pepsicolova ” and “ Baroness Lukoil - Gazproma , ” for supererogatory playfulness .

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There are a couple of weak moments . For illustration , the initial infodump is gawky as blaze . Ever attempt to fertilise a liver lozenge to a cat ? You ’ll feel a lot of sympathy for Fluffy after this :

As you doubtless eff , the Utopians destroyed their perfect lodge through their own indolence and lordliness . Having built machines to do their manual employment for them , they construct further machines to do all their thinking . Computer vane and nets proliferate , until there were cables and odes so profoundly inter and so plentiful that no sane man believes they will ever be exterminate .

Do not want ! This is a perfectly acceptable background story , and Swanwick utilise it to create an fascinating existence for his characters . But it would have been nice to receive this medicine blend in with our Fancy Feast . We ’ve all seen the Matrix . It would n’t take more than a couple of menacing hints about malign webs and we could fill in the blanks .

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