Bitten by Books
Dancing With Bears is Michael Swanwick’s intriguing vision of post-apocalyptic Russia in which the machines have taken over, inflicting a war on the humans that decimate them, leaving the survivors fighting to rebuild their societies.
Con men Darger and Surplus attach themselves to emissaries from the Byzantine Embassy, with decidedly non-altruistic motives. The ambassador catches a fatal illness and entrusts them to escort the Pearls of Byzantine to Russia to be given to the Duke of Muscovy as a present of goodwill from the Byzantine Empire. The Pearls are not precious stones, they are beautiful, genetically-engineered courtesans who must keep their virginity under pain of sickness and death. Trained in pleasure and manipulating men, and guarded by Neanderthals, the Pearls are more than a handful of trouble. The envoys arrive in a Moscow that is on the brink of a revolution birthed by a sinister partnership between the machines and mad holy men.
Dancing With Bears is wonderfully imaginative. Swanwick has taken concepts of genetic engineering and robotics to deliver a story in which most of the characters are far from human, and the rest are adapted to a strange future. The presentation of Russian culture appealed to me. There is an interesting melding of historical Russia with the “what ifs” of a future in which global war and technological advances were turned against humanity. The same social issues persist, although the country seems to have gone back to Czarist Russia instead of the Soviet era.
Despite the humorous aspects, this is a rather dark story full of characters who are self-serving and ruthless, with others who seem destined to become victims of the system and its inherent injustice. Readers who have delicate sensibilities will find several aspects off-putting, since this book has its share of sex, sadism, drug abuse, warped religious doctrine and violence. While I like the genre of Weird Fiction, this one might be a little too strange and disturbing for my tastes.
Book Stats:
- Paperback: 300 pages
- Publisher: Night Shade Books; Reprint edition (January 25, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1597803340
- ISBN-13: 978-1597803342
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Summary : Dancing with Bears is wonderfully imaginative. Swanwick has taken concepts of genetic engineering and robotics to deliver a story in which most of the characters are far from human, and the rest are adapted to a strange future. The presentation of Russian culture appealed to me. There is an interesting melding of historical Russia with the “what ifs” of a future in which global war and technological advances were turned against humanity. The same social issues persist, although the country seems to have gone back to Czarist Russia instead of the Soviet era.
