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Dancing with Bears
(Darger and Surplus #1)
by
Dancing With Bears follows the adventures of notorious con-men Darger and Surplus: They've lied and cheated their way onto the caravan that is delivering a priceless gift from the Caliph of Baghdad to the Duke of Muscovy. The only thing harder than the journey to Muscovy is their arrival in Muscovy. An audience with the Duke seems impossible to obtain, and Darger and Surpl
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When I first read Swanwick’s Surplus and Darger stories in a collection of his I wished that he would craft more of them, and just maybe a full length. My wish came true. While much of the novelty and compressed energy of the stories is lost in the transition but their world is more filled out. The strange combination of biopunk grotesquery, 19th century ambiance, myths, and post-apocalyptic future combined with tales of unredeemed roguery on wider canvas, true the characters aren’t given much m
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A Fine Post Utopian Dystopian Steampunk Romp Courtesy of Darger and Surplus
Vampire novels to the left of us, zombie novels to our right, with dystopian novels in our midst; such is the current dismal state of affairs in publishing science fiction. Most of these aren't worth the paper they are printed on, even if they are from some of our best known authors or the latest literary darlings aspiring toward artistic and commercial success, claiming to have both a firm appreciation and understanding ...more
Vampire novels to the left of us, zombie novels to our right, with dystopian novels in our midst; such is the current dismal state of affairs in publishing science fiction. Most of these aren't worth the paper they are printed on, even if they are from some of our best known authors or the latest literary darlings aspiring toward artistic and commercial success, claiming to have both a firm appreciation and understanding ...more
I normally love a heist novel, and that wasn’t my problem with this book. My problem with this book was the amount of weird sex. The genetically engineered dog-man who is 100% dog DNA but… seems pretty humanoid in shape and intelligence and what-not — and the genetically manipulated harem girls — and the sex-drug giving priest who is preaching goodness knows what, and —
Honestly, I couldn’t pay attention to the heist and the buddy dynamics between the main characters, because what the hell is goi ...more
Honestly, I couldn’t pay attention to the heist and the buddy dynamics between the main characters, because what the hell is goi ...more
Wow, what a ride! Recommended.
http://www.rantingdragon.com/dancing-...
Darger and Surplus are con men who have lied there way onto a caravan carrying a gift of immense value from the Caliph of Baghdad to the Duke of Moscovy. But there are obstacles in the way of getting the gift to the Duke, which embroils the characters in political schemes, the agendas of religious zealots, drug rings and so forth. So yes, this is our earth. But the difference is in the details—and there are a lot of details.
A world both familiar and alien
T ...more
Darger and Surplus are con men who have lied there way onto a caravan carrying a gift of immense value from the Caliph of Baghdad to the Duke of Moscovy. But there are obstacles in the way of getting the gift to the Duke, which embroils the characters in political schemes, the agendas of religious zealots, drug rings and so forth. So yes, this is our earth. But the difference is in the details—and there are a lot of details.
A world both familiar and alien
T ...more
I'm generally a fan of Darger and Surplus stories, and this novel is fun. It's set in an alternative reality in Russia. It's all a bit quick though, (even for a heist story) and I didn't feel overly invested in the relationships and characters. Some of the mechanical- futuristic elements were a little far fetched for my own liking, and although it's a good read, I suppose I wanted more from a writer of Swanwick's ilk. Entertaining and pacey, but not Swanwick at his best.
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Jul 16, 2011
Danielle The Book Huntress
rated it
liked it
Recommends it for:
Readers interested in Russia
This was an interesting book, although some aspects were rather off-putting. I liked the vision of a post-apocalyptic Russia. This isn't a book where you can say, "Wow, that's a really good person!" Everyone is highly flawed. This is one of those books I'd love to sit down the author and ask what he was thinking when he wrote this.
Reviewed for Bitten by Books. http://bittenbybooks.com ...more
Reviewed for Bitten by Books. http://bittenbybooks.com ...more
If you look at a selection of the other reviews here, well, opinions are mixed. As was mine. I don't really remember that much about it, except that I thought the D&S idea works better as short stories. I'm currently reading & reviewing the Compleat Collection of those. So far, really good!
This one: good but one of his weaker novels, I thought. 3.5-ish stars, by memory.
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This one: good but one of his weaker novels, I thought. 3.5-ish stars, by memory.
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Not nearly as fun as book 2. I'm glad I read that one first instead of this one or else I never would have read the second book. My advice? Just skip this one. It is fun and shows a lot of promise, but it is definitely a case where book one is used for the author getting his legs.
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This was dark, very, seriously dark. My introduction to Swanwick as well as Darger & Surplus came in several volumes of short stories. While those had a dark flavor there was usually one villain whom the pair of grifters would readily outfox and be on their way to their next con. Granted they did leave Buckingham Palace in flames when they fled London. But this novel had the room the short stories didn't have to reall dig into the darkness that is the postutopian world Darger & Surplus inhabit.
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Good, funny, dark, twisting and everchanging story with unexpected turns.
I enjoyed this book. I open with that because I was about to give it only three stars due to some vague irritation I felt. Then I realized that my irritation had nothing to do with the story and everything to do with marketing and trends and people who enthusiastically follow them without review or analysis.
A digression follows.
I am working on a project involving steampunk. This novel showed up somewhere in my research (at this writing, nine people on Goodreads have shelved it as such), and I ch ...more
A digression follows.
I am working on a project involving steampunk. This novel showed up somewhere in my research (at this writing, nine people on Goodreads have shelved it as such), and I ch ...more
Charismatic and weird, Dancing with Bears tries to be many things at once and you appreciate it as you'd indulge a child her antics. While I didn't reel as much as I did when reading Stations of the Tide, I had fun. This book probably would translate well to cinema.
Darger and Surplus find themselves running a con in Moscow but get caught up in a much bigger plot. At this point, the events just flow, pushing and pulling them places. This world is a strange and beautiful time, where the living see ...more
Darger and Surplus find themselves running a con in Moscow but get caught up in a much bigger plot. At this point, the events just flow, pushing and pulling them places. This world is a strange and beautiful time, where the living see ...more
A wonderful novel hard to fit in a category (what about: weird fantasy futuristic steampunk?), at points highly dramatic (i.e. the “training” to become a spy of Anya Pepsicolova), sad (the life of Moscow “street” kids) to humour (lots of that, often dark or about gender stereotypes) ot folk mythology (the drugged Baba Yaga rocks!).
Also a book that (like most other great “fantasy” works) imho tells us something important about our world, and in particular religious fanaticism and the horrors of a ...more
Also a book that (like most other great “fantasy” works) imho tells us something important about our world, and in particular religious fanaticism and the horrors of a ...more
This is really really good.
It continues the adventures of the con men Surplus, the genetically modified anthropomorphic dog, and his friend Darger. If you read the previous short stories, you'll know that they, mostly through no fault of their own, drag a trail of fire and destruction on their travels through postapocalyptic Europe.
Now, they find themselves delivering a priceless gift to the Duke of Muscovy...chaos ensues.
Swanwick is an author who needs and deserves much more love and recognitio ...more
It continues the adventures of the con men Surplus, the genetically modified anthropomorphic dog, and his friend Darger. If you read the previous short stories, you'll know that they, mostly through no fault of their own, drag a trail of fire and destruction on their travels through postapocalyptic Europe.
Now, they find themselves delivering a priceless gift to the Duke of Muscovy...chaos ensues.
Swanwick is an author who needs and deserves much more love and recognitio ...more
Halfway through when I was just thinking this is going to my list of top fav books, the author decided to steer the story into full campy mode with plenty of russian cheese (like awkward references to Baba Yaga and such folklore) :(
There's a very thin line between a fun story that doesn't take itself seriously, and a story that has gone off the edge of fun into the kingdom of silly.
It's a nice read and the pages flew by really fast, but I think if the author gave it a little more love after the ...more
There's a very thin line between a fun story that doesn't take itself seriously, and a story that has gone off the edge of fun into the kingdom of silly.
It's a nice read and the pages flew by really fast, but I think if the author gave it a little more love after the ...more
Swanwick can be somewhat formulaic, but still entertaining. Add one part distopian cyberpunk Apocalypse, one part techno-magic, and one part sex, drugs n rocks that roll, and you have the Swanwick novel. In this case, the setting is bizarro Russia, and a couple of scam artists (one of whom is a genetically engineered, bipedal, talking dog, because reasons) are looking to rob Lenin's library, but stumble into an insanely tangled web of political schemes and nihilistic machine gods seeking to exte
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I read Bones of the Earth by Swanwick a few years ago and really loved it- it was a time travel book with dinosaurs- very memorable and I highly recommend it.
This book was strictly SF- a future Russia with machines gone wild and a plot to overthrow the ruler of Moscow. Two very amusing anti-heroes (Darger and altered dog-human Surplus) walk into the middle of a revolution. Very exciting and enjoyable.
This book was strictly SF- a future Russia with machines gone wild and a plot to overthrow the ruler of Moscow. Two very amusing anti-heroes (Darger and altered dog-human Surplus) walk into the middle of a revolution. Very exciting and enjoyable.
The first book of the adventures of Darger and Surplus, two exceptional grifters--one a dark and somewhat depressive Englishman, the other an intellectual canine. They cross a Europe of Swanwick's invention and, more often than not, inadevertently leave a path of destruction in their wake. Weird, erotic, wildly inventive, this is Swanwickian steampunk, which is to say, it's not steampunk, it's its own genre. Highly recommended for the discriminating fantasy reader.
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There might be a good book hiding inside this book but I didn't find it. A semi-apocalyptic novel set in a post singularity Russia. Drugs, Sex, Neanderthals, clever but pointless writing, malevolent artificial intelligences reincarnating Lenin - yes if you name it, it might be in here. But a decent story is not.
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This isn't the first Swanwick that I'd recommend to a new reader – even to an experienced fan of Swanwick's, in fact. It strikes me that this is the kind of book that was probably much more fun in conception, and perhaps even in the abstract, than it is in the reading. The elements are all there: a retro-futuristic Moscow ridden with sybaritic aristocracy and secret police, Swanwick's dashing con artists Surplus and Darger, a deep layer of misanthropic AI villains, and a mess of riddling charact
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After reading 'Chasing the Phoenix,' I ordered this from Amazon and read it in the course of one long afternoon that somehow turned into night and eventually a bit of very early morning. It's not my favorite work by Swanwick (Dragons of Babel, definitely holds that distinction), but it is pretty close to being that. And, it's a Darger and Surplus story, so you can catch up on the adventures of your favorite dashing rogue and his genetically modified talking dog companion. Plus, Baba Yaga.
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As usual Swanwick creates a baroque universe with almost preposterous inhabitants, deliciously evil monsters and dubious heroes and heroines. Non-stop capers in a post-apocalyptic funfair.
From my blog at www.lazerbrain.wordpress.com
Ok so, Michael Swanwick, has won a lot of awards. I loved his book "Vacuum Flowers" and I also liked two of his short stories, on of them being "Dalla Horse" I can't remember the other. Unfortunately this book was not nearly up to those standards. I give it two stars, simply because the book was well written, even if I had major issues with the plot and the characters.
The book is an extension of some short stories that Swanwick wrote (I think) about tw ...more
Ok so, Michael Swanwick, has won a lot of awards. I loved his book "Vacuum Flowers" and I also liked two of his short stories, on of them being "Dalla Horse" I can't remember the other. Unfortunately this book was not nearly up to those standards. I give it two stars, simply because the book was well written, even if I had major issues with the plot and the characters.
The book is an extension of some short stories that Swanwick wrote (I think) about tw ...more
A post-utopian Russian landscape (mostly Moscow) of genocidal machines, decadent aristocracy, the secret service, brutish peasants, genetically engineered concubines and giants and monsters... with an exciting plot of political treachery and religious fanaticism. I zipped through it in record time and look forward to re-reading it. The only tiny problem I have with this colourful, nasty delight of a novel is that it's not really a Darger and Surplus novel (our favorite post-utopian con men) -- t
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I really did not like it.
I was surprised because I usually love Swanwick, but this book wasn't a good job.
It starts with the story of two lovable rogues in a post-Apocaliptic and very imaginative Russia, but then the plot is a trainwreck. More and more characters are added, and nobody's actions are clear. The protagonists' chapters get more and more sparse, and we actually never know what was their plan.
The same thing keeps being true for every other person: the main driver of action is a plot a ...more
I was surprised because I usually love Swanwick, but this book wasn't a good job.
It starts with the story of two lovable rogues in a post-Apocaliptic and very imaginative Russia, but then the plot is a trainwreck. More and more characters are added, and nobody's actions are clear. The protagonists' chapters get more and more sparse, and we actually never know what was their plan.
The same thing keeps being true for every other person: the main driver of action is a plot a ...more
This is a satiric fantasy of sorts about a period of political turmoil in Moscow. Street-level capitalism has gone crazy, and greed expresses itself as unquenched lust for money, sex, and violence. There are no heroes in Swanwick's post-utopian comedy, but some are sympathetic in that they're wittier and less vicious than everyone else.
The first hundred pages of this are spectacular, really inventive, funny, and strangely erotic in following the adventures of con artists Darger and Surplus (who ...more
The first hundred pages of this are spectacular, really inventive, funny, and strangely erotic in following the adventures of con artists Darger and Surplus (who ...more
Sigh, I was expecting better from Mr. Swanwick. Well written and readable, but the plot is sub par - one would even say phoned in. A rather silly and fluffy Weird SF tale that might have been better served if the author had gone whole hog towards the weird rather than reach for verisimilitude.
It rather reminds me of a Bond movie. Unfortunately not the Sean Connery or Daniel Craig iterations, but rather the Roger Moore years. By that I mean a very silly, over the top story that strives to be sexy ...more
It rather reminds me of a Bond movie. Unfortunately not the Sean Connery or Daniel Craig iterations, but rather the Roger Moore years. By that I mean a very silly, over the top story that strives to be sexy ...more
Michael Swanwick's "Dancing with Bears" is a full novel featuring two future con men, Darger and Serplus in a post-apocalyptic/singularity earth, on a story that is a clear homage to Jack Vance.
I reread the two stories of Darger and Serplus in "The dog said Bow-wow", to get in the mood, and I actually liked them better in the short stories. However they are not the real main characters, more like catalysts/connecting thread for a fantasy story about a Russia that does not exist and probably nev ...more
I reread the two stories of Darger and Serplus in "The dog said Bow-wow", to get in the mood, and I actually liked them better in the short stories. However they are not the real main characters, more like catalysts/connecting thread for a fantasy story about a Russia that does not exist and probably nev ...more
I hadn't read Swanwick before last year and that was a mistake. This is the first Darger and Surplus novel that I've read and look forward to reading the other one and the various short stories. Surplus is an intelligent humanoid dog who travels with Darger, a consummate conman. They are escorting the Pearls Beyond Price from Byzantium to the Duke of Muscovy, encountering many trials along the way. Wonderfully convoluted with various plots and counterplots, religious fanatics, BearMen, drugs tha
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