Vincent Katherinessen and Michelangelo Kusanagi-Jones had been partners in diplomacy and espionage for the Coalition for years until a disastrous mission gone wrong revealed that they were also lovers. Seventeen years later the powers that be have reunited them to undertake a mission to New Amazonia where a matriarchal society will only allow "gentle" men some semblance of diplomatic power. However, Vincent and Michelangelo's true mission is to seek out the source of the planet's energy and determine if it can be taken by force. Below that secret mission each agent has an even deeper agenda which may threaten not only their lives, but any chance they may have of being together again.

Carnival is an interesting, strongly character driven, multi-layered science fiction tale of our destruction of the environment and what happens when the radical environmentalists and animal rights activists take over to protect what is left and head exploration into the worlds around ours. Kind of scary really. The story centers on a diplomat, Vincent, and his body guard/partner/lover Michelangelo and Lesa, their political contact on New Amazonia. Each have their own agendas, both political and personal, hidden and not. There are also a variety of interesting ideas and characters worked into the plot of the story. I love the idea of the fog that Vincent and Angelo work into various clothing and other necessities. I also liked the idea of an intelligent race of dragons and I enjoyed Kii's input to the story. The way Vincent and Angelo worked together was interesting and the idea of "advocating" (arguing ideas from different angles not necessarily agreeable to their own beliefs) to work out the issues they faced was an interesting work solution.

The politics and side characters sometimes confused me as I was reading, but I was able to get the majority of it...I think. I liked the push and pull of Vincent and Angelo's relationship with each other. The scenes of them together was more implied than graphic and weren't the focus of the story which was good in this case because it didn't detract from the overall plot. Lesa as well, is an interesting character and went through many personal trials over the course of the story. I felt quite bad for her at a few points during the story.

This was a very enjoyable, nicely paced, character driven story with an interesting political/environmental plot which leads its readers to question a variety of different ethics and see how the scenarios play out on different worlds. Certainly recommended! ( )

I'd heard a lot of good things about this book, but being a scifi about...diplomatic relations and such, I still mostly expected it to earn my respect for being well written, but maybe not my enjoyment.

As it turns out, while it indeed didn't grip me quite as much as it would have if it had been more my style, I still quite liked it. It's very much driven by the character interactions, which were...nicely nuanced (sometimes to the point where I wasn't sure if I was understanding correctly what was going on, but not too often, thankfully). And for a book driven by character interactions it was still nicely paced, tense, and even had some more action-ish/harrowing bits in it as well. The romance aspect of it didn't have nearly as much...warm and fluffy feelings as one usually sees, which I was on one hand I was thankful for (because many romance scenes in other books are a bit much for me), and on another hand made me a little sad (since I could still use a little more).

I'm a little sad it's been so long now between when I finished this and now as I write this, since now I cannot go into more detail about what makes this book work so nicely. And my book praising skills always lag far behind my criticizing abilities, as they just don't get a chance to to be used on a book like this often enough. Suffice to say I recommend this book, certainly to those who think the premise sounds interesting, and even to those like me that think it sounds a little stiff for their tastes, especially if you're interested in novels with strong, complex characters. ( )

I adored this book. Snappy writing, tragic (but not really) love affairs, politics & ideas. Delightful.

My only complaint is that the author transparently fell in love with her work fairly early on, so that things got a little too cute. I wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation, either, so there's not too much blame. If the author had been a bit more self-disciplined and a little less cute, it would have been a more 'serious' book. I probably wouldn't have loved it as well and wriggled with as much delight as I read it, so it's a tradeoff, I guess. ...

Occasional lapses into cutesiness aside, this book is highly recommended for all sorts of delightful thought experiments & sensawunda, fun prose (Elizabeth Bear can turn a phrase on a dime), action, fairly tight plotting, and the high happiness-per-hour of reading ratio. ( )

Two ambassador-spies and a security agent negotiate an energy trade on a female-ruled planet.

As others have said before me, this book is made of awesome. Each of the three protagonists has their own agenda, and the way their separate goals intersect and diverge drives most of the action. The reader needs to make a number of intuitive leaps, most of which are rooted in the characters' interactions, in order to fully understand the book.

And that's what it all boils down to, in the end: character. I connected with these characters. I felt the tension between them. I could read their history in all their exchanges. I found them compelling. I wanted to make the intuitive leaps Bear demanded of me. I'd even go so far as to say I was desperate to do so. I wanted to spend more time with these people. I wanted to figure them out. I wanted to see them achieve their goals. And I never, for one moment, believed it was going to be easy for them.

The plot is completely character-driven. Everything depends on who these people are and how they react to the situations they find themselves in. It's wonderful. I gobbled it straight up. I initially had some trouble reading quickly, but once I sunk into the story I was hard-pressed to put it down. I couldn't read fast enough. The plot moves along at a decent clip, and everything slots together very well indeed. There are a couple of twists that might be considered easy outs, but they're such a relief when they come that I couldn't find fault with them. One in particular left me grinning like an idiot.

The world, too, is fascinating, and Bear builds it up with great care. She writes in strict third person, so if the characters wouldn't remark on it, we don't hear about it. I had a great time piecing everything together from the little bits that did come out as the story ran its course. There's tons to think about here. The gender issues, the politics, the science... it's all good, my dears. It's all very, very good.

I highly recommend this. Seriously, people, you outta rush out and get a copy. Go! Shoo!

(A slightly longer version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

[Amy] This book appears to have been constructed from pure awesome. The science was interesting (both the Coalition science and that which they encounter later), the characters were both believable and interesting, the plot was, for the most part, compelling it its own right. I rarely enjoy a book with so few quibbles - and with this, I had few enough that I hardly remember any at all now, some weeks later.

I think it was the characters that made the book, though - and I read a blog post by this author yesterday that sums up her approach to characterization, which goes some way to explain why her people feel so much like, well, people. The flat-and-unconvincing-characters problem is one of my biggest peeves in fiction overall.

I think I need to go back and re-read those first two Bear books I was iffy about, now. I seem to be turning into quite an EBear fangirl, and I'm interested to see if it applies to those, too.
(http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ze...) ( )

Once again, Bear writes a story full of incredible characterization and plot. Her books are often not easy, but they are always worth the read. ( )

I actually liked this one, much more satisfying than her 'Undertow'. ( )

This was both a perfect book for a holiday and a bad book to bring with me. I found myself caught up in what was going on, so while I was waiting in Airports it was great, it wasn't so good earlier when I was sightseeing.

This is the story of two men who have been avoiding each other because they're in love but homosexuality is frowned upon in the Earth Coalition worlds. The two of them are on New Amazonia, going to negotiate with the government there for art. They're also there for other reasons.

It's a very interesting look at gender, politics and very complicated people. ( )

A great story with wonderful characters and lots of twists. Reminds me very much of Sherri S Tepper. ( )

Carnival is written along the lines of the good old feminist utopias, the "battle of sexes" story in which women are in charge of society and it's up to men to wreck havoc and prove whether or not women are better suited for leadership than men are. But Carnival is much more than that. New Amazonia is no true utopia, nor does it try to be. And on the flip side, the rest of the universe, which is governed by the Old Earth Coalition and its Governors, isn't a utopia either. In fact, it's pretty frightening: Old Earth's population has been culled down dramatically by the Governors through Assessment. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

What brings these two "worlds" together is the fact that New Amazonia has a seemingly inexhaustible energy source, and the Coalition wants it. The first attempt resulted in stolen art and the slaughter of a fleet of Marines, so now the Coalition is trying the diplomatic approach in the form of two gay men: Michelangelo Kusanagi-Jones and Vincent Katherinessen. Why gay men? Because with rare exception, women aren't allowed in leadership positions in the Coalition, and the women of New Amazonia will only deal with "gentle" males, their term for gay men.

The core of the plot is this: Angelo and Vincent are expected to get this energy source no matter what the cost, but one of them has his own plans, and those plans might change the very fabric of both New Amazonia and the rest of the Coalition.

This isn't just a feminist text. It uses ethnic diversity as its backdrop (during the culling of Old Earth, it was white people that got axed) and embraces queer theory. How can it not, with two gay men as the story's two main protagonists? There's a lot to consider in this novel, and it's certainly not your usual cultural setting or cast of characters when it comes to SF.

It's a good read that forces to take your time and absorb the details. The book's not for everyone, but anyone interested in feminist SF, queer SF should definitely check this out.

The full review, which contains some spoilers, is in my LJ if anyone's interested. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)

REVIEW: Elizabeth Bear's CARNIVAL

Happy Reading! :) ( )

An excellent book with an other-world culture developed in deep and believable detail. The characters have multi-layered motives and working out who has what objectives is an interesting exercise.

The city left behind by a race of vanished aliens on New Amazonia is home to a human culture where women rule. Old Earth wants control over the colonies and access to the unknown power source that keeps the city functioning. Other colony worlds hover on the brink of rebellion, but have not the power to go it alone.

Old Earth itself is dominated by the Governors who act in strict accordance with ecological needs and destroy any people over the number that the planet can support without damage.

Everyone is hiding something - the question is who is hiding what... ( )

If you send well-dressed gentle superdiplomats, you are in with a chance.

A couple of guys, not the most popular on the extremely rigid home planet due to their sexual preference, are sent on a mission to investigate the acqusition of really rather good energy tech from another human world. They are really good at the body language thing, so diplomacy/spying is a natural.

After that, it goes from somewhat straightforward, to not, given the society they have gone to has a lot of different ideas, and its own political conflicts. There is a seriously big Dragon in the ointment, as well. Entertaining stuff, and, thankfully, no padding. Be interesting to see what rating I might have given this if I hadn't read Damien Broderick's The Dreaming Dragons finally, recently.

Anyway, you could call this one a 3.75, perhaps, but I'll call it a four for being a refreshing good old fashioned novel.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/07/carnival-elizabeth-bear.html ( )

500 years in the future The Coalition (a multiplanetary government centered around Old Earth) is eager to expand and acquire new non-polluting sources of energy in order to avoid having to cull its citizens.
Two diplomats are sent to New Amazonia - an independent planet governed by women with an unexplainble selfsustaining source of energy - to acquire the energy source, or force the planet to join The Coalition. The diplomatss are especially selected for their sexual orientation, and their relationship, and shared history influences their mission. Each of them arrives with thir own agenda that may not be in accordance with their mission objectives.
Michelangelo and Vincent were lovers and colleagues from very different background who were separated 17 years before when their sexual orientation and relationship was discovered. Now they are back together for the first time, due to New Amazonias requirements that the diplomats they allow on the planet have to be gay or women.
When they arrive they are caught up in the agendas of the different planetary factions while they are reestablishing their relationship around the secrets they each have. They come in contact with the aliens responsible for the desirable energy source, who becomes an un unexpected ally in their endeavours. They are being attacked, infected with a bioweapon, and Michelangelo is abducted - which leads to him uncovering a Coalition conspiracy in coalition with the oppressed males of New Amazonia.
The world building is first class, and offers very interesting take on how the society changes, and what consequences these changes has.
The characters are well drawn, and their relationships realistically and beautifully articulated. The story contains multiple third person pov, but it is very smothly done, and offers insight in the actions and motivations of the characters. The partial revelations from the different characters come together in the last part of the book in a highly satisfying manner. ( )

A book approximately thigh-deep in Cool. There are some things in here taken for granted that another book might well have revolved around. The plot is nicely complex, and character motivations convincing. There was a stage, early on, when I was worried that we might be headed for Farce Mode, with everybody plotting around and at cross-purposes to everybody else and getting in each other's way and having to hide in the wardrobe, but that soon went away. I should probably have known better; this is Bear, after all. Richly described, compelling, and definitely worth the cover price and time spent. (I'd like to see a sequel with more Kii in it, too. And a prequel to show in detail what actually happened at New Earth. You listening, Bear? WANT!)

Don't be fooled by that twist at the very end, by the way. It's not a cop-out, it's a sidestepping of the way in which such things are traditionally treated. You generally do get the thing you first thought of, and the reversal is a figurative slap in the face with a wet fish to the expectation. I liked it. ( )

Reminds me of Sherri Tepper's Gates of Women's Country in the way in which matriarchal societies are presented. The stories are really nothing alike, but there is something of the same attitude. ( )

http://zehavit-lamasu.livejournal.com... ( )

http://rivkat.livejournal.com/159021.... ( )

1970's Lesbian-feminist utopianism updated for a more cynical - and realistic age. ( )

http://www.strangehorizons.com/review...

This is a superb tale of two galactic diplomatic agents sent to liaise with the matriarchal society of a formerly isolated planet; they are both men, former lovers reconstructing their relationship; each of the two has his own secret agenda, and so does each of the women (and occasional men) they must deal with on the planet, and the revelation and casting aside of their various masks both meshes with the Carnival theme and keeps up the tension of the narrative. I found this a brilliantly realised future environment at every level - the physical description of the planet (urban, alien ruins and wilderness), the societal background of the human characters (with both the war-weary galactic milieu and the matriachy of New Amazonia having clear plus and minus points) and the future technology inmagined (yer basic galactic empire stuff, but with a few interesting wrinkles thrown in). Add to that an intriguing and cryptic alien intelligence (or is it an artificial intelligence? or both?), and you are set for a great ride.

It's also notable that this book seriously addresses gender issues. There are discernable homages here to Joanna Russ and Ursula Le Guin, and yet Bear has taken us into a somewhat new territory - not prescribing how society ought to be, but looking at the damage that people can do to each other under any circumstances. Carnival takes us to another world from which we can look back more critically at our own. ( )

The best science fiction allows you to look at the world today with new eyes (I could never look at water the same way after reading Dune, now, seeing a hose pipe flowing into the street makes me wince.) This book too, makes you look at familiar things in a new way. And what better recommendation can a book have! This is a really good find!
Slow to start, dense and thickly plotted, but then the characters and worlds click into place and it becomes wonderful! The plot moves a long but it is the world building that works best for me - looking at gender roles and alternate ideas of taboos and cultures. I loved it. Happy find! ( )

http://www.skyseastone.net/jvstin/unj... ( )

some interesting subversion of expectation about gender roles, although I didn't ultimately find her female dominated society particular convincing. It did work well enough to keep the story moving, and long time sf readers may get a giggle out of the cross fertilization of "armed society" model found in books like Heinlein's Beyond This Horizon and entirely too many matriarchal socities of the sf of the previous couple of decades. The nanotech is a bit too much handwavium, and too close to doing whatever is necessary to drive the plot. (I was also unconvinced by the 99% die off from the major societal power structure implentation connected with the nanotech.) In spite of my caveats, I did keep reading. Part of what made it worthwhile was the characterization.
I like the two main characters a lot as individuals. You can't help loving Michelangelo Osiris Leary Kusanagi–Jones just for his name. Vincent Katherinessen name isn't quite as evocative without reading about his background, but it is neatly integrated. They are well drawn and have amazingly appealing individual neuroses and a very nice romance in a very romance genre sort of way. (I am uncertain as to whether this description would make Bear scream, but I'd recommend this book to romance readers!) Lots of good stuff here, almost too much. Part of Bear's genius (and I think it is genius) for me is that her work reminds me of mosaics made of photos, which have hundreds of tiny little images that fit together to make a larger image. Sometimes that image reflects all the small images and sometimes it subverts it or is recursive. Or both. I thought about noticing that the main characters in this book are gay. Duh. Since other people have noticed that I decided not to.

I stopped at page 21. Too silly for me. ( )

An entertaining tale of intrigue where it seems that each main character has a different secret agenda. I am reminded of the Far Side cartoon with the field full of wolves in sheep's clothing, one of them saying "Wait a minute - isn't anyone here an actual sheep?" ( )