The novel “Dancing with Bears” by Michael Swanwick was published for the first time in 2011. It’s part of the Darger and Surplus series.

Aubrey Darger and his partner Sir Blackthorpe Ravenscairn de Plus Precieux nicknamed Surplus managed to devise a trick to get a position on a diplomatic expedition and join a caravan of the Byzantium ambassador to Russia. The caravan transports the Pearls of Byzantium, seven women who were genetically modified to become the perfect brides for the mysterious Duke of Muscovy.

It’s a long journey that is full of dangers but eventually Darger and Surplus arrive to Moscow alive. There they try to be received by the Duke in order to implement their scam against him but it seems that nobody is allowed to see him. Instead, they find themselves entangled in a series of intrigues that also include the demons created with ancient technologies.