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.

In 2001 Michael Swanwick published the short story “The Dog Said Bow-Wow”, Hugo Award winner, which introduced Darger and Surplus, two con men who act in what was called a post-Utopia future as it follows a period of high technological development considered utopian that ended because of a war fought between humans and artificial intelligences. The following collapse of information technology brought the world back to levels comparable to those of the 19th century while biotechnologies are still practiced and have become predominant, even if they’re considered esoteric arts. Surplus is their product because he’s a genetically modified dog with a body very different from his ancestors’ and an intelligence at human level.

For these characteristics that mix elements of various genres with sometimes a fantasy flavor it’s difficult to label these stories: Michael Swanwick is an author who moves among genres and subgenres without being imprisoned by arbitrary borders so it’s a case where labels are limiting if not misleading. For example, the Darger and Surplus series has been defined as steampunk but is set in the future while there are ancient technologies and the Victorian-like setting remains of that subgenre.

In the following years, Michael Swanwick wrote other short stories set in that post-Utopia future and in 2011 he published his first Darger and Surplus novel “Dancing with Bears”, in which the author greatly expanded his world-building and in particular of the future Russia. In some ways you might have the impression you’re reading a historical novel for the setting that may remind you of the 19th century but the science fiction element remains present because on several occasions we’re reminded of Surplus’s canine nature and the genetic intervention on the Pearls offered as gifts to the Duke is an important point in the plot that is stressed many times.

In this setting the two con men Darger and Surplus act trying to implement one of their schemes, in this case against the Duke of Muscovy. However, the situation they find in Moscow is really complex with religious movements and various intrigues that also include demons, as artificial intelligence still live and living in secret after surviving the war are considered.

The world-building is perhaps the greatest strength of “Dancing with Bears” with a convincing mixture of old and new, realistic and fantastic to show that strange future Russia. In this Moscow many characters make their moves, to the point that sometimes Darger and Surplus seem to be just secondary characters. The past remains important not only for the presence of demons but also because in some ways history seems to repeat itself, above all with certain revolutionary tendencies also connected to the one called tsar Lenin. That’s Russia so if if there’s no boom today there’s always a boom tomorrow.

Michael Swanwick brings together those what seem opposites in the tones of the story as well as the plot is often dramatic but is told with considerable doses of humor, irony and sometimes even satire. The Russian past also pops up in various local characters’ surnames, which derive from ancient corporations. The perfect example is Anya Pepsicolova: her funny surname made me chuckle every time she was mentioned but she’s one of the most dramatic characters in the novel, always in the midst of local intrigues, which can lead to violent acts.

All this makes “Dancing with Bears” very rich but definitely not easy to read. Honestly the many points of view with a lof of facets of that future Moscow’s life and the very intricate plot make it difficult to follow all that. It could be a novel that requires a second reading to fully appreciate the many characters and all that Michael Swanwick included. The stories in the Darger and Surplus series are independent so if complexity doesn’t scare you, I recommend reading it.