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    Carnival
    Carnival
    Carnival
    Audiobook12 hours

    Carnival

    Written by Elizabeth Bear

    Narrated by Celeste Ciulla

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Garnering rave reviews from multiple publications, Elizabeth Bear is a rising voice in science fiction. Michelangelo Kisanagi-Jones and Vincent Katherinessen, former abassador-spies, have been ordered to New Amazonia to bring back information about the planet's cheap, renewable energy source. But secretly, one of the men devises other plans. "[An] action-packed, thought-provoking story."-Booklist, starred review
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 20, 2008
    ISBN9781436133746
    Carnival
    Author

    Elizabeth Bear

    Elizabeth Bear was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year. She is the Hugo, Theodore Sturgeon Memorial, Locus, and Astounding Award–winning author of dozens of novels and over a hundred short stories. She has spoken on futurism at Google, MIT, DARPA’s 100 Year Starship Project, and the White House, among others. Find her at www.elizabethbear.com.  

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    Reviews for Carnival

    4/5

    193 ratings23 reviews

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    • 3/5
      very interesting ideas but average execution. could have been much better
    • 5/5
      That's a book that just flew under my radar - I skipped it intentionally when it was published (did not sound interesting enough - no idea why) and I bought it at the last days of December 2008 while searching a 4th book for one of these 4 for 3 books deals in Amazon. And I am so happy that I got it. It's what Science Fiction should be - a lot of ideas, great execution and believable setting.The novel takes place some 500 years in the future (it's mentioned almost in passing somewhere in the book as being 2500 years after Christ or something like this) but the world has nothing to do with the world that we know. A few waves of assessments had wiped out most of the races on Earth (not just people but whole races - it looks like anyone that is not from the African Diaspora had been wiped out) and the surviving ones keep getting assessed. Which is a nice term for being killed by the ruling machines. Somewhere between all the assessments, a lot of people managed to get off the planet and created colonies... which the coalition that formed on Earth now try to get back into its grasp. So far nothing special - a coalition/empire/foundation and a few states that try to remain independent. It's as old setting as you can imagine one but somehow the novel sounds fresh.Michelangelo Osiris Leary Kusanagi-Jones and Vincent Katherinessen are two spies/diplomats for the coalition (and the history of those names is just one of the fascinating moments in the book). Additionally they are partners (both in work and romantically) and they had been separated for way too many years. In a way, the novel can be considered their love story. But it is much more than this. Because the world they are sent to this time is New Amazonia - a place where the women and men had switched roles in an attempt to make it a better place. Except that it had not worked - the roles are changed but that's about it. The world is the same - the men behave and are treated as the women in the old world and the women behave as men. It is as believable as possible - that's just the way the human race behave. Add to this some aliens and the picture starts getting complicated.Most of the book deals with the complicated world they all live into - showing how New Amazonia works and revealing the truth about assessments, what had happened and why things happened. A grim future shown in sparse words and with masterful imagination. But it is also a character-driven story because all that happens can happen only with these people and at this time.A story of love, future, aliens, AI and something more. One of the most beautiful stories I had read lately. And even though this future is as grim as possible, it also has a hope... through the whole novel, all the way to the last sentence. I just wish Bear had decided to write a prequel/sequel to it - I want more from this world.A small warning though: if you have any issues with same sex relationship, you might not enjoy the book as much - it relies heavily on such and even has sex scenes between the main characters.5 stars out of 5. And I suppose I am on the hunt for other novels by Bear. :)Note: review from 2010
    • 2/5
      In this future, Earth is ruled by AI "Governors". They enforce a strict Environmentalist doctrine, culling humanity anytime it becomes too much of a burden on the planet's resources. On another world, a seemingly limitless clean energy source has been discovered. Two diplomats are sent to New Amazonia, where gunslinging women vie for position, and hetero men are only a small step above slaves.

      This story features espionage, alien technology, jungle survivalism, revolutionaries, terrorism, dueling, conflicting political ideologies and romantic tensions. It's packed with

      I didn't like the characters in "Carnival". They were in turns too jaded, calculating, violent, deceptive, and ambivalent for my tastes. I was often uncertain about their motivations or true emotions. I even found the supporting cast members to be either unpleasant or dull.

      The plot is full of twists and turns, but it seemed to me that it was also rather haphazard. Many different factions, goals, and possibilities were introduced, but most were undeveloped as the story progressed. I was interested in ideas which didn't go anywhere, but uninterested in the actual plot.
    • 3/5
      Definitely an interesting book, all about sexual politics. This is a sci-fi novel, set in the distant future after a very authoritarian earth has taken political correctness to an extreme degree, and yet is still homophobic. How did that happen? Anyway, humans have spread out through space, and this novel centers on intergalactic diplomacy, which is a real cloak-and-dagger business. The heroes are a gay male couple, in disgrace because of their tendencies, posted to a planet where women have all the power and men are basically household pets.

      The focus of the book is the relationship between the heroes, who are trying not to be in love with each other, and constantly surprising the women around them by not being idiots. They are the only characters that really seem alive. The swashbuckling women around them are equally heroic but the writer doesn’t give them the benefit of many emotions.

      The writing is pithy, understated, and keeps you guessing about where everyone’s allegiances lie. It’s as much a mystery as a sci-fi novel.
    • 3/5
      An interesting premise, but the plot was so complicated that it was hard to really get into the story. I guess I wanted it to be more escapist than it was.
    • 4/5
      Bear's world building is excellent, but the espionage could happen on any world at any time. It was an unnecessary distraction.
    • 2/5
      This novel is Joanna Russ fanfic. It was such a cool idea that I kept reading to page 100. Unfortunately it suffers from fanfic multiple-view-point-characters-in-a-single-paragraph-itis. I struggled through the opening scene (reading it 3 times), hoping that things would get better as the story rolled on. But when I hit another such scene around p. 100, I gave up.Clearly other people made it through this morass with good results.But I have other books to readThat do not frustrate me before I sleep.
    • 4/5
      This book tells the story of two men reunited to investigate a matriarchal society where only gay ("gentle") males could be permitted to interact with the ruling class as honorary women. The background of planetary exploration, Earth population control, and culture conflicts, is rich. The two main characters each have secrets and their reunion is complicated. The plot flows well and the resolution, although it has a hint of deus ex machina, is satisfying and not obvious. And at heart, this is a love story. Despite all the craft of world-building and plot interactions, it is the reemerging relationship between these two men who were secret lovers for 20 years,and then separated almost as long, that shines through the work.
    • 4/5
      The ambassadorial team of Michelangelo Kusanagi-Jones and Vincent Katherinessen have been recruited by Old Earth for a mission once again, despite the scandal that clouded their last assignment together. However, as an openly homosexual pair in a society which does not approve of homosexuality and which also treats women as subservient, they are the only ambassadors suited for this particular mission: they are being sent to the matriarchal planet of New Amazonia, in which heterosexual males are kept as breeding partners and servants only and homosexual, or “gentle,” males are the only ones able to approach equality with the ruling women. Ostensibly, the pair is to return the female-created artworks stolen by Old Earth during the last conflict between the two planets as a show of goodwill, hoping to reopen the lines of diplomacy. In reality, Old Earth really wants to pair to discover, and, if possible, steal, Amazonia’s mysterious power source. However, no one’s motivations are as simple as they seem, and both Kusanagi-Jones and Katherinessen have their own personal motivations, as do their diplomatic contacts on Amazonia.Complex, plot-driven, and intricately woven, “Carnival” is a delightful puzzle. The shifting dance of loyalties and motivations that unfolds in a fully-realized, detailed, and fascinating future society is fascinating. Highly recommended for those seeking cerebral science fiction and an intelligent exploration of gender and politics.
    • 2/5
      I honestly don’t know what to say about this book. It was my first Elizabeth Bear science fiction novel and I didn’t like it, but I wouldn’t give it a bad recommendation.Vincent Katherinessen and Michelangelo Kusangi-Jones are reunited as partners and lovers again for a diplomatic/spying mission to New Amazonia. They represent the interests of the Coalition, a tyrannical governing body that rules over most of the Earth colonies except for rogue worlds like New Amazonia. The Coalition has forced them apart for years, because they are seen as deviants, but the New Amazonians will only deal with ‘gentle males’. For on New Amazonia, women are the rulers, citizens and marriage partners and men are nothing but studs or ‘gentle’. Everyone has several different agendas, and this tale where the reader slowly uncovers where each person’s allegiances lie.The world-building was fairly interesting. I did like how the author made the New Amazonian society very Golden Age Spanish where the women were members of Houses and they fought gun duels over every slight to their honour. Also, old Earth had fallen due to overpopulation and a ‘governor’ system was created to make sure that humans never over-taxed their ecological systems again, and it is very spine-chilling how they enforce such a balance.However, I’m starting to think that I don’t like very intense political machination plots. Everybody was working for a political body (and probably secretly for a couple opposing ones) and I think I get bored with the fact that people who are supposed to trust each other… if they just said what they felt for each other, so much pain and stupidity could be avoided (I feel this way about romances a lot, too). I can see how others really loved this book, and I think my dislike of the book has everything to do with me and nothing to do with the quality of the book.
    • 4/5
      I’ve liked or loved almost everything I read by Elizabeth Bear (the notable exception being Blood and Iron). And I liked this book quite a bit. It is the first thing of hers since Hammered that really recaptured what made that book so enjoyable. This is a well-plotted, relentlessly-paced adventure story with imaginative twists and turns and colorful characters. It keeps you guessing, and keeps you turning pages right to the end. Elements of coolness notwithstanding, it feels like a bit of a throwback to me, to an era when science fiction was less pretentious and happy to be pure entertainment. Some reviewers have suggested that this should be read as a novel of ideas, with important things to say about gender, sexuality, and feminism. My response to that is “what have you been smoking?” Carnival may provides a setting in which such issues could have been probed, but it has absolutely nothing to say about any of them beyond the patently obvious “dismissing people who are different from you as having no worth is not particularly wise.” Yes, the protagonists are gay men in a repressive society, and yes they visit a society in which men have been turned into abused, second-class citizens, but these facts are merely stage props, not anything about which Bear has insightful things to say. The characters are fun, but not particularly believable. The societies serve to provide a backdrop for drama. Kii is fun and a bit of a mystery, if perhaps a bit in the deus ex machina mode.In short, if you are looking for a well plotted, quick moving, entertaining adventure story by all means give this a try. And don't think about it too much. If you are looking for a story with something important or challenging to say about humanity, individually or collectively, try Ursula Le Guin or Joanna Russ instead.
    • 4/5
      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, fact 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!
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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).
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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...
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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!
    • 4/5
      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?"