Environmental Fascists Fight Gun-Loving Lesbians for Alien Technology

Two spies , one groom in the art of lying and the other in the artistry of reading people for signs of blind , have been sent to slip alien technology from Amazonia , a major planet ruled by man - enslaving Lesbian . Our spies are envoy from a male - dominated , interplanetary government activity rule by ruthless artificial news who impose carbon paper disinterest on all worlds by genociding any radical that uses too much energy . Their hope is that the alien technology can end the eco - fascist sovereignty of terror by providing an infinite source of renewable energy . This premise for Elizabeth Bear ’s novel Carnival , publish a little over a year ago , is so challenging that you ’ll keep reading just to ascertain the all right machinery of her thought experimentation unfold .

Bear , whose Good Book come out so quickly that you ’ll wink and miss one , is noted for combining high - octane military / undercover agent tales with eccentric and subversive subplots . In last twelvemonth ’s sea-puss a traditional actioner turn out to hinge on the politics of mining practices . And in her of late - released rubble , a battle for power on board a ship that ’s journey for generations is full of little kinks that make her fictitious character stand out as intensely naturalistic in unrealistic surroundings .

But back to Carnival , a novel where all the traditional ideas of liberal science fabrication like matriarchies and ecotopias are turned on their heads . When lesbians decree a planet , they do n’t create peace and harmony : they become taken up with guns and honor and dueling . They enslave all men ( except homosexuals , whom they call “ gentles ” ) , using them to breed and for labor . And they engage in vicious insurgent war to pull in power in political science .

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The novel ’s back story , though dealt with only cursorily ( which is too regretful ) , is even more interesting . A group of radical eco - liberationists create these super - powered AIs plan to reduce Earth ’s atomic number 6 footmark no matter what it film . So the AIs continue to kill the full human population of the Northern Hemisphere , getting rid of all the white people they can . They continue to do regular “ assessment ” of the human population , killing anyone who acquire too much vigour without dedicate back to the beau monde in some significant agency . All breeding and energy consumption are strictly contain . Everyone must be a vegan or die . To get away , humans set about populating other planets where they can apply more energy without getting “ assess . ”

Meanwhile , the human universe becomes more conservative , outlawing homosexuality because everyone has become so obsessed with a desire to engender in the face of massive giving birth ascendancy plan . Anyone who challenges the thought of reproductive sex becomes , ironically , suspect . Bear ’s idea that an eco - regime like this would multiply conservatism rather than progressivism is really quite saucy , and mankind - building junkies like me will love her heedful attending to how ideologies might germinate over time .

And for those who could give a horseshit about world - building , well you ’re in luck too . Most of the narration is about Vincent and Michelangelo , two super - spy on Amazonia posing as diplomat . They ’re lovers , which pull in them Ishmael in their own civilisation but saint for this mission since the only males the Amazonians tolerate are gay ones .

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As they get embroiled in local political sympathies and junto , as well as meeting the AI ghosts of the aliens who concern Amazonia before — leaving their energy - generator behind — the plot thickens and there are some genuinely cool spy vs. counter - spy vs. counter - counter - spy moments . Some of the Amazonians require to help the spies because they desire to keep Amazonia gratuitous of the eco - facists , and others desire to help land in the eco - fascists in order of magnitude to liberate the enslaved men . Plus , there ’s pistol dueling .

Unfortunately , sometimes the spy stuff gets so dense that it cut into being tongue-tied , especially since Vincent and Michelangelo are doing missions they have to keep surreptitious from each other . There are actually passage where you ca n’t figure out who is spy on whom , and that can be a job when you ’ve already got a lot of confusing alien stuff materialise too .

But what please about this novel , and the reasonableness I ’d advocate it as a serious way to get into one of the most fertile and exciting skill fabrication writers make today , is that it manages to do what so few SF novels can . That is , it offers an challenging , intellectually - rewarding glance at one human possible future while also tell a rip - roaring recital . No , it ’s not terribly realistic . Most of Bear ’s other books have a strong dose of fantasy , and you could say she ’s used to explaining technical school via magic rather than arduous science . But as a thought - experimentation , Carnival is a great winner , and a good rejoinder to the greenies in these eco - obsessed times .

Lesdilley