It oughta be a movie: Carnival, by Elizabeth Bear
This book is a very enjoyable cross between speculative science fiction and a political/spy thriller. The basic concept is that the matriarchal colony world of New Amazonia possesses a mysterious power source that Old Earth wants; Unofficially, Earth also wants to bring New Amazonia under the hegemony of the Coalition. However, the Amazonians won’t accept a male ambassador unless he is “gentle” (AKA gay). This is a problem for patriarchal Old Earth, as it doesn’t have any female ambassadors and homosexuality is criminalized. But, luckily for them, Vincent Katherinessen and Michelangelo Kusanagi-Jones are highly skilled ambassador-spies who, while having been disgraced for a previous failed mission and the subsequent revelation of the relationship between them, are at least still alive. However, the leadership of Old Earth either fails to consider that those classified as essentially “useful trash” might not be 100% loyal…or just figures they have to go with this plan because Vincent and Angelo are their only options!
It would be awesome to see a film adaptation of this book. The exciting 007-ish cloak-and-dagger stuff would likely draw in an audience who might not otherwise jump to see a story centering a non-white middle-aged gay couple. And the visual nature of such an adaptation would fill in some gaps without slowing the plot down. For instance, we don’t get many clear descriptions of the pageantry of the titular carnival, or of what Lesa Pretoria’s gunslinging looks like in action. Similarly, while I would expect that Amazonia would abound in Sapphic couples, the prime minister and her wife and Lesa and her favorite male consort are the only confirmed pairings of any kind from that world. A movie, however, could reveal those details at the same time as the plot is happening!
I want to note that the cover of the edition I read (above), which features a human face but with steel-grey skin and eyes with no whites, as well as a description of the Amazonians as “highly evolved”, is misleading. There are no humanoid aliens in this book – though there ARE some interesting non-humanoid ones! – and all the humans are just normal-looking POC. Nor are the Amazonians, or anyone else, particularly “evolved”, biologically or socially. True, having women fill every leading social role is advanced compared to Old Earth, which has clearly regressed on that issue. But simply reversing which sex exercises dominance over the other isn’t particularly progressive, and Vincent and Angelo are horrified to learn that the Amazonians still eat animals and wear leather shoes…though they seem to warm up to the idea of pets on meeting the khir:
"Michelangelo looked up, his fingers moving in the sleeping animal's ruff, and gave Vincent a quizzical smile. The relaxed vulnerability around his eyes was more than Vincent could bear. He had to work for that, and nobody else got to see it, ever."
While the political machinations are fascinating, I wouldn’t have been half so engaged if it weren’t for Angelo and Vincent. They are both interesting characters with excellent chemistry and a fun-yet-threatening-to-be-tragic dynamic. The charismatic Vincent Katherinssen led a relatively privileged life on the egalitarian colony world of Ur…until it was added to the earth-led “coalition”. Michelangelo Osiris Leary Kusanagi Jones was born on an earth dominated by the Governors, a set of AI designed by radical environmentalists to “Assess” the human population and decide how it should be reduced, and within a highly sexist and homophobic human culture. In such an environment, his similar talents in reading people made him a Liar, skilled in concealment rather than charm. Their shared history and the reasons they are reluctant to fully admit their feelings – WAY better reasons than in most romantic misunderstandings! - are revealed gradually as the story progresses. Not that they’re particularly good at hiding those feelings. Lesa, who has similar skills at reading people notes:
"They had not been lied to. The men were gentle; when one leaned, moved, spoke, the other mirrored. She sensed it in the energy between them, their calm failure to react on any visceral level to her smile…or to the more youthful charms of her security detail…Not only were they gentle, they were together.”
I dare you not to root for things to work out between them – but, once you’re hooked, absolutely DO read the epilogue! If you skip it, you will come away with an inaccurately sad impression.
Regarding the gender politics, this was thankfully NOT one of those books that writes matriarchy as a direct inversion of patriarchy. It reminded me in many respects of Ursula Le Guin’s ‘The Matter of Segri’, except that this society is more martial, probably because, despite New Amazonia being founded on a fear of men, men are more directly integrated into the everyday life of its female inhabitants. Because the driving forces in both these cases is different from each other and from patriarchy, and because the rationales that are developed in favor of a given social system make sense as an outgrowth of those forces, the kinds of injustices that result are different too – but feel realistic. Moreover, it immediately becomes clear that there are multiple factions on New Amazonia that are not happy with the status quo but for varying reasons. Which is another realistic touch, because any society of sufficient size tends to have dissatisfied sub-groups, especially when obvious discrimination is occurring, with different ideas of how things should change.
**Spoiler section, including thoughts on adaptation**
The mix of high and low technology levels in this worked really well. New Amazonia is “primitive” in a lot of ways, but the semi-sentient houses/city that grows moss-plant carpets and can reshape itself to fit its residents’ needs is unique and hints that all is not as it first appears. The Coalition-style wardrobes that Vincent and Angelo wear, which seem to be formed out of a fog of nanobots, and which can shape-shift, wick moisture, provide an “invisibility cloak”, etc. are equally cool – and a little alarming, given that they can apparently be reprogrammed to execute their user! I was never clear on why the wardrobes have to be given special instructions to allow people wearing them to touch without at least an electric shock. That is, is that a general feature on Old Earth, or is it a security measure for diplomatic personnel?
The idea that New Amazonia is still inhabited by the aliens who built the city, and that the human residents have no idea because they have “ascended” to be digital beings was a really fun twist! And that those beings were dragons?! Amazing. The idea of “the Consent”, some (previously) biochemical mechanism of uniting the will of these aliens is intriguing, too, though – speaking as a biologist – I have doubts about how plausible that is.
Adaptation issues:
If this were filmed in an actual tropical location there would be relatively few special effects needed, apart from the fog-based wardrobe changes and the khir and dragons – the latter of which probably should look like CGI! As mentioned above, proper set and costume design and direction of extras would allow one to see the pageantry of the carnival and the social interactions of non-main-characters without slowing the pace of the story. And, since I was annoyed that we were introduced to a famous duelist and never got a clear view of her fighting, I would definitely rectify that!
The character descriptions are fairly clear (for casting purpose) and some provide really fun possibilities for hair/makeup design. Lesa is probably of mostly Asian ancestry, “her hair…straight and shoulder length, undercut, the top layer dyed in stained-glass colors, shifting to reveal glossy black.” Angelo is stocky and muscular, very dark-skinned, with very short curly hair. Vincent – who also clearly has some African ancestry - is unusually tall, with auburn locks, tawny (hazel?) eyes, and tan skin with freckles. Most of the Amazonians wear hats because of the sunny climate. Etc.
The one detail I could have done without was the idea that on earth homosexuality has largely been eliminated due to “genetic surgery”. I mean, I can give the idea something of a pass given that in 2006 the idea that there is a genetic component to sexuality was gaining evidence but it wasn’t yet clear just HOW MANY genes are likely involved – hundreds to thousands, probably with interacting effects with each other and other development-and-behavior-realted genes. As with creating engineered super-geniuses or trying to eliminate autism (another trait with thousands of significantly related genetic variants)…inventing interstellar space-ships would probably be easier! But, again, that probably wasn’t known. My gripe is that that detail is upsetting but not needed for the story to happen as it does. It doesn’t really change anything in Angelo’s motivations besides making Vincent maybe the first other queer person he met, and literal “last man on earth” conditions do not enhance a romance, in my opinion…so I would probably cut that!
