Malacia es una enigmática ciudad suspendida en el tiempo, donde todo cambio está prohibido; por sus calles desfila la más excéntrica variedad de personajes: duques, prósperos mercaderes, aristócratas arruinados, sacerdotes, cortesanos, mendigos, soldados y empresarios de teatro venidos a menos. Entre ellos, el alocado, pícaro y galán Perian de Chirolo, un joven actor que, a falta de trabajo, ejerce de vividor. Hasta que aparece el misterioso Otto Bengtsohn y le ofrece colaborar en una revolucionaria y arriesgada obra. Perian sólo se decide a participar cuando conoce a la bella Armida Hoytolam, que también intervendría en el proyecto. Todo desembocará en una serie de peripecias en que descubriremos al joven navegando en un globo aerostático, matando feroces ancestros y tropezándose con las intrigas y los secretos más oscuros. Recreando en clave de fantasía la Venecia barroca y decadente, Aldiss ha tejido una novela insólita y absorbente en que los protagonistas son las palabras, el destino, el erotismo, la grandeza, la vitalidad y los sentidos.

It's a long time since I read this and I found it a little hard to get into but it's a rather wonderful book and I suspect that further reading will reveal more. Set in an alternative reality in a City State based (I think) on Renaissance Venice, (and the etchings and paintings of Tiepolo), where mankind is co-exists with (and is descended from) ancestral beasts (dinosaurs) it tells of the romantic and political adventures of young Perian DeChirolo. However it's so much more than that, a tour de force of imagination, and with a great underlying theme of progress vs decay and how art plays out as a force for change. I won't leave it so long between re-readings in future. ( )

This was a rather strange read. It's ostensibly a fantasy, but reads like a romance (one of those rare from-the-perspective-of-the-callow-youth romances, the pining swain all moody for his unobtainable woman). It happens to be set in an environment that we recognize as fantastic by its dissimilarity to actual places (a vaguely Venetian baroque setting, some unusual fauna, a race of winged-people, and an unusual interlude later on). But until about 2/3 of the way through, the fantastic elements are just window-dressing and the plot could With Great Ease be told as an episode of, say, Gossip Girl.

And I'd prefer if the plots of my fantasies had some aspect that necessitated their being a fantasy, otherwise it seems kind of pointless. Take Harry Potter, remove all the magic, just leave the bits about who he'll ask to the dance, etc., and it's not the same experience!

The writing is often beautiful, so a star for that, but I'm not sure I was able to appreciate what the writer was trying to accomplish here. Much was made (not in the way of plot, but as background) of the fact that in this fantasy world humans were descended from dinosaurs, essentially, who still exist and are plentiful, but this fact had no effect on anything. I'm puzzled.

(And eventual the book builds up to a stunningly unsurprising reveal which I can only imagine the author intended to be stunningly unsurprising, because it's that obvious.)

(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. There are a lot of 4s and 3s in the world!) ( )

Pouca fantasia e demasiado enredo shakespeariano para meu gosto. Um pouco decepcionante face a umas expectativas um pouco altas ( )

One of the best sf novels I've ever read. It takes place in Malacia, a city that is an alternate 18th-century Italy where most inhabitants feel protected by their rulers' rejection of social and political change. The story follows Perian, a broke actor, as he cuts across all levels of society as part of a company that is presenting a play using a new process, mercurization, aka photography. This is sf's Candide and a neglected classic. If that isn't enough for you, there is also a dinosaur hunt. ( )