/lit/ - Literature

>>22441144
A Princess of the Linear Jungle, Linear City #2 - Paul Di Filippo (2010)

Two hundred years later and twenty million blocks away, another story of the Linear City begins. Merritt Abraham is a twenty-two year old polypolisology [many cities study] (anthropology) student. She wants to attend graduate school, but she can't afford the tuition. If it means getting ahead, she'll eagerly have a sexual and romantic relationship with her academic mentor. Casual sex is fine by her, so she has it with three men and one woman during this. When the opportunity to adventure in Vayavirunga presents itself, she becomes overjoyed. That's the jungle formed from three walled-off boroughs that inexplicably became overgrown three centuries ago. What they find there is far stranger than could be reasonably expected and much more dangerous than they assumed.

The majority of the story is her daily life. The adventure is less than half the story and I believe it to be the lesser half. It's certainly strange, but not in a way that's particularly enjoyable. The writer protagonist of the first book, Diego Patchen, is referenced often, which is rather surprising considering the years passed and the distance. In some ways the word choice is worse this time, as it's mostly invented words or existing words with new meanings. I found it to be less quaint this time. There's less mystery and sense of wonder as well. The characters weren't as enjoyable. There's speculation and some exploration of the specific peculiarities of the setting, but I think they both helped and hindered my enjoyment.

The story is prefaced with an excerpt from The Princess of Mars, which I haven't read so I can't say how much this meant to be referencing that. I feel that the title and cover are both misleading at least in terms of this novella. The titular character is only present for a sixth of its duration, which is scant few pages considering it length, and the cover is a stretch for depicting anything that happens. That's certainly not the Princess of the Linear Jungle, but there are multiple nude women. I find this to be disappointing even though it's still a fitting name and a provocative cover.

As of this writing, which is before my rating of it, this novella has a rating of 3.06. For Goodreads that's a miserably dismal score. However, if you believe a 3 to be decent rating and still worthwhile to read, and considering how inflated the ratings of most books seem to be, at least that's what I choose to believe, then it's entirely appropriate score. Am I simply making excuses for it? Yes. While I have no problem with having read this, I don't think there's really any reason for anyone to read this except for those who greatly enjoyed the first novella of this setting and want more from it, regardless of what it may be. As something in of itself it's definitely lacking in most every way. If there was more in this setting I would still read it regardless though.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)