A Princess of the Linear Jungle [jhc-unsigned]

by Paul Di Filippo

Life is traditionally arduous, constrained and tedious for the average university graduate student, even in the exotic Linear that fathomless construction natural or artificial,who can tell?which stretches infinitely in a narrow ribbon of buildings and street, bounded on one side by an enigmatic Heaven beyond a wide River, and on the other by an equally nebulous Hell beyond the Tracks of a common train. So it is no surprise that the smart and ambitious young woman named Merritt Abraham, lacking a steady boyfriend, stuck laboring in the bowels of a dusty museum, frustrated in her profession and short on cash, yearns for some excitement in her studious, mundane life.

Genres: Science Fiction

91 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Paul Di Filippo is the author of hundreds of short stories, some of which have been collected in these widely-praised collections: The Steampunk Trilogy, Ribofunk, Fractal Paisleys, Lost Pages, Little Doors, Strange Trades, Babylon Sisters, and his multiple-award-nominated novella, A Year in the Linear City. Another earlier collection, Destroy All Brains, was published by Pirate Writings, but is quite rare because of the extremely short print run (if you see one, buy it!).

The popularity of Di Filippo’s short stories sometimes distracts from the impact of his mindbending, utterly unclassifiable novels: Ciphers, Joe’s Liver, Fuzzy Dice, A Mouthful of Tongues, and Spondulix. Paul’s offbeat sensibility, soulful characterizations, exquisite-yet-compact prose, and laugh-out-loud dialogue give his work a charmingly unique voice that is both compelling and addictive. He has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Philip K. Dick, Wired Magazine, and World Fantasy awards.

Despite his dilatory ways, Paul affirms that the sequel to A Year in the Linear City, to be titled A Princess of the Linear Jungle, will get written in 2008. He has two books forthcoming from PS Publications: the collection entitled Harsh Oases and the novel titled Roadside Bodhisattva. His 2008 novel Cosmocopia is graced by Jim Woodring illustrations.

Paul lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a sequel (of sorts) to "A Year in the Linear City" written following 8 years, my anticipation for this book was quite high.The book takes place a couple of hundred years after the death of the protagonist of that story, writer of cosmogonic fiction Diego Patchett.

The story works no where near a well as the original. The heroine of this story is Merritt Abraham, a very feisty young woman, who we find out in the opening chapter is no shrinking violet. She’s leaving home for a job in a museum, unable to finance her education beyond her first degree in polypolisology.

A bit of a let down seeing how the first book was soooo good.

[Yev · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've just begun this book & can already tell that, however long it is, it could have been much shorter of a story. I'm finding that DiFilippo is over explaining & over describing most everything. The first few paragraphs could have been less involved & gotten the points across just fine. I'm all for setting the scene & character descriptions but this guy has gone overboard! I'll continue reading because I love to read most anything but I don't think this one will be very enjoyable for me.

I've just finished this story & I'm glad I gave it a chance! It turned out to be better than the first few paragraphs hinted. A fun adventure story that is a good time passer.

[Norman Lee Madsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable tale set in the same fascinating world as A Year In The Linear City. My only complaint is the somewhat flat and rushed ending. That said, I would happily revisit this world again if Mr Di Filippo ever sets another story there.

[Karl Stark di Grande Inverno · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sufficiente, ma inferiore rispetto al primo racconto della Città Lineare.
Un pò perchè la storia decolla nella seconda metà, un pò perchè Di Filippo mi pare abbia voluto esagerare con il suo stile, rendendolo in alcuni momenti la caricatura di sè stesso.
Anche in questo caso, come nel primo racconto, secondo me una manciata di pagine in più non avrebbe guastato; il finale è troppo compresso e "tirato via".

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but the ebook has a lot of typos, some of them quite confusing.