I really like this piece, but I’m not sure it fits with the prequel.

Without Walls was less about the city/society, and more about the traveler, while Under Cover is about the city/society, without touching on how it affects the traveler.

I love them both, I just don’t think they go together.

Romanesque !With an after taste of sci fi.

This is beautifully written.

Jessica – I think your comments point up a flaw in my original, or at least a disconnect between my intent and what actually happened. As a semi-homage to Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Without Walls was, in my mind, about the place not the person visiting it. But, partly because descriptive passages like the elegant ones above are not my strong suit, and partly because I tend to be more interested in the observer than the observed, it deviated from my plan.

In a sense, Jesteram’s story is closer to what I intended!

Spiderj is selling himself short. The “semi-homage” source material, is packed with different stories about fictional cities. Some describe the cities themselves, some describe how the cities impact visitors, and some detail the cities’ inhabitants. It’s a mix.

I think this sequel (and any that might come after it) don’t have to be linked precisely in form or content, as long as they detail the traveler, a new city, and/or the impressions or interactions between the two.

@Spiderj and jesteram, hokay, I can see that. Perhaps then there just isn’t enough sequels to see the entire pattern. :)

Gives me lots to think about…mayhap for a sequel of my own. ^^

For those (like me) who have yet to read the original Invisible CIties by Italo Calvino, there are excerpts here: http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/00/pwillen1/lit/citysum.htm

There was once a website called Blind Atlas which had stories in that genre but the sands of the internet swallowed it up. It can be found by searching for www.blindatlas.com in the Internet Archive.

I would like to know more about how this place affected the traveler. I think it speaks very strongly to a state of mind: the more we try to fight something, the more it comes to dominate our lives.

Great sequel to a great story… This one also does an excellent job of capturing Calvino’s style, and has a real sense of poignancy to it. Well done!

From what it sounds like, you’ve both captured a different facet of whatshisnames writing style in this book, Invisible Cities, and your strong points seem to compliment eachothers’ pieces nicely :) I really enjoyed this. You hit the whole philosophical-moral-complete-with-sifi-mystery squarely on the noggin for me ^- The only critique I’d have of it is watch that your descriptions don’t deviate too much from the point of the story, or else it may become an irksome read for some.

Lovely little allegory of a story. It also makes me think of missing out on the beauty of life by spending so much time avoiding a little discomfort along the way.

Thanks for the link, Garsecg! It let me appreciate these stories much more. I have to say that, as a tribute, this is quite a piece! It fits the style really well, and it has a message. Thumbs up!