Calypso by Oliver K Langmead

My kingdom for pdfs properly formatted for Kindle!

That gripe aside, wow, was I finally glad to be able to read Oliver K Langmead’s novel in verse. And I get it, the pdf was meant to preserve the gorgeous art and design of the book, which it definitely does. It just took way longer to read on my Kindle than it should have because the print was so tiny!

Anyway, the poetry inside is divided into narratives centering four different people: Rochelle, the engineer and moral center; Sigmund, the architect and visionary; Catherine, the biologist and creator, and the Herald, the storyteller and historian. All four are on the colony/generation ship Calypso, where the first three went into extended cryosleep on their way to a brand new planet, in a universe where terraforming has already turned Mars and Venus into habitable environments for humanity. The new planet the four are headed to, however, is light years beyond our solar system.

Rochelle, especially, feels guilt for leaving her children behind. It’s never really explained why she felt compelled to join this expedition to begin with, which I thought was rather odd. It’s obvious why Sigmund and Catherine went, and the Herald had no choice, being the descendant of generations of crew who’ve ensured that the sleeping technicians and colonists are taken care of on their long trek through the stars. Things, ofc, do not quite go to plan, as Rochelle wakes to find a ship entirely different from what she expected.

But it’s not just the ship that’s changed. As Rochelle falls in with Sigmund and Catherine once again, she discovers that their plans aren’t what she’d anticipated either. Will she be able to change things for the better, or will they all be doomed by pride and (I almost hate to say this but will anyway) prejudice?

This is an interesting publishing experiment that I’m not sure 100% succeeds. It’s a competent telling, even if the poetry — primarily blank verse — does little to argue for why it should be in this format instead of prose to begin with. Catherine’s narrative is probably best suited to the form, tho I can also appreciate the Herald’s sections for hearkening back to epic verse. Rochelle’s and Sigmund’s were just meh, like prose rearranged into tidy paragraphs. It feels more of a marketing choice than a creative one — tho in this economy, I totally get it.

The story is above average but, again, could have been better told were Rochelle’s part entirely in prose. It sure felt like reading chopped up prose! I know that some people think that that’s just what poetry is, but it truly isn’t. There’s a necessary music to poetry, a sharpened sense of imagery, that was missing from her sections. It’s a commendable effort tho. I always enjoy reading and supporting experiments with form, and am glad that this is reaching a wider audience with its Hugo nomination for Best Poem. Which category I’ll discuss at length in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Calypso by Oliver K Langmead was published April 2 2024 by Titan Books and is available from all good booksellers, including