I will write a thing and

Declare what I have done

I have read the Kalevala

49 cantos I have read

50 was the number of the cantos

 

My Mother spoke a thing and declared thus

“You cannot read the Kalevala” she said

“Such a reading is not for you.

Read the books of your home.

Not old tales of northern lands.”

 

 

I replied to her and spoke thus, I said

“I will read the Kalevala,

The great epic of Finland.

I will read the words off the pages,

Read the pages out of the book.”

 

I read one page, I read two pages.

I read steady old Vainamoinen

Old man of calm waters.

I read wanton Lemminkainen

Him the Fair Farmind.

 

I read the forging of the Sampo

By the smith Ilmarinen

The everlasting craftsman.

All the way to Marjatta

And the birth of her child

 

My Mother put this into words and spoke thus,

She declared, she chatted.

“I have spotted a fraud!

You have not read all these pages”

I answered her and spoke thus,

 

“Oh, woe is me, a luckless boy,

I read 67 pages and gave up.

I got as far as young Joukahainen

Shooting Vainamoinen’s horse.

Then I downloaded the book from Audible.

 

Based on oral tradition it was,

So an audio book seemed appropriate.

Read by the translator, Keith Bosley,

It is not bad if Medieval lit you enjoy

Or are curious about Tolkien’s influences.”

I have to admit epic poems like the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aenid, Beowulf, Paradise Lost, and The Divine Comedy have never been my favorite reads. In fact, I pretty much hated them back in my college days. So when I first discovered that Dark Star utilized that same metered writing form, I was concerned. Terrified almost. But, after giving Oliver Langmead’s sci-fi verse a try, I found Dark Star a fresh, and easily readable novel.

 

The story itself begins as a moody, noir tale focusing on Detective Yorke. This downtrodden and gloomy fellow is a cop in the city of Vox. What makes his life so unusual is that upon his world there is no light. Instead Yorke’s world is covered in perpetual darkness; an all encompassing and smothering blackness of both the senses and the spirit. Naturally, light is treasured above all else: it is money; it is happiness; it is a recreational drug worth dying for!

 

A fact that Yorke already knows, but which is reinforced when he and his partner arrive at a murder scene, discovering a young woman’s corpse; her cold body on fire with light; her veins pulsing like a human light bulb. Her state announcing to all that a new light drug has hit the streets; one of such power that our detective is both terrified and tantalized by. But as powerful people try to sweep this death under the rug, world weary Detective Yorke doubles down, determined to investigate the crime even if it entangles him in an even bigger conspiracy – one so massive, so unbelievable that he could never have envisioned it!

 

As other have already observed, Dark Star is an intensely visual experience told in rhythmic language. Yes, it has many characteristics of a cyberpunk noir, but that is not what it is. Rather it is a science fiction story that folds more than one literary genre into its concoction, using the perfect flow of its lyrical narrative to take a reader into the haunted life of Detective Yorke, deep into the grimy alleys of the city, through the halls of the mighty, and ultimately to an ending that asks many deep philosophical questions.

Even with that being said, this isn’t a novel that every sci-fi fan will warm too. Its epic verse narrative will put many off. Its philosophical quandaries will infuriate some. The limits to the characterization will disappoint others. But instead of focusing on the dislikes that I personally had with it, I prefer to recall the positives. For without a doubt, Dark Star is a truly fresh and original science fiction story that is entertaining, visually compelling, and lyrically engaging. Oh, poetry starved fans will love it more than others, but everyone can appreciate the slightly different path that Oliver Langmead traveled with his sci-fi epic in verse. And I for one applaud his herculean effort.

This was a very enjoyable way to learn a little of the history of pioneer life in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. It also tells a little about people in the Midwest before they pushed on along the Oregon Trail. The "poem" covers blocks of time from the mid-1850s through 1933. It follows several generations of families. Just plain everyday life for them is what we would today consider "hardship." These people endured one hardship after another: flood, fire, epidemic, drought, war, and freezing winters with no insulation. This is the first epic poem I've ever read on purpose. :) (Of course I had to read those musty old things from centuries ago in high school and college.)I'm very impressed with the skill of this poet in developing characters and telling a meaningful story using so few words.