Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead is a science fiction space opera written in verse (3.5/5 stars)

Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead is a science fiction space opera written in verse.

I read it because it was a Best Poetry nominee for the 2025 Hugo Awards. I feel like this should have been nominated in the novella or novel category instead, mostly since it’s a nearly six-hour audiobook and a complete story.

Speaking of which, I borrowed the audiobook via Hoopla from my local library while following along in the ebook version included in the Hugo packet. If you are listening to the audiobook, I highly recommend doing an immersive read by having the text in front of you.

It appears to be written in homage of epic poetry of Homer, such as The Iliad. I did appreciate the structure, and some of the formatting was very prettily composed on the page, alongside illustrations. I thought it was cool that the formatting of the verse was different depending on which of our four POV characters was front and center.

While I liked the author’s prose much of the time, I felt like there were many portions of the work that dragged for me. I didn’t feel fully invested until about the 50% mark, and even then I was kind of just along for the ride. I also felt like we didn’t really get to see the friendship form between Rochelle and Catherine. I would have especially appreciated learning more about Catherine in general. She was the most interesting character for me, and I feel like we barely scratched her surface.

I also didn’t quite like the ending and felt it was very abrupt. There’s also a lot of religious (read: Christian) allegory which to me felt like it both permeated everything a little too much but also wasn’t as deeply explored as it could have been.

And idk I’m not a mom myself but I don’t truly understand how Rochelle could have left two young children behind to go on this mission to begin with.