What particularly impresses me with speculative fiction poetry is that it's unfamiliar territory and unfortunately, if science fiction/fantasy is a ghetto, speculative fiction poetry is so much so. Which is such a same considering all the areas it's exploring and In DeepSpace Shadows is a good example.
The subtitle is A Dramatic Poem but I honestly read this as a drama in the Greek sense of the word. This could easily have been a short play, the lines recited rather than read, and the setting easily adaptable for the stage.
We have an ensemble cast with their forms appropriate metaphors for their personality. As far as I can tell, the lines aren't lyrical, although they are easily understandable and convey the needs of the story. Again, In DeepSpace Shadows echoes the attributes of Greek drama, from the philosophy to the inevitable end.
Overall this was an enjoyable chapbook, perhaps it doesn't quite linger as much as I'd want to but its successful attempt at such a form--that of a dramatic poem--is certainly to be lauded. Speculative fiction poetry isn't mainstream, and speculative drama is rarer still. How much more one that combines both?
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