I had a great deal of difficulty with this poem. The first 29 cantos were wonderful, and I found out after reading that they were originally a standalone piece of poetry. The rest of the poem was only added later, and for me the distinction was obvious. I was almost entirely lost for most of the rest of the story, only following again for a bit in the end.

I'm sure part of that is because this is one of my first forays into poetry pretty much ever, and I'm not a sci-fi reader either. This was far out of my comfort zone in every regard. But I also read this online in what I believe was an unofficial translation. There were numerous spelling errors and inconsistent repetition and rhyming, so part of it could also have been the translation (I really have no idea in that regard- it could have been fine, but it seemed worth a mention). Additionally there were notes at the very end which I didn't know about until I'd already finished, and those would have been immensely helpful. They explained a lot of the made up words that were scattered throughout.

So my rating is a combination of thoroughly enjoyed some parts of the poem, but couldn't follow others at all. I think the first 29 cantos would have been four stars for me because I thought they were lovely. The language was wonderful and the story itself grabbed me. Beyond that, it seemed to lose focus and that's why it took me over a month to get through. It was hard to pick up a poem I knew I wasn't understanding/appreciating.

I think I would reread the first 29 cantos again and stop there, and I would definitely recommend picking this book up if you enjoy science fiction just for that beginning. It was worthwhile, and I'm glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone even the work overall wasn't for me.