Review of Kalimantan by Lucius Shepard

Lucius Shepard published more than one-hundred short stories. Most have been re-published in good-sized collections and anthologies of the 400+ page variety. But some were republished in smaller collections—special editions, in fact—looking to capture a certain audience or breathe second life into stories worth a second read not reprinted elsewhere. Kalimantan (1990) is the latter. A mini-slice of Shepard's oeuvre, it contains a short story, novelette, and novella.

The title story “Kalimantan” is a peculiar mix of ingredients. It's got bits of Graham Greene's The Quiet American, a splash of eau de Le Guin, a sprinkle or two of Robert Silverberg's Nightwings, and two cups (or more) of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The cake it bakes is the uncanny tale of a man named Barnett. Living in Borneo, he meets a rude, dismissive American named MacKinnon. But the relationship doesn't last long. MacKinnon gets into trouble and flees to the jungle, a place he discovers seribu aso, a psychedelic drug that truly changes the world. MacKinnon only gets further into trouble, forcing Barnett and others to enter the jungle and find MacKinnon. Like Heart of Darkness, things get creepy the deeper they go, and in the process, Shepard casts light on the individual nature of the human plight.

A different jungle, “The Arcevoalo” is the biblical tale of a man reborn to experience the love and aggression, passion and mortality of life in a future Amazon, an Amazon that has evolved nature in a way technology is indistinguishable from magic. For fans of J.G. Ballard's Unlimited Dream Company, the story features lush language and imagery that dovetails excellently with the themes targeted.

With echoes of John Steinbeck, “Solitario's Eyes” is a tightly-written fable about a native woman named Amelita who continues to see the medicine man of her people despite the jealous warnings and drunken threats of her husband. Watching the heat lightning with his horse one evening, the medicine man has a frightening vision that perfectly peaks the atypical arc of this story. The collection may be titled after “Kalimantan”, but it's possible this short takes the blue ribbon.

In the end, Kalimantan is a short but impactful glimpse of the power of Lucius Shepard's fiction. Each of the three stories contains the evocative language, drama, and persistent sideways glance at the human condition that the writer was known for. It's not easy to get your hands on this collection today in paper, thus seek out the digital if interested. Enjoy this and you will enjoy most everything by Shepard.