After publishing a few acclaimed poetry collections, Kaveh Akbar’s first novel, Martyr!, is to be released later this month. The novel starts with Cyrus Shams, a poet, recovering drug and alcohol addict, and someone is trying find meaning, not only in life but in death. His mother is killed in 1988 on Flight 655, an Iranian commercial flight shot down by the United States military. He is a baby at the time. Afterward, he and his father move from Iran to Indiana, where his father worked at a chicken farm. Cyrus grows up, but he does not grow out of the feeling of his mother, and eventually the death of his father as soon as he goes to college. Martyr! is Cyrus’s journey post family and post drugs to figure out if his mother and father’s death has meaning at all. This journey leads him to the idea of writing a book about martyrs, which leads him and his friend Zee from Indiana to Brooklyn, where an Iranian-born artist is publicly dying of breast cancer. She is at the Brooklyn Museum meeting people every day to talk about whatever they want until she eventually dies. Her hospice is on display for art. Cyrus wants to know if her death is art, thus making it more meaningful than other deaths. Meeting her changes everything for him.

This story is not straight forward or complete. We are given large chunks of the story, not only Cyrus’s life, but the life of his parents, what his mother felt when she was boarding the plane on her fateful trip, how military service messed up Cyrus’s uncle, and how his father felt after losing his wife, but we are also allowed to fill in the blanks. Chapters are written from the perspective of everyone, from Cyrus, from Cyrus’s mother, father, and uncle, and from the dying artist herself. There are chapters that are fictionalized conversations between famous people that Cyrus uses to help him fall asleep at night (which we could have used a few more of these). We are also given snippets of the book of martyrs that Cyrus is writing: poems and paragraphs explaining the depths of what death can mean. Cyrus has collected all of these pieces, and he hopes this can mean something.

The writing is fantastic, and the story is gripping. I was more invested in these characters and this story than any other book in a long time. There are some moments when Kaveh Akbar writes very deep conversations between two characters and the narrative does seem to stall a bit, but most of the novel is flawless, exciting, and quite possibly one of the best books I will read this year.

I reviewed this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is another unexpectedly wonderful book coming out in early 2024. I've read Akbar's poetry before this, and was interested at how it would make the transition to a novel structure. We get a fantastic situation where the poetry in the book is part of a project that the main character is working on, and the poetry that's included, along with short writing excerpts from the project, appear scattered throughout the book. Very much a story about societal projections and who's the real story, along with a fantastic, unexpected queer angle to the overall plot. Pick this up when this comes out at the end of January 2024, you won't regret it.

Kaveh Akbar's Martyr is a moving, complex reflection on finding meaning in one's life after loss and addiction. Cyrus Shams is an Iranian-American young man struggling with what his future should be after a difficult childhood. His mother died tragically in a passenger airline crash (the US shot at it, they said mistakenly), and his father moved the two of them to Indiana, taking a job at a chicken processing plant- drinking himself to sleep at night in order to get up early the next morning for work. Soon after leaving for college, Cyrus' father passes away, which he interprets as him just hanging on until he thought Cyrus was independent enough. Cyrus quickly falls into an unhealthy pattern of drug use and alcoholism, though as readers, we meet him after becoming clean. He is a poet and is trying to figure out what his next piece should be about and he mines his feelings about death in his family, historical martyrs, and his own complicated feelings about wanting to stay alive to start a collection about martyrs. He sees notice for a piece about an artist with terminal cancer, who, as her final art installation, plans to sit in an art museum, talking with people, as she lives out her final days on Earth. Multiple threads laid out during the book start to coalesce, leaving a satisfying ending which brought tears to my eyes. I loved this, and I hope others experience this moving book.

Thank you to Knopf for the advance reader copy via NetGalley in exchange for honest review.

While I didn't always connect with the story and it was a bit out of my comfort zone, I certainly appreciated the writing style and frenetic sense of storytelling. Would recommend it to anyone looking for a thought-provoking and, at times, challenging read.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

I won’t lie, I struggled a bit with this read. It is so different from anything that I have experienced and from what I normally read. Part novel, part poetry, always well written. Cyrus, Persian by birth but raised in the USA, ironically after his mother dies in a commercial airplane shot down by the USA. His father works a menial job in northern Indiana at a commercial chicken farm until he dies shortly after Cyrus graduates from college. Cyrus is sober (drugs and alcohol) and struggling with his life and future and is obsessed with martyrs - but not in the stereotypical way Iranian soldiers are thought to be.

I was first hooked by the cover, then by the title, and finally by the first line. I am having a hard time believing this is a debut because this was a complete knock out!
This story follows Cyrus, obsessed with death and ensuring his death means something, swallowed whole by grief and anything that numbs the pain of being alive. We also see vignettes of the people around him, mostly his parents and his friend Zee, in addition to people he dreams, creating beautifully complex scenes and dialogue that often bends reality.
Ultimately, this book asks us to consider the meaning of death, of life, and of language or art’s ability to render either of those things in a meaningful way. I’d say my only critique was that the conclusion/“twist” felt a bit tidy, lots of coincidences and fate at play that verged on being distracting. I’m also feeling a bit confused about the ending, but in a kind of fun way where I already know I’ll be thinking about it for a while.
If you’re looking for a character-driven novel that explores lots of existential questions, this is going to be your book of the year.
Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the eARC of Martyr!

Wow. What. A. Debut.

This book had me thinking and feeling from beginning to end with a running question of belonging and finding meaning in our lives and the lives that have come before us. Loss, grief, a greater purpose to make sense of tragedy...we can all relate to those struggles. There's humor and art as a metaphor for life and while those two probably seem incompatible, Akbar masterfully melds them together so that I was smiling one moment and tearing up the next. Structurally, the novel is varied and interesting to experience with snippets from a book the main character, Cyrus, is writing, along with poetry and multiple points of view with backstories that add a richness to every page. This will sit with me for a long time. I can't wait for others to read it so we can discuss. Go get this one.

Poetry is not my forte, so I was a bit unsure starting Martyr!, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it very, very readable. This is another novel about an artist—in this case a poet named Cyrus Shams—going through an existential crisis. That’s a crowded subgenre, but Martyr! manages to stand out.

What Akbar really excels at here is dialogue. So snappy and funny. Truly funny! I laughed a lot. Cyrus is a lovely protagonist to be with as a reader.

Unfortunately, there’s a decent chunk of this book spent away from Cyrus, with entire flashback chapters following his father and mother and uncle scattered all throughout. These digressions from Cyrus’ story flesh out his family nicely but never stop feeling like over-long interludes. The chapters themselves are just as well written as the main story, but I always wanted to get back to Cyrus as quickly as possible. Martyr! pulled me in quickly. I completely bought the characters and dialogue and emotions and it felt on track to be a new favorite up until it became obvious that this novel was trying to be more epic than I expected (or wanted).

I had a nice time with Martyr!, and would recommend it to a lot of people looking for a new literary novel, but it’s frustrating to think that there is a stronger novel in here that isn’t so sprawling.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book is spectacular. I love when poets write prose, because what they write always comes out so beautifully. Not only was the book beautifully written, the story itself was engaging and spoke to me on a deep, human level. I can't wait for this book to come out so everyone can read it!

This book felt like nothing else. I was immediately gripped—I wanted to keep reading but didn’t want the book to end. Akbar’s writing manages to be funny, deeply moving, and tender all at once.

Iranian American Cyrus Shams is a young poet & recovering addict grappling with loss: his mom's plane was shot down over the skies of Tehran. Attempting to understand loss, Cyrus becomes obsessed with martyrs and embarks on a journey to make sense of his past & inheritance.

Written by a poet, MARTYR! excels in its inventive structure and unique style. I love the glimpses of Cyrus' "book," various POVs encompassing the Sham family members, and feverish dreams that rely on analyses & interpretations. MARTYR! is the nth book I've read recently with a "narrative within a narrative" format, and I adore how much depth this style adds to the story.

Part one of the MARTYR! is quite humorous & sarcastic with ample cultural criticism, reminding me of AFTERPARTIES (Anthony Veasna So). In contrast, the artistic and more-vibe-less-plot vignettes are reminiscent of BLACKOUTS (Justin Torres).

My favorite aspect of MARTYR! is its exploration of "the meaning of death" through various characters. For Cyrus, his hope for his death to matter manifests as his desire to become a martyr. For others, death is the fulfillment of one's duty to raise their children among loss or the heartbreak that you've cheated death but at a considerable cost.

I was a tad lost halfway through reading MARTYR!, especially because the mixed formats & multi-POV read more like vignettes than a novel. Nonetheless, the last 20% really turned the story around. Akbar brilliantly transforms a story that is hyperfocused on the meaning of death to the significance of life—of staying alive and finding the joy to live. MARTYR! reaches the crescendos with its unexpected ending and leaves me contemplating intergenerational trauma—how much is defined by our obsession with grief and death?

Martyr! was one of the most beautiful and immersive books I’ve read this year, written by a writer whose poetry I already admire so much. There is a rumor in the reading world that poets make powerful novelists, but that rumor didn’t prepare me for how deeply I was going to feel this book. I felt such an affinity toward the characters and I so often felt astonished by the unique, exploratory structure of the book wherein we jump from different characters’ perspectives, into and out of dreamscapes, into and out of our protragonist’s creative project, into and out of poetry. In lesser hands, this style could feel scrapbookey, but it worked so so well for me. It felt like reading a small miracle, i was so often stunned. It’s been about a month since I read this, and I miss these characters, I miss the conversations, the insights, the revelations. I miss reading this book. This isnt what is usually considered a “cozy”read, there is a lot of very real pain and hardship in it (addiction, death, grief, violence, etc) but were so many truths packed into it, so many conversations I really needed to eavesdrop on…the book ended up making me feel safe. When a book manages to feel like a friend in this way…thats my favorite kind of comfort read. I’m not much of a book rereader, but this one is so good I want to pick it up again sometime soon. Especially to read the ending again.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher!

Touching and disturbing account of disenfranchisement and the temptations of martyrdom. Leaves the reader with much food for thought.

This book was a lot but for so many reasons, it was different and the writing style, while it was different it was good, and very inspiring.

This book is gorgeously written and very deep but it's a bit dense so prepare yourself for a deep dive. I was enjoying reading it and then had surgery that has kept me up much of the night and after a while this book sort of got to be a bit much for me to read in the middle of the night so I tucked it away. I do plan to finish and I think it is worth the undertaking.

Martyr! tells the story of Cyrus Shams, a poet who has struggled with addiction and becomes obsessed with the idea that his death should mean something. He studies past martyrs and visits a dying artist in Brooklyn whose actual death becomes her piece of art.

The Martyrs themselves are referred to in poems throughout the book. . I found this book disjointed to read. Cyrus' quest for meaning in his life is interspersed with flashbacks to both of his parents. While there were some beautiful passages in this book, overall the story didn’t resonate with me.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 out of 5 stars.

Cyrus Shams is a drunk poet with substance addiction to boot. His mother died when he was very young, her plane shot down as she flew to visit her brother. His father moves Cyrus to America after that, working at a chicken factor until Cyrus is off to college and then he can die in peace without the guilt of responsibility weighing him to life.

Cyrus goes through a number of relationships, eventually ending up with Zee, his roommate he met when he was on a date with an ex-girlfriend. Zee and Cyrus don't really call their relationship anything, and when they end up relationships with other people, they keep their relationship with each other a secret for reasons they can't put into words.

Cyrus begins going to meetings for his addictions in an attempt to gain some modicum of control over himself. He has an idea in his head about writing a book about martyrs - people whose lives meant something, but whose deaths, he believes, meant something more, and he is searching for a way to turn his tragic story into one of martyrdom...both for his mother, and himself.

Then he hears about Orkideh - an Iranian artist who is dying of cancer. She will be living in a museum and talking to people until such time as her death. On a whim, Cyrus and Zee fly to New York to see her at the Brooklyn Museum of art. Over the course of the next few days, Cyrus talks daily with Orkideh, always leaving feeling like it was such precious little time.

But Cyrus, as we have come to understand, has a self-destructive streak, and before the trip is over, not only will he turn his life upside down, but he will have the help of others in doing so as well.

A truly...unique read. I was not terribly impressed at the beginning of the book, but the premise kept me chugging along. By the end, I was a fan, if not of Cryus Shams, then of Kaveh Akbar, who has put together something truly exception, if a little beyond complete comprehension.

Throughout the book, in addition to Cyrus's story, we have first-person accounts of various points in his life, plus excerpts from his attempt to write his martyr books.

In the end, I have to applaud it because when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it.

Thanks very much to Knopf and NetGalley for the eARC of Martyr!

I hadn't ever read anything by Kaveh Akbar before this novel (though now I'm halfway through Calling a Wolf a Wolf, so that should tell you something), but I was drawn to request Martyr! because the author and I share some common educational background--we both have undergrad degrees in English from Purdue, and I'm currently enrolled as an MFA student at Butler, where he received his MFA. I'm very glad I requested this intriguing, brilliant book.

Martyr! is the story of Cyrus Shams, an Iranian-American living in Indiana, aspiring poet, orphaned, recently sober, as he becomes obsessed with martyrs and martyrdom. The novel follows Cyrus's relationships with his family, friends, and lovers, and, ultimately, his journey to New York to meet with a terminally ill artist who is spending the last days of her life in an art installation called "Death-Speak" where patrons line up to speak with her about, well, anything.

While reading Martyr! I couldn't help but think of it as in conversation with another recent Hoosier masterpiece, Tess Gunty's The Rabbit Hutch. Both are experimental in form and structure and swing for the fences; both play with linearity and point of view (two of my favorite things to find in fiction). Both books have deep roots in Indiana (I have to say I was tickled every time Martyr!'s fictionalized version of Purdue, called Keady University (IYKYK), was mentioned). Both books deftly combine utterly serious situations with satire. I particularly loved Cyrus's dreamed conversations between fictional characters, real people, and/or his family and friends (just thinking again of the conversation between Lisa Simpson and Cyrus's mother). Prose is lovely, as you'd expect from a poet of the author's caliber; we also get wonderful poetry (authored by the protagonist) sprinkled throughout.

In any event, I could ramble on. If you like experimental lit fic, then I'd highly recommend checking out Martyr! (I should also mention my love for the title's exclamation point!).

Martyr! tells the story of Cyrus Shams, a relatively-recently sober poet who becomes obsessed with the idea that his death should have meaning; much of the story’s action concerns his trip to Brooklyn to visit a dying artist whose actual death becomes her final piece.

I wanted to love this book, and there were passages of it I really did love—the chapter from Arash’s point of view about being an angel is basically beautiful from start to finish and without question my favorite writing in the book. There were ideas and scenes, too, that resonated with me—I fell in love with the idea of Arash’s being an angel, and with the idea of Cyrus being a medical actor; I adored the scene between Cyrus and the medical student, where sincerity sort of bubbles up out of irony, and I really liked a lot of the writing about addiction.

My biggest problem with the novel, honestly, is that the vast majority of it is written in close third-person from Cyrus’s point of view, and the writing of these sections—the prose at a granular level—was the least satisfying to me by far.

Something I had trouble with was not just the multiplicity of viewpoints (although that was difficult for me at times, too) but the fact that some of the viewpoints are from characters who have died, so we’re taken out of the flow of time to hear them talk about their experiences when they were alive—though from when they’re telling their stories isn’t clear, so it almost could be from some kind of afterlife. I hate a lot of the discussion about what scenes, in particular, are “necessary” to a work of writing, film, etc., and so I won’t attempt to go there, because I don’t know how to talk about it cogently. But I will say that the dream sequences in the novel—of which there are I think three or four—did not entice me as a reader.

My hatred of talking about “necessary” scenes comes from my hatred of treating plot as a kind of sacrosanct given in fiction, because I’m a firm believer in the plotless novel. But I guess I question the plot a little bit, especially the frankly wild twist towards the very end which I found very difficult to believe and thus to take seriously. What is believability, anyway—does my believing it matter, I guess, that’s what I wonder—but the fact is I did not and it took me out of the novel.

In the beginning of Martyr! Cyrus is obviously looking for a reason to live, and he settles on this book about Martyrs, which is supposed to be the central binding thread. But I guess the project never felt really real to me, nor did Cyrus’s engagement with it—there’s actually very little discussion of him writing the project, although we see excerpts from it throughout the text. Part of this is because the action of a good chunk of the book, which is broken down over a few days in Brooklyn, doesn’t really have time for it. It just seems like a lot of the time Cyrus doesn’t really know what he’s doing, and there’s no big moment of internal revelation that solves that problem for me. Not that all fiction needs to be building toward a singular moment of revelation that solves interior conflict, but I feel like there’s an attempt at this here, only the revelation is exterior and seems to muddy the waters more than clarify them.

I wonder about the novel’s ending, too, which seems open to interpretation, as does whether or not Cyrus ends up finishing his project—the fact that the excerpts are labeled as coming from a .docx file suggests he doesn’t, but maybe they’re meant to be real-time excerpts of what he was writing at that time in the story? Again, temporality in the novel is strange, and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to think.