Song of Kali Paperback – January 15, 1998

Story 4.5/5Narration 5/5Song of Kali by Dan Simmons is an unique tragic horror book. I liked it!The story is well written, and made me traveled through it pages. I never went to India, and I knew nothing significant about the goddess Kali. So I don’t know if what has been said about Calcutta and the goddess is accurate. But what Dan Simmons described seems realistic. In my opinion, all the characters are well developed.I found the claustrophobic, filthy and sinister atmosphere of Calcutta, well described. I could almost smell the city while reading. I felt the city’s humidity and the frenzy of all the unfortunate and fortunate people living there.Song of Kali is a different kind of horror story. There are a lot of mysteries. I didn’t understood everything, but I liked it nonetheless. The audiobook is very good and added to the mystery. I highly recommend it, if you want to travel without leaving your home, and if you want to get spooked.

I believe this is the third book by Dan Simmons that I had read. My favorite one is The Terror. I just loved how vivid that one was with the cracking ice and everything. This one was vivid too but in a vastly different way. Its Calcutta. The awful slums. Huge piles of refuse everywhere and people defecating in the street. Its very urban. So its a different type of danger.To be honest I had no idea what this book was actually about. I do know who Kali is...and I knew the story took place in India. But I found this to be a weird mix of Frankenstein and the ever popular Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom... There are some truly dark twisted things in here, I guess because Kali is a very dark goddess... Or is she a demon? But there are events in here that seem to twist reality. And some part of you wonders was it real or was it some clever parlor trick (of the most awful bloody nature of course).There were events in here I had never expected. Twists that came out of nowhere and then the aftermath was truly awful. True horror...The book suggests that Kali is real and that this is the Age of Kali with all the horrible stuff going on in the world.But here is the plot: Mr Luczak, his wife Amrita and their baby Victoria go to Calcutta. Luczak is an author and he has heard that the famous M Das has written another epic poem - but M Das is supposed to be dead! And that is the beginning of a complicated mystery with much tension, trouble and freaky stuff. And it seems once you go to that huge city its very hard to leave.Some of the stuff in here was very disturbing and shocking. Read this in a day so its one of his shorter books.

After years of hearing about how amazing this book was, I finally got a chance to read it in 2022 and was a bit underwhelmed. On the positive side, it does create a very ominous atmosphere and there is a truly horrific climax that I think still packs a punch. I also liked the "Song of Kali" theme and the ultimate ending (which I don't want to spoil). I also liked the ambiguity of some of the story's elements (I have my own theories, but it's fun to know that other readers will have their own takes). On the negative side, one could argue that the novel is highly xenophobic (everyone in Calcutta ranges from unhelpful to truly evil), and the protagonist himself isn't the most sympathetic person, and doesn't seem to change even after everything that's transpired. Still, it's worth a read as it is a great example of the genre.

When this book arrived I sat down to read just the first chapter... that quickly turned into reading the whole book in one sitting. It was absolutely thrilling. Even though I could see the event that happens at the end coming from a mile away, the journey to getting there was exciting. The characters were rich - I particularly thought Krishna was a well-written figure - and the mystery was fun.

I am not a Dan Simmons fan. I tried Simmons The Terror (2007) an 800-page inventive bloat that became more and more unbelievable as it spun off in odd story directions. And I am also not a fan of his popular Hyperion series (for the same reason a few other critics don’t like it, i.e. lacking internal story logic.) And yet, you can tell Dan Simmons is a very intelligent guy and is trying to do things you have not seen before in fiction. SONG OF KALI is one of his successes. It’s an old-fashioned atmospheric horror tale (at times I felt like I could have been reading Ambrose Bierce from the 1890’s.) This book shows that Simmons has the capacity at times to be a terrific, clear, evocative writer. I have no idea if he has ever been to Calcutta but the foul city he convincingly evokes is a hot nightmare of piss, garbage, sewage, disease, and ancient supernatural horror. This is quite a fresh accomplishment, and Simmons evokes it economically. I don’t quite believe the plot, but plot is never Simmons strong point. His strength is that sentence by sentence, he is a highly skilled writer and keeps you interested in his story — even if it is going mostly nowhere. Simmons aims high. He wants to be “literary” and that ego can prevent him from the kind of direct pleasure a more populist horror writer like Stephen King delivers. Simmons has huge innate talents, but they can become uncontrolled, twisted and ingrown. He indulges himself at the expense of his readers. And yet, to give him credit, he does manage to fulfill H.P. Lovecraft’s mandate for horror: “The true weird tale has something more than secret murder, bloody bones, or a sheeted form clanking chains according to rule. A certain atmosphere of breathless and unexplainable dread of outer, unknown forces must be present; and there must be a hint, expressed with a seriousness and portentousness becoming its subject, of that most terrible conception of the human brain–a malign and particular suspension or defeat of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguard against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space.” Yeah, SONG OF KALI has all that. I just wish Simmons was able to achieve such peaks of quality on a more regular basis and with greater economy. Mr. Simmons should post on his wall either: “brevity is the soul of wit” and/or “omit needless words.” But not both cliches.

impressive. gives me nightmares until today. Dan Simmons is really good but this is by far my favourite book by him

I have not been a fan of Fan Simmons for very long, but I was first introduced to his work through "The Terror" and have rapidly amassed a tidy little collection of his works, his first novel being the latest addition.This book is far more frightening. It is far more visceral, far more identifiable. All characters feel profoundly, terribly human. The situations feel at once surreal and, if you have ever found yourself in any form of danger or under attack, instantly familiar.It is not sentimental, but hopeful. It is one hell of a debut from an intensely talented writer. I only wish I had read it sooner.

Non un granché come lettura, ci sono alcuni buoni spunti, ma non si sviluppano mai, sembra più incentrato sul raccapriccio per la miseria umana e all'associarla al male, piuttosto che a sviluppare una trama elaborata.L'atmosfera c'è, anche la base per qualcosa d'interessante ma si sviluppa in modo poco convincente e poi finisce. Tutto a posto i tempi di consegna e le condizioni del prodotto.

Song of Kali works on many levels. As a horror tale, the story has several jolting and claustrophobic scenes that rank amongst the most powerful moments of drama I have read. There are few traditionally scary moments, rather the power of the book lies in its heavy sense of dread. As a study of place, the setting of a grim version of Calcutta (as was) is perfectly rendered. The characters too are exceptionally well drawn through their dialogue, and every one of them seems all too real. As a work of literary horror it's hard to find fault. Maybe it could have lost some of the build up and chasing scenes which lessened the impact just a little, but that's a minor criticism.

Tenía años que quería este libro y ya sea porque no lo tenían disponible o me olvidaba comprarlo apenas lo adquirí. Dan Simmos es uno de mis escritores favoritos, he leído varios de sus libros y me faltan muchos aún; la forma en la que escribe terror es única, tiene una manera muy peculiar de clavarse en tu mente, mientras lo estás leyendo pareciera que no es mucho, que no sientes tanto miedo, pero es como algo... ponzoñoso, es cuando lo terminas de leer y empieza a anidar en tu mente y en tus pesadillas cuando te das cuenta lo bueno que es para contar historias :/ ¡Léanlo! No se van a arrepentir.