Song of Kali

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.

Don't be confused by the 4 stars I gave it, they're not meant to be "wow, great horror novel." It's a very good book. It's dark when it needs to be and the instances where I felt a little bored and like skipping over a few passages were rare at best. It managed to stir some pretty powerful emotions in me, but the downside was that I never felt a gratification in the end. Without giving away too much I'd like to warn you that you don't get a "lived happily ever after" ending here. If you need that ending look elsewhere. I usually don't, but with this book I craved it. I wanted vengeance on the "bad guys."Now, Simmons bashing of Calcutta. If it weren't for my Indian friend who said that Simmons didn't even get close to the misery of that place I'd say he was on a mission to insult that place as much as he could. But, apparently this work of fiction is not far from the truth in describing the horrid dystopia of a major Indian city.So what's all this about "don't be confused by my rating"? Well, I bought this as a horror novel. It wasn't. It has an element of supernatural to it and it's quite good, but horror it is not. In fact, the worst things that happen in the story are real life dramas that have nothing to do with supernatural entities. I'd classify it maybe as Dark Fiction at best.Some reviewers have alluded to certain plot elements being unrealistic (especially concerning the protagonist's wife). I didn't find any trouble with it at all. Everything happened the way I'd expect it to happen under those circumstances (everything except the end where I would have gone off the deep end on a murderous rampage of every single person in the country if it were me).The length was good also. Simmons wrote exactly what was needed without any "filler" to add up to a higher word count. I didn't feel like I needed more (except that ending damn it!) or less.Good book, well written, good imagination, good story, proper length, not horror, there you go.

I've long been a fan of Dan Simmons' literate versions of sci-fi and horror ever since I first read his Hyperion Cantos and Carrion Comfort. But until now I'd never picked up his first horror novel, Song of Kali.Perhaps it's because Song of Kali was written early in his career, but the book never really connected with me. I can lose myself in some of Simmons' other works, but Song of Kali didn't have the ability to draw me in on a visceral level. Despite its exotic locale, I never felt I was there in Calcutta. Perhaps it's because I had a college friend who grew up in Calcutta and who told me much about the city that the book failed to connect with me. Simmons seems intent on portraying the impoverished areas of Calcutta almost exclusively - and he does it with a vengence! The Calcutta of Song of Kali had no redeeming qualities. It's denizens are uniformly portrayed as the worst form of stereotypes.Yet still I found much to recommend the book. For one, Simmons can portray dramatic moments realistically. For example, his depiction of when one of the characters is kidnapped and fantasizes about escaping his captors, but knows he cannot overpower them and heroically escape, is spot on. So, too, are the reactions of two characters who face a devastating tragedy. He is able to reveal more about them in just a simple description of their movements than he could by letting readers into the characters' heads.This is not Simmons at his best, but it marks a clear starting point for him. Readers who go into this book expecting the same sort of quality that is found in his later books are likely to be disappointed. But if you're able to put your expectations on hold and go along for the ride, Song of Kali is a perfectly good read.

This book literally punched me in the gut, it is a must read not only for genre afficionados, but for anyone passionate about reading. For me it is like a non-chemical induced trip, through an alien and at the same time too human land.

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.

I honestly can't say whether I recommend this book or not. It's intensely sad, heart breaking and incredibly vivid. This is the first Dan Simmons novel I have read, and I enjoyed it and hated it simultaneously. If you've read it, then you know. If not, beware, by the end you may wish you hadn't.

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.

Song of Kali is about an American magazine editor named Robert Luczak who is sent to Calcutta(Kolkata) to locate some poetry. What makes this poetry of interest is the fact that it is alleged to have been "recently" authored by a missing poet who is presumed to have died eight years ago. Robert brings his wife and infant child with him on the trip. From the opening pages of the book, Calcutta is described with absolute loathing; it is depicted as a city that is not only impoverished but filthy and evil. The majority of the citizens we encounter are untrustworthy, have diseases, vile motives or are just shambling masses in rags begging for a hand out. The novel seems more like a dark mystery than true horror, though it does have a sinister cult and just a pinch of the supernatural to keep things interesting. My thoughts on this book are mixed. The writing is good and the descriptions are quite detailed and image provoking but the main character isn't very likeable. He basically just wants to get his trip over with and is disgusted by pretty much all he encounters in India even though he has an Indian wife, who he annoyingly refers to as "kiddo" throughout the book. The unflattering depictions of Calcutta are relentless . At one point in the book I think perhaps Simmons realized that he was being (at least in my opinion) overly harsh on Calcutta and decided to liken it to London in the early days. Anyway, eventually the book reaches its unresolved conclusion and Robert Luczak is left trying to pull his life back together while still struggling to come to grips with what really happened in Calcutta and why. I am sure i will remember this one for years to come.... 3/5

Superb! Hard to put down.

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.

The book is amazing and resonates with a person who has lived in India. However it is a fantasy horror tale and everything cannot be belived.We Already have too many novels contaminated with the themes of ‘Why India is great’. Didn’t need another ‘Best Marigold Hotel’ where every traveller is in love with our culture. Our country is flawed and trying hard to make the right decisions and therein lies the beauty of a nation.Needed a book like this. It was refreshing and painted the grim reality of life in India rather than infuse the story with glories of India. Amazing details.

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.