Song of Kali by Dan Simmons : Book Review

SONG OF KALI by DAN SIMMONS : Book Review

 

I was, once, googling to know 'the scariest book' to read. And I ended up becoming a Stephen King fan. Though I like almost all Stephen King's books that I read, yet I would say, Song of Kali by Dan Simmons is much scarier, and much darker than anything to be found in Stephen King books. Someone may disagree on this, but then you will notice that he might be trying to cope with his nightmares that he must be having after reading Song of Kali. 

The story is based in the Indian city of Kolkata, the place where goddess Kali is worshipped the most. The protagonist is a foreigner who comes to Kolkata, even after being warned about many negativity that he said he might face if he went there. The protagonist is sent to Kolkata by his magazine company where he works as an editor. The protagonist, Robert Luczak comes with his family which includes his wife and a new born child. He meets with the writer’s guild there, but he isn’t made to meet Das, an acclaimed writer. Desired to meet Das, Robert gets some information about him and plans to meet him before leaving. In the end, he gets to meet Das but what he witnesses gives the reader chills in their back.

The story unfolds secret rituals of goddess Kali performed by a secret society, in which Robert Luczak has to get involved and execute horrific things like offering his own blood to the idol of goddess kali and stealing corpses.

There are events in the book which a reader should not read when he is home-alone. The goddess terrorising Robert in a dark street, coming to him on eight legs, and seducing him in his dream are some of the events which are both hugely terrifying and dark & ugly.

The book is for those who are deep into reading and also love to read horror in general and psychological horror in particular. In fact, I would say, it is more than just ‘must-read’ book for horror readers. The story is gloomy and the descriptions of events are gloomier.

Song of Kali by Dan Simmons tells us a story in a way which most authors don’t. With a horrifying flow throughout the book, the climax is emotional and heart-rending.

If you are going to pick this book up, then be prepared to welcome the joy of reading and, of course, sheer terror. Song of Kali proves that sometimes books can serve a type of horro which even movies cannot.

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