Rating: 
Summary: Very enjoyable and a quick read...
Review: Another reviewer said that this book was missing something "Simmons" and I totally agree. Song of Kali is a very quick and easy read, and overall it's quite enjoyable. However, I was expecting something more from this award winner (and why is this book NOT a Horror winner but a Fantasy winner???). I really enjoyed the ending, or at least the way Simmons ended it, since there isn't really an ending to this book (and I like that a lot!!). Not your typical smiley face, happy, Hollywood type story, Song of Kali is a definitely gets under your skin...but I was expecting a bit more. With that said, I'm about ready to start Carrion Comfort - can't wait!
Rating: 
Summary: Not even half as good as reviews say.
Review: Friends and reviews sold me this book as an intense exercise in shock/weird horror. I am sorry to say this, but this book doesn't live up to any of those standards. If you want shocking horror, go read Monica J. O'Rouke's "Suffer the Flesh".First we have the enigmatic dedication that reads: "To Harlan Ellison, who has heard the Song". (Rough retranslation from a Spanish translation) This alone sets the mood for an interesting read. After that, the very opening line is sure to glue you to the following pages... but that's about it. The intense, "horror", atmosphere begins around a little less than 100 before the book is finished; all the pages before, Simmons was creating background with some gross mutilated corpses thrown in to spice up the mix, but not real suspense. It's too bad, really. Simmons can paint really disturbing images in your mind, he really can, but too much time (and trees) was wasted in "i'm-going-nowhere" plot building. There is a sense of a cruel supernatural world exiting alongside ours, but its existence is just hinted at, and in the end nothing is really resolved leaving a trail of doubt, which is good in fact, plot-wise. Oh, did I forget to say that "good triumphs over evil" is hinted at in the end? To his merit, we can say that Simmons does a GREAT work in describing that hell hole known as Calcuta; his description of putrid streets, low lives, underground crime, grotesque morgues and pits infested with trash, vomit and people are, simply put, deliciously disgusting. He does success in the "bleak is the existence" department Song of Kali, if properly rewritten, would make a superb short story... but it doesn't make a good book. I'm not even sure if this volume can be called "horror" at all.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, good story, but ultimately not very scary
Review: I must say that I truly enjoyed reading this book. Throughout the novel, there is a lot of mystery and encroaching horror. The ultimate payoff, however, is not there and you're left wondering if this is really even a horror novel at all. The Kali figure doesn't even seem real much less hard to get away from. Where's the ancient evil?
Rating: 
Summary: Loved this one!
Review: My first Simmons "horror" title after Endymion. This was a fun and creepy read -- enjoyable for the most part. He wrapped things up quickly toward the end but the suspense and pacing of the book overall kept me up to see what would happen next.
Rating:
Summary: 'Authentic'
Review: I am from India, never been to Calcutta, heard a lot about it. This is a book written by auther who musta spent a lot of time in India! truely the best horror book. It does have stuff some people from India may not like, I dont know how much is true and how much is imagination. But as a fiction book, it is great. This is a good author.
Rating: 
Summary: I expected too much
Review: I had high expectations about this book, somehow driven by the good reviews. But it didn't took long before I began turning pages thinking "maybe it's now this is gonna warm up", just to find out it didn't. And it never did. Except for some curiosities about the indian way of life/culture and the description of Calcuta, the story doesn't have more to hook the reader. I felt disapointed at the end and felt this is a book I wouldn't spend money on if I could turn back time. Consider yourself advised.
Rating: 
Summary: What horror?
Review: What a go-nowhere do-nothing story of a writer/poet who goes Calcutta, India for Harper's to get a copy of a manuscript and
interview a famous Indian poet, M. Das, who supposedly died 8 years earlier but who is now purported to be alive and
writing again. Three quarters of the time spent in the book is playing cat and mouse obtaining the manuscript and then with
setting up the interview with M. Das. Well it turns out old M. Das had leprosy and committed suicide. BUT he was brought back to life by Kali the Hindu goddess
of power, death, destruction, construction, darkness, you name it, and used by her to write and spread the word of Kali world
wide (the manuscript must get published!). Anyway our poet after his interview with M. Das returns to M. Das to drop off a
couple of requested books. In the bag along with the books is a gun so M. Das can end his miserable life, which he does BUT
he doesn't have the good grace to do so later after our poet is safely away. SO the Kali disciples kidnap and kill our poets 7
month old daughter, whom I can't for the life of me figure why he has brought to the dirty filthy sickness infested dangerous
India to begin with. He chose to bring is Indian wife as an interpreter (irresponsible) and then never used her. The death of his
child enrages him so that he sorta comes under the song of Kali seeking revenge. But he triumphs and goes home. End of a
boring pointless story. No horror here (chapter 3 yes, the rest no) The only book I've enjoyed of DSs was Children of the Night. I Have read Song of Kali, Hyperion, Hard Freeze, Crook
Factory, Hardcase and now Summer of Night, Carrion Comfort.
Rating:
Summary: Great atmospheric horror
Review: This book takes you on a trip straight into the hellhole that is Calcutta. Although the book has some great supernatural elements (quite reminiscent of Lovecraft), it is the real life occurrences that are most creepy. Simmons depicts the utter depravity and morbidity of Calcutta with such verve, such immediacy, that you feel as if you are with him in the dark alleys and crowded plazas, surround by scarred and diseased beggars and knowing that one more murder in this city wouldn't make one hell of a difference. If you like quick, intense horror then give this book a read.
Rating:
Summary: A PARENT'S WORST NIGHTMARE....
Review: Dan Simmons has crafted a chilling novel that will leave the hair on your body standing on end!! He has written a novel that transcends any genre; he has written a novel every parent should read. This is a novel of heartbreak and the ability to go on.
Simmons is more well known for his fantasy and sci-fi fiction than horror, but he has a knack for horror. He can do so many wonderful things with his storytelling in horror. He already has and I hope he continues. I absolutely loved this novel and read the last 20-30 pages 5 or 6 times! The ending is heartbreaking, but I won't divulge too much here. It is just amazing what Simmons can do!!
Rating:
Summary: Frightening atmosphere
Review: Although award-winning, Song of Kali is definitely a B-grade Dan Simmons novel. It does not share the high quality of the Hyperion Cantos or Summer of Night/A Winter Haunting. However, it is still an excellent -- and frightening -- novel. Simmons's outstanding use of a first-person voice and rich and varied description of Calcutta's oppressive climate and population density combine to create a powerful horror story.
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