A Poet, A Wife, and a Child


Dan Simmon's novel, Song of Kali, is given this nice little write-up to describe it:

This masterful and terrifying debut novel has earned Hugo- and Bram Stoker Award-winning author Dan Simmons the World Fantasy Award. What begins as an exploration of an exotic and forbidding world turns into a harrowing descent of steadily mounting terror when an American writer travels into the dark underworld of the cult of Kali.

Having read the novel, I can honestly say it doesn't prepare you for the horrors within. Even long-time familiarity with horror tropes and threats doesn't soften the effect. You know that something bad will happen, you can see slow and deliberate ratcheting up of the jeopardy for the family, but it doesn't save you from your concern for the well-being of the family. Kudos to the way the supernatural aspect of the story is interwoven into (I hate to use this word) prosaic aspect of the story's climax - horror, true horror.

I highly recommend picking up this novel.

2 comments:

banzai cat said...

Now that you put it that way... :-)

That good, eh? I know Simmons is a fantastic writer but I've never been keen on getting this one (the Masterworks edition in Fully-Booked pa!).

Will check it out. Thanks for the heads-up.

Alex Osias said...

Well, I think so - I really enjoyed this book.