About this ebook
Calcutta, a monstrous city of immense slums, disease and misery, is clasped in the foetid embrace of an ancient cult. At its decaying core is the Goddess Kali: the dark mother of pain, four-armed and eternal, her song the sound of death and destruction. Robert Luczak has been hired by a New York magazine to find a noted Indian poet who has reappeared, under strange circumstances, years after he was thought dead. But nothing is simple in Calcutta, and before long Luczak's routine assignment turns into a nightmare ... it is rumoured that the poet has been brought back to life, in a bloody and grisly ceremony of human sacrifice.
Winner of the World Fantasy Award for best novel, 1986
Calcutta, a monstrous city of immense slums, disease and misery, is clasped in the foetid embrace of an ancient cult. At its decaying core is the Goddess Kali: the dark mother of pain, four-armed and eternal, her song the sound of death and destruction. Robert Luczak has been hired by a New York ...
Discover more
Ratings and reviews
20 reviews
Pete Robertson
- Flag inappropriate
December 30, 2018
One that you can't put down.. immense for a first novel.. Simmons is a favourite author
Mark Fitzgerald
- Flag inappropriate
March 14, 2026
great book
About the author
Dan Simmons won the World Fantasy Award for his first novel, SONG OF KALI, inspired by his travels in India. In the 1990s he rewrote the SF rulebook with his Hyperion Cantos quartet. He has also written thrillers. Alongside his writing he maintained a career as a college lecturer in English Literature in the USA. He died in 2026.
Dan Simmons won the World Fantasy Award for his first novel, SONG OF KALI, inspired by his travels in India. In the 1990s he rewrote the SF rulebook with his Hyperion Cantos quartet. He has also written thrillers. Alongside his writing he maintained a career as a college lecturer in English Liter...
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
