Reviews

Pesma boginje Kali by Goran Skrobonja, Dan Simmons

jamieh2024's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

jhouses's review against another edition

3.0

Una historia con reminiscencia Lovecraftiana pero sin necesidad de recurrir a cosmogonías ficticias. Simmons encaja los motivos y esquemas de manuscritos malditos, Antiguos Dioses, invocaciones, sectas etc... en un marco de mitología hindú y los años setenta con éxito completo. Sucia, incómoda, terrible y de cierta manera oscura, poética.

beetree's review against another edition

3.0

We had to read this in a university level fantasy literature course.
This book is absolutely horrific and probably the scariest book I've ever read (which actually sounds worse than it is because I don't read horror). Brilliantly written, creepy and difficult, and even thinking about while writing this review a long time after I've read it - nauseating. It makes me freakishly nervous over Calcutta (which is too bad because my father was born there). Swept right into the city and like the characters, claw tooth and nail to find a way out. It's very very well done, but it gets a 3 from me because I have such an aversion to it (which just proves its effectiveness).

asecretcity's review against another edition

3.0

General impressions: claustrophobic dread, the stinking press of barely civilized humans, decay, and the rotting evil at the core of Calcutta as portrayed here. Believable and heartbreaking. I recently read The Terror by Simmons as well and am struck by the parallels in horror here. The suggestion of an evil deity, completely superseded by the worse realization that perhaps myth is myth, and that the senseless pain that happens throughout our lives is not for a reason other than human selfishness.

legacysiren's review against another edition

1.0

Phew, glad that's over. Terrible book.

dharma_piper's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

a_monkey's review against another edition

2.0

A moderately gripping story about a trip abroad by a spectacularly racist narrator deeply opposed to doing anything to move the plot forward.

noitaskcus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think many would find some of the book's descriptions and plot mechanics dated. The story and especially the main character is reminiscent of Lovecraft with a very reactionary and impotent main character dealing with an almost incomprehensible evil.  Much of the horror and atmosphere comes from the descriptions of Calcutta and its inhabitants., which doesn't read as well. Setting that aside, I liked the atmosphere and pacing. Some parts were genuinely really intriguing (the story told in the cafe).  The side characters were more compelling as well.  Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I think I wanted for it to lean in harder on the horror aspects and the cult dynamics. As it is, it reads more as a fever dream of a man losing his grip on a wild situation, which some might prefer! 

wildguitars's review against another edition

2.0

Honestly I didn't care much about the characters, they felt one dimensional and the dialogue was not very memorable, the plot was not interesting as well, whould not recommend.

moufun's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75