The Claws of Perdition

by Alaric P. Cabiling

Alaric Cabiling's Redefining Darkness wasn't supposed to follow his debut collection of short fiction, Insanity By Increments, along the same trajectory. Redefining Darkness was different, more contemporary, suitably darker, suitably out of the ordinary. This March of 2017, Author Alaric Cabiling attempts to fuse classical literature with contemporary language and settings, in the form of his third collection of stories The Claws of Perdition. The Claws of Perdition takes the chess match short story template and fuses it with spell-binding action and tighter plot lines to sustain the reader's interest. Subtle at times, brutal in others, The Claws of Perdition finds Alaric Cabiling's trademark dark fiction at its darkest. Experience the Claws of Perdition!

205 pages, Paperback

Published March 4, 2017

About the author

Author Alaric Cabiling's influences as a writer range from Gothic fiction writers, Edgar Allan Poe, and Mary Shelley, to modern-day dark fantasy writers, Ray Bradbury, and Harlan Ellison. Cabiling’s work in fiction includes the critically-acclaimed short story collections, Insanity By Increments, Redefining Darkness, and The Claws of Perdition. Cabiling uses effusive language and Latin Magic Realism to render your perception of reality askew, and has been compared to authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Alfred Hitchcock. Cabiling plans to publish more fiction in the future, including contemporary horror and contemporary literary fiction for fans of mainstream literature. In his spare time, Cabiling enjoys music, arts, and culture. He is also a big electronics buff and tech geek. He lives and writes in Manila, Philippines.

For more information on Alaric Cabiling's work, please visit his website/blog:
http://www.alariccabiling.wordpress.com/

Reviews

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Claws of Perdition Alaric Cabiling crafts a collection of stories that seem at once both distant and intimate. While the style is a change from his earlier collections the darkness remains. Perhaps one difference in the representation of darkness here is that there are more external aspects rather than primarily the internal darkness within every person. That personal darkness is still present but is also accompanied by external forces as well, such as, for example, an assassin versus an organization of assassins.

The couple of issues I had were more about my own personal quirks and did not affect my enjoyment of the writing. It did take me a story or two to get used to the style but it was well worth the effort. So many stories, even the very good ones, are written in similar styles and changing that is a risk. In this case, a risk that paid off quite well.

I would recommend this for readers of short stories and also think this would be interesting to read alongside classic short story writers to compare how the classic style can be used in contemporary literature to good effect.