The Claw of Craving is the first book in the Lost Carcosa series, a dark fantasy horror proposal by Joseph Sale, reimagining the land of Carcosa as it was used in the Robert W. Chambers story The King in Yellow; published by Blood Bound Books. A highly imaginative and evocative novel, which blends horror and fantasy.

For Alan Chambers, Carcosa is the answer; he has given up everything. His life is broken, just in an attempt to gain access to the mythical world, and his last bid is an occult brothel; but passing to Carcosa is extremely dangerous, a ritual which combines eroticism and horror in equal parts.
Getting the yellow mark is only the start of an adventure that will send Alan in the search of a mythical object, the Claw of Craving, in the company of some memorable characters, such as Petruccio and Cali; a perfect excuse that Sale uses to explore and show Carcosa, a mythical land that defies the limits of the human mind.

Despite being a short piece, Sale manages to fit an insane amount of worldbuilding, which mixes part of horror elements with more fantastic ones; without losing the focus on Chambers and his companions: and especially Cali takes the spotlight many times, in her paper as the daughter of the Yellow King.

I found quite interesting the tone change once the book reaches Carcosa, reaching the dark fantasy status over horror; from contemporary fiction to the fantasy. While Chambers remain the focus of the storyline, he's just a drop on the big pond of this dimension; his past will be useful during the adventure.

The Claw of Craving is a little taste (I expect) of a bigger universe, a place where Clive Barker and Robert Chamber fans will be delighted. With the ending, I cannot wait to know more about the Yellow King, and in general, to see what more Sale has ready for Carcosa.