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Six oddball but resilient kids fall into the path of a immense and terrible otherworldly evil that has infiltrated our world from the deepest abyss of darkness. They are compelled to spend their lifetimes confronting it, facing horror after horror in the struggle.

A Familiar Premise with a Fresh Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of the master of horror’s iconic book It (his best; no arguments). It parallels of the celebrated author’s heir Joseph Hillstrom King’s new chilling tome, in which a close-knit group summon the age-old, utterly malevolent beast King Sorrow from the Long Dark to aid them in overcoming some baddies. As one might expect, their otherworldly invocation backfires.

Acknowledging a Literary Heritage

Joe Hill started his career making great efforts to avoid any connection from his well-known dad, publishing under the pen name he continues to employ and avoiding meeting his agent (he bears a uncanny likeness to his dad). However, in his newest work, he fully acknowledges it. There are lines that intentionally mirror some of the senior author’s well-known (that classic opening line); a incident that recalls a recurring theme in King’s works (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his heritage, and we delight along with him.

The Cast of the Central Figures

Back to those friends: most are pupils at the fictional this academic setting in this northeastern locale. First is Arthur, studious and brilliant, deciphering historical enigmas in his free moments; another key figure, wealthy, astute, and prone to trampling obstacles in his path; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful Allie herself. Additionally, Gwen appears, who doesn’t study with them, but assumes a vital role of their circle as they toy, somewhat credulous, half not, in supernatural practices.

The Critical Ritual

The protagonist finds himself, due to circumstances beyond his control, forced into stealing rare books from his cherished academic collection by a bunch of local criminals. This devastates his scholarly soul, particularly as he’s forced to acquire the library’s most valuable and unsettling title: the journal of practitioner Enoch Crane (executed “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the cover is fashioned from his hide). The intrepid group peruse the diary, realize they are able to call forth what the author references as a cunning serpent to assist Arthur with his extortion dilemma – and devote the remaining story enduring the repercussions. The dragon will indeed rid them of those troublesome local drug dealers, but they must select a fresh offering each year or fall prey to the beast. As our protagonist states: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Genre Fluidity and Inventive Range

Covering a generation, Joe Hill transitions with natural fluency across narrative styles: as the allies endeavor to address the predicament they find themselves in by, in different ways, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or searching for methods to kill the dragon themselves, we go from page-turner to dark fantasy, clandestine torment to romance to fright. One particularly memorable shift was to a heroic journey, deep in the caves under the English county, a part tinged by JRR Tolkien that was gloriously terrifying.

A Rich Canvas of Dread and Optimism

There are trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and online ones, properly scary and expertly realized. The story includes mystic weapons and betrayals, breath-taking moments of courage and instances of dreadful evil, both earthly and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a frightening tale that is above all a tribute to the human inventiveness, and to love and friendship. “We longed for a tale to embrace and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the friends assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their serpent into existence with the strength of their collective will.

In the author’s own words in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Do not overlook this.