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Six unlikely but doughty youngsters fall into the trail of a vast and fearsome otherworldly malevolence that has invaded our realm from the deepest abyss of oblivion. They must spend their lifetimes fighting it, enduring horror after horror in the struggle.

An Echoing Plot with a Fresh Approach

This describes the premise, in essence, of the master of horror’s novel It (arguably his finest; no arguments). It parallels of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s latest massive horror novel, in which six friends call forth the age-old, deeply sinister beast the Dragon King from the Long Dark to help them defeat some baddies. As one might expect, their arcane ceremony has unintended consequences.

Celebrating a Authorial Lineage

The author began his writing journey striving diligently to avoid any connection from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he continues to employ and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he exhibits a uncanny likeness to his dad). Yet with this recent release, he embraces it. Several quotes that intentionally mirror some of his father’s iconic (that classic opening line); a incident that recalls a recurring theme in King’s works (a game of puzzles). Throughout this massive book, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and the audience revels alongside.

The Cast of the Protagonists

Focusing on the companions: the majority are pupils at the made-up the esteemed institution in Maine. There’s Arthur, bookish and brilliant, deciphering historical enigmas in his free moments; the character Colin, affluent, clever, and prone to trampling anyone who stands in his way; the twin siblings; the beautiful Allie herself. Additionally, Gwen appears, who remains outside their academic circle, but becomes a key part of their circle as they dabble, somewhat credulous, somewhat doubtful, in the occult.

The Fateful Ritual

Our hero becomes, for reasons we don’t need to go into, forced into stealing rare books from his treasured institution’s archives by a set of regional villains. This devastates his scholarly soul, especially when he’s made to take the library’s most valuable and unsettling work: the journal of adept Enoch Crane (put to death “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the binding is made from his skin). These young investigators peruse the diary, realize they are able to call forth what Crane describes as a “proud worm to assist Arthur with his coercion issue – and occupy the subsequent narrative facing the fallout. King Sorrow will undoubtedly remove those troublesome local drug dealers, but they’ll have to choose a fresh offering each year or become his victim themselves. As Arthur later puts it: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is more dragons.”

Stylistic Fluidity and Inventive Breadth

Spanning forty years, Hill also moves with natural fluency between genres: as the companions attempt to deal with the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to destroy the entity themselves, we go from suspense to dark fantasy, covert operations to love story to fright. A standout transition was to a heroic journey, within the subterranean depths beneath this UK region, a section tinged by the Lord of the Rings author that was magnificently horrifying.

An Expansive Canvas of Dread and Hope

The novel features trolls – the classic variety and online ones, properly scary and perfectly brought to life. There are magical swords and betrayals, breath-taking moments of valor and instances of terrible wickedness, both mortal and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a frightening tale that is above all a ode to the imagination, 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, preparing to summon their serpent into existence with the strength of their collective will.

As Hill puts it in his introductory quote: “Here be dragons”. Ensure you experience it.