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A group of six quirky but brave kids confront the trail of a immense and terrible supernatural darkness that has infiltrated our world from the farthest reaches of oblivion. They have no choice but to devote their lives battling it, facing terror upon terror in the ordeal.

A Familiar Storyline with a Fresh Approach

This describes the premise, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (arguably his finest; undeniable). It parallels of King’s son Joe Hill’s recent massive horror novel, in which a close-knit group invoke the ancient, deeply sinister dragon the Sorrowful Monarch from the Long Dark to help them defeat some antagonists. Unsurprisingly, their arcane ceremony has unintended consequences.

Celebrating a Authorial Legacy

The author began his writing journey making great efforts to avoid any connection from his famous father, publishing under the pen name he maintains to this day and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he exhibits a strong similarity to his father). But in this latest novel, he embraces it. Certain passages that deliberately echo some of King’s most famous (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a moment that brings to mind a King plot point (a battle of wits). Throughout this massive book, Hill is delighting in his heritage, and we delight along with him.

Meet the Main Characters

Back to those friends: five of them are scholars at the imagined the esteemed institution in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, studious and gifted, cracking historical enigmas in his leisure hours; another key figure, affluent, clever, and prone to trampling those who oppose him; the twin siblings; the stunning Allie. Then we have Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but assumes a vital role of their group as they dabble, somewhat credulous, somewhat doubtful, in supernatural practices.

The Pivotal Summoning

The protagonist finds himself, for reasons we don’t need to go into, compelled to pilfer rare books from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This devastates his scholarly soul, especially when he’s forced to acquire the collection’s foremost and chilling work: the logbook of practitioner Enoch Crane (executed “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the book’s jacket is fashioned from his hide). Our Scooby gang peruse the diary, realize they are able to call forth what Crane describes as a “proud worm to aid our hero with his coercion issue – and devote the remaining story facing the fallout. This ancient entity will undoubtedly remove those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a different victim each year or fall prey to the beast. In the character’s own words: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is additional horrors.”

Genre Dexterity and Creative Scope

Moving through four decades, Joe Hill transitions with effortless ease across narrative styles: as the friends strive to manage the situation they find themselves in by, in different ways, choosing undeniably wicked targets to sacrifice, or searching for methods to slay the beast themselves, we move between page-turner to dark fantasy, covert operations to romance to terror. My favorite genre switch was to a adventure narrative, far beneath the surface beneath this UK region, a part tinged by the Lord of the Rings author that was wonderfully frightening.

An Expansive Mosaic of Fear and Courage

The novel features trolls – those living under bridges and digital trolls, genuinely frightening and superbly depicted. There are magical swords and deceptions, breath-taking moments of courage and ones of dreadful evil, both mortal and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a chilling book that is primarily a paean 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 companions sit around the table, preparing to summon their serpent into being with the force of their minds.

In the author’s own words in his opening statement: “This is dragon territory”. Don’t miss them.