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A group of six unlikely but resilient kids confront the path of a vast and terrible supernatural evil that has entered our existence from the outer limits of oblivion. They are compelled to devote their lives confronting it, facing one nightmare after another in the process.

An Echoing Plot with a New Twist

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (a standout in his career; no arguments). It is also the plot of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s latest horror doorstopper, in which six friends call forth the age-old, utterly malevolent dragon the Sorrowful Monarch from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some antagonists. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Acknowledging a Literary Heritage

The author began his writing journey going to great lengths to distance himself from his famous father, adopting the nom de plume he still uses today and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he possesses a strong similarity to his parent). But in this latest novel, he leans into it. Several quotes that consciously reflect some of his father’s iconic (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a incident that recalls a King plot point (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his lineage, and we delight along with him.

Meet the Central Figures

Back to those friends: five of them are students at the fictional this academic setting in the New England state. We have Arthur, academic and gifted, cracking Old English riddles in his spare time; the character Colin, rich, sharp, and inclined to bulldoze those who oppose him; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful Allie. Additionally, Gwen appears, who doesn’t study with them, but assumes a vital role of their circle as they dabble, half believing, somewhat doubtful, in supernatural practices.

The Critical Ritual

Arthur is, for reasons we don’t need to go into, compelled to pilfer prized manuscripts from his treasured institution’s archives by a bunch of local criminals. This wounds his academic spirit, notably because he’s forced to acquire the collection’s foremost and disturbing title: the diary of occultist Enoch Crane (executed “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang examine the log, discover they could summon what Crane describes as a cunning serpent to aid our hero with his coercion issue – and spend the rest of the novel reaping the consequences. King Sorrow will undoubtedly remove those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a new sacrifice each year or become his victim themselves. As our protagonist states: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is more dragons.”

Narrative Versatility and Imaginative Breadth

Spanning forty years, Joe Hill transitions with natural fluency between genres: as the friends endeavor to address the situation they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or seeking means to kill the dragon themselves, we move between suspense to dark fantasy, black-ops torture to romance to horror. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, far beneath the surface under the English county, a segment tinged by the fantasy maestro that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Canvas of Dread and Courage

The novel features trolls – those living under bridges and digital trolls, genuinely frightening and perfectly brought to life. The story includes mystic weapons and treacheries, heart-stopping scenes of courage and instances of appalling malevolence, both earthly and extraterrestrial. It stands as a masterpiece: a frightening tale that is above all a ode to the imagination, and to devotion and companionship. “We needed a story to believe and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says Colin as the companions gather at the table, preparing to summon their serpent into being with the strength of their collective will.

According to Joe Hill in his epigraph: “Here be dragons”. Don’t miss them.