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A group of six unlikely but doughty children fall into the trail of a immense and fearsome otherworldly evil that has invaded our existence from the deepest abyss of shadow. They have no choice but to spend their lifetimes confronting it, experiencing terror upon terror in the struggle.

A Resonant Storyline with a Distinctive Spin

This outlines the narrative, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (arguably his finest; no debate). It is also the plot of King’s son Joe Hill’s latest horror doorstopper, in which a band of six call forth the primordial, utterly malevolent dragon the Dragon King from the Long Dark to aid them in overcoming some antagonists. As one might expect, their arcane ceremony goes awry.

Acknowledging a Authorial Heritage

Joe Hill started his career making great efforts to distance himself from his renowned parent, publishing under the pen name he still uses today and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he bears a striking resemblance to his father). Yet with this recent release, he leans into it. There are lines that intentionally mirror some of King’s most famous (that classic opening line); a moment that recalls a recurring theme in King’s works (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, Hill is delighting in his family connection, and we delight along with him.

The Cast of the Protagonists

Focusing on the companions: five of them are students at the fictional the esteemed institution in the New England state. First is Arthur, bookish and intelligent, deciphering Old English riddles in his leisure hours; the character Colin, affluent, astute, and known for crushing anyone who stands in his way; the twin siblings; the attractive Allie. Additionally, Gwen appears, who isn’t their classmate, but emerges as crucial of their band as they dabble, partly convinced, somewhat doubtful, in supernatural practices.

The Pivotal Ritual

The protagonist finds himself, for reasons we don’t need to go into, forced into stealing valuable volumes from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This devastates his scholarly soul, notably because he’s made to take the institution’s prized and disturbing publication: the diary of occultist the historical figure (executed “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the binding is made from his skin). These young investigators peruse the diary, discover they could summon what the author references as a armored demon” to assist Arthur with his coercion issue – and devote the remaining story reaping the consequences. King Sorrow will undoubtedly remove those troublesome local drug dealers, but they’ll have to choose a new sacrifice every twelve months or fall prey to the beast. As Arthur later puts it: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Narrative Dexterity and Imaginative Scope

Covering a generation, Hill also moves with effortless ease between genres: as the allies endeavor to address the situation they find themselves in by, in different ways, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or searching for methods to destroy the entity themselves, we transition from suspense to dark fantasy, clandestine torment to love story to fright. My favorite genre switch was to a heroic journey, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a part tinged by the fantasy maestro that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Mosaic of Dread and Courage

The novel features trolls – the classic variety and online ones, truly terrifying and superbly depicted. We see enchanted blades and treacheries, breath-taking moments of valor and scenes of dreadful evil, both human and otherworldly. It stands as a masterpiece: a chilling book that is primarily a tribute to the human inventiveness, and to affection and camaraderie. “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 force of their minds.

As Hill puts it in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Do not overlook this.