🔗 Share this article

A group of six unlikely but doughty kids fall into the way of a colossal and fearsome paranormal evil that has infiltrated our realm from the farthest reaches of shadow. They must wage a lifelong battle confronting it, enduring horror after horror in the ordeal.

A Resonant Storyline with a Fresh Twist

This describes the premise, roughly, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (a standout in his career; undeniable). It is also the plot of the celebrated author’s heir Joseph Hillstrom King’s new horror doorstopper, in which a band of six summon the primordial, infinitely malicious dragon King Sorrow from the Long Dark to assist them in vanquishing some baddies. Unsurprisingly, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Acknowledging a Authorial Legacy

Joe Hill began his writing journey striving diligently to remain separate from his famous father, adopting the nom de plume he maintains to this day and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he exhibits a striking resemblance to his parent). But in this latest novel, he fully acknowledges it. Several quotes that intentionally mirror some of the senior author’s well-known (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a incident that brings to mind a King plot point (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, Hill is delighting in his heritage, and the audience revels alongside.

Meet the Main Characters

Focusing on the companions: five of them are students at the fictional this academic setting in the New England state. First is Arthur, academic and gifted, solving ancient puzzles in his leisure hours; another key figure, wealthy, astute, and known for crushing those who oppose him; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful Allie herself. Then we have Gwen, who isn’t their classmate, but assumes a vital role of their band as they dabble, somewhat credulous, partly skeptical, in supernatural practices.

The Pivotal Summoning

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 forced to acquire the institution’s prized and disturbing publication: the diary of adept this enigmatic character (put to death “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the binding is fashioned from his hide). Our Scooby gang peruse the diary, discover they could summon what the occultist details as a clever snake to assist Arthur with his extortion dilemma – and occupy the subsequent narrative enduring the repercussions. The dragon will undoubtedly remove those annoying regional antagonists, but they are required to pick a different victim each year or fall prey to the beast. As Arthur later puts it: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is more dragons.”

Stylistic Dexterity and Imaginative Scope

Covering a generation, Hill also moves with natural fluency through various literary forms: as the companions attempt to deal with the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to immolate, or hunting down ways to destroy the entity themselves, we move between thriller to shadowy tale, clandestine torment to romance to fright. My favorite genre switch was to a adventure narrative, within the subterranean depths under the English county, a section sprinkled with the Lord of the Rings author that was gloriously terrifying.

A Rich Mosaic of Horror and Optimism

We encounter trolls – the classic variety and internet antagonists, truly terrifying and superbly depicted. There are magical swords and treacheries, heart-stopping scenes of bravery and ones of terrible wickedness, both mortal and supernatural. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is above all a tribute to the human inventiveness, and to love and friendship. “We required a narrative to trust and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the companions assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their serpent to life with the force of their minds.

In the author’s own words in his opening statement: “Here be dragons”. Do not overlook this.