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Six quirky but doughty children fall into the trail of a vast and dreadful paranormal evil that has entered our world from the deepest abyss of shadow. They have no choice but to spend their lifetimes battling it, facing horror after horror in the process.

A Resonant Storyline with a Fresh Spin

This describes the premise, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s seminal work It (his best; no arguments). It parallels of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s recent massive horror novel, in which six friends invoke the age-old, utterly malevolent dragon the Dragon King from the Long Dark to aid them in overcoming some villains. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Acknowledging a Authorial Heritage

Joe Hill started his career going to great lengths to remain separate from his famous father, publishing under the pen name he continues to employ and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he exhibits a uncanny likeness to his father). However, in his newest work, he fully acknowledges it. There are lines that intentionally mirror some of the senior author’s well-known (the famous Dark Tower introduction); a scene that evokes a recurring theme in King’s works (a battle of wits). In this epic story, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his family connection, and readers share in the joy.

Introducing the Protagonists

Returning to the group: five of them are students at the fictional Rackham College in the New England state. There’s Arthur, academic and brilliant, solving ancient puzzles in his leisure hours; the character Colin, wealthy, clever, and known for crushing those who oppose him; the twin siblings; the attractive Allie. Then we have Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but emerges as crucial of their band as they toy, somewhat credulous, somewhat doubtful, in arcane arts.

The Fateful Ceremony

The protagonist finds himself, due to circumstances beyond his control, forced into stealing rare books from his treasured institution’s archives by a group of neighborhood thugs. This devastates his scholarly soul, notably because he’s made to take the library’s most valuable and chilling work: the diary of occultist the historical figure (executed “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the binding is fashioned from his hide). Our Scooby gang peruse the diary, learn they can invoke what Crane describes as a clever snake to assist Arthur with his extortion dilemma – and spend the rest of the novel facing the fallout. King Sorrow will undoubtedly remove those annoying regional antagonists, but they must select a new sacrifice every twelve months or fall prey to the beast. As our protagonist states: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is more dragons.”

Narrative Fluidity and Inventive Range

Moving through four decades, the author shifts with seamless grace through various literary forms: as the companions strive to manage the predicament they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to immolate, or searching for methods to destroy the entity themselves, we transition from suspense to shadowy tale, covert operations to affectionate subplot to fright. One particularly memorable shift was to a adventure narrative, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a segment tinged by JRR Tolkien that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Tapestry of Horror and Courage

There are trolls – those living under bridges and digital trolls, properly scary and superbly depicted. The story includes mystic weapons and deceptions, pulse-pounding sequences of courage and scenes of appalling malevolence, both mortal and extraterrestrial. It stands as a masterpiece: a chilling book that is above all a paean to the imagination, and to devotion and companionship. “We longed for a tale to embrace and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says the wealthy student as the companions assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their serpent to life with the strength of their collective will.

In the author’s own words in his introductory quote: “Here be dragons”. Ensure you experience it.