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Six quirky but doughty youngsters confront the way of a colossal and fearsome paranormal darkness that has entered our realm from the deepest abyss of darkness. They are compelled to spend their lifetimes confronting it, experiencing one nightmare after another in the ordeal.

An Echoing Premise with a Distinctive Approach

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of the master of horror’s seminal work It (a standout in his career; no arguments). It parallels of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s new massive horror novel, in which six friends summon the primordial, utterly malevolent serpent King Sorrow from the Endless Night to assist them in vanquishing some baddies. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual goes awry.

Celebrating a Literary Lineage

Joseph Hillström King started his career making great efforts to remain separate from his renowned parent, publishing under the pen name he maintains to this day and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he bears a uncanny likeness to his parent). But in this latest novel, he fully acknowledges it. Certain passages that deliberately echo some of his father’s iconic (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a incident that recalls a signature King element (a battle of wits). In this whopper of a novel, the author rejoices in his heritage, and readers share in the joy.

The Cast of the Protagonists

Focusing on the companions: the majority are pupils at the fictional Rackham College in Maine. First is Arthur, bookish and intelligent, solving ancient puzzles in his leisure hours; Colin, rich, astute, and prone to trampling obstacles in his path; twins Donna and Donovan; the attractive Allie. Then we have Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but becomes a key part of their group as they experiment, half believing, somewhat doubtful, in supernatural practices.

The Fateful Summoning

The protagonist finds himself, due to circumstances beyond his control, obliged to take valuable volumes from his treasured institution’s archives by a bunch of local criminals. This wounds his academic spirit, especially when he’s forced to acquire the collection’s foremost and disturbing publication: the logbook of practitioner this enigmatic character (executed “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang examine the log, realize they are able to call forth what Crane describes as a cunning serpent to help Arthur out with his blackmail problem – and spend the rest of the novel reaping the consequences. The dragon will indeed rid them of those annoying regional antagonists, but they are required to pick a fresh offering every twelve months or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. In the character’s own words: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is additional horrors.”

Stylistic Dexterity and Imaginative Scope

Spanning forty years, Joe Hill transitions with effortless ease through various literary forms: as the friends strive to manage the predicament they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to immolate, or hunting down ways to kill the dragon themselves, we go from suspense to grim fantasy, black-ops torture to romance to horror. A standout transition was to a adventure narrative, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a part sprinkled with the Lord of the Rings author that was wonderfully frightening.

A Rich Mosaic of Fear and Courage

The novel features trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and online ones, genuinely frightening and superbly depicted. There are magical swords and deceptions, heart-stopping scenes of courage and scenes of appalling malevolence, both human and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is chiefly a tribute to the creative spirit, and to devotion and companionship. “We required a narrative to trust and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says Colin as the allies sit around the table, preparing to summon their dragon to life with the force of their minds.

In the author’s own words in his introductory quote: “Here be dragons”. Don’t miss them.