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A group of six unlikely but doughty youngsters fall into the path of a colossal and dreadful paranormal evil that has infiltrated our existence from the farthest reaches of oblivion. They are compelled to wage a lifelong battle confronting it, facing horror after horror in the ordeal.

A Resonant Plot with a New Approach

This outlines the narrative, in essence, of Stephen King’s novel It (a standout in his career; no arguments). It parallels of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s latest massive horror novel, in which six friends call forth the ancient, utterly malevolent beast the Dragon King from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some baddies. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Celebrating a Literary Lineage

Joe Hill started his career striving diligently to avoid any connection from his famous father, using the pseudonym he continues to employ and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he bears a strong similarity to his parent). However, in his newest work, he leans into it. There are lines that consciously reflect some of the senior author’s well-known (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a moment that recalls a signature King element (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and the audience revels alongside.

Meet the Protagonists

Focusing on the companions: most are students at the made-up Rackham College in Maine. First is Arthur, bookish and brilliant, deciphering ancient puzzles in his free moments; Colin, affluent, astute, and known for crushing obstacles in his path; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful the lovely Allie. And there’s Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but becomes a key part of their band as they toy, partly convinced, partly skeptical, in the occult.

The Pivotal Summoning

The protagonist finds himself, as a result of external pressures, forced into stealing prized manuscripts from his cherished academic collection by a bunch of local criminals. This tears at his bookish heart, particularly as he’s forced to acquire the collection’s foremost and unsettling publication: the logbook of practitioner this enigmatic character (put to death “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). These young investigators read the journal, realize they are able to call forth what Crane describes as a “proud worm to help Arthur out with his blackmail problem – and spend the rest of the novel facing the fallout. King Sorrow will certainly eliminate those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they’ll have to choose a different victim annually or become his victim themselves. As our protagonist states: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is additional horrors.”

Genre Versatility and Inventive Scope

Moving through four decades, Hill also moves with seamless grace between genres: as the companions attempt to deal with the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, picking people who are obviously evil to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to slay the beast themselves, we move between suspense to dark fantasy, clandestine torment 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 JRR Tolkien that was wonderfully frightening.

An Expansive Canvas of Fear and Optimism

There are trolls – the classic variety and online ones, properly scary and superbly depicted. The story includes mystic weapons and treacheries, pulse-pounding sequences of bravery and ones of terrible wickedness, both mortal and supernatural. It stands as a masterpiece: a chilling book that is primarily a ode to the human inventiveness, 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 this character as the friends gather at the table, preparing to summon their serpent to life with the power of their thoughts.

According to Joe Hill in his introductory quote: “This is dragon territory”. Don’t miss them.