🔗 Share this article

Six oddball but doughty kids encounter the path of a immense and fearsome otherworldly evil that has invaded our realm from the outer limits of oblivion. They must devote their lives fighting it, experiencing horror after horror in the process.

A Familiar Storyline with a New Spin

This describes the premise, roughly, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (arguably his finest; no debate). It similarly frames of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s recent massive horror novel, in which a close-knit group call forth the primordial, deeply sinister dragon King Sorrow from the Endless Night to help them defeat some baddies. As one might expect, their otherworldly invocation has unintended consequences.

Celebrating a Authorial Legacy

Joseph Hillström King launched his profession making great efforts to distance himself from his well-known dad, adopting the nom de plume he still uses today and avoiding meeting his agent (he exhibits a uncanny likeness to his parent). But in this latest novel, he leans into it. Certain passages that deliberately echo some of the senior author’s well-known (that classic opening line); a scene that recalls a recurring theme in King’s works (a battle of wits). In this whopper of a novel, the author rejoices in his heritage, and the audience revels alongside.

Meet the Protagonists

Back to those friends: the majority are scholars at the made-up this academic setting in Maine. We have Arthur, studious and intelligent, cracking historical enigmas in his leisure hours; the character Colin, wealthy, astute, and known for crushing anyone who stands in his way; twins Donna and Donovan; the attractive the lovely Allie. And there’s Gwen, who isn’t their classmate, but assumes a vital role of their circle as they toy, somewhat credulous, somewhat doubtful, in arcane arts.

The Pivotal Ritual

The protagonist finds himself, as a result of external pressures, obliged to take prized manuscripts from his beloved college library by a group of neighborhood thugs. This wounds his academic spirit, notably because he’s compelled to seize the institution’s prized and unsettling title: the logbook of occultist Enoch Crane (put to death “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the cover is fashioned from his hide). The intrepid group read the journal, discover they could summon what Crane describes as a clever snake to aid our hero with his extortion dilemma – and occupy the subsequent narrative enduring the repercussions. The dragon will undoubtedly remove those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they are required to pick a fresh offering annually or become his victim themselves. As our protagonist states: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Genre Fluidity and Imaginative Breadth

Covering a generation, Joe Hill transitions with natural fluency through various literary forms: as the allies endeavor to address the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to destroy the entity themselves, we move between thriller to dark fantasy, black-ops torture to romance to horror. One particularly memorable shift was to a adventure narrative, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a segment infused with the Lord of the Rings author that was gloriously terrifying.

A Detailed Tapestry of Fear and Optimism

There are trolls – the classic variety and online ones, properly scary and expertly realized. There are magical swords and deceptions, pulse-pounding sequences of valor and instances of appalling malevolence, both earthly and otherworldly. It’s a tour de force: a chilling book that is above all a paean to the human inventiveness, and to love and friendship. “We needed a story to believe and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says the wealthy student as the companions sit around the table, making preparations to call forth their dragon into existence with the force of their minds.

According to Joe Hill in his introductory quote: “Hic sunt dracones”. Don’t miss them.