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Six unlikely but resilient children fall into the way of a immense and fearsome supernatural darkness that has invaded our existence from the outer limits of shadow. They must spend their lifetimes fighting it, facing horror after horror in the ordeal.

A Familiar Premise with a Distinctive Twist

This describes the premise, roughly, of the master of horror’s iconic book It (a standout in his career; no debate). It is also the plot of the celebrated author’s heir Joe Hill’s new massive horror novel, in which six friends invoke the age-old, utterly malevolent dragon King Sorrow from the Abyssal Void to assist them in vanquishing some villains. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual backfires.

Embracing a Family Lineage

The author launched his profession striving diligently to avoid any connection from his famous father, adopting the nom de plume he continues to employ and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he possesses a striking resemblance to his father). But in this latest novel, he leans into it. Certain passages that deliberately echo some of his father’s iconic (the famous Dark Tower introduction); a incident that brings to mind a signature King element (a riddling contest). Throughout this massive book, Hill is delighting in his heritage, and the audience revels alongside.

Meet the Central Figures

Returning to the group: the majority are scholars at the fictional Rackham College in the New England state. We have Arthur, academic and gifted, cracking Old English riddles in his leisure hours; Colin, wealthy, sharp, and known for crushing those who oppose him; the twin siblings; the stunning Allie herself. Then we have Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but assumes a vital role of their group as they dabble, somewhat credulous, partly skeptical, in the occult.

The Critical Ceremony

Our hero becomes, as a result of external pressures, compelled to pilfer prized manuscripts from his treasured institution’s archives by a set of regional villains. This tears at his bookish heart, particularly as he’s forced to acquire the library’s most valuable and chilling work: the diary of adept Enoch Crane (executed “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the book’s jacket is crafted from his flesh). The intrepid group peruse the diary, realize they are able to call forth what Crane describes as a “arrogant beast to help Arthur out with his extortion dilemma – and devote the remaining story facing the fallout. The dragon will indeed rid them of those annoying regional antagonists, but they are required to pick a fresh offering every twelve months or become his victim themselves. As our protagonist states: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Stylistic Fluidity and Imaginative Breadth

Covering a generation, the author shifts with seamless grace between genres: as the companions strive to manage the circumstances they find themselves in by, in different ways, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to kill the dragon themselves, we move between thriller to grim fantasy, covert operations to romance to horror. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, deep in the caves under the English county, a segment tinged by the Lord of the Rings author that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Mosaic of Horror and Optimism

We encounter trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and internet antagonists, properly scary and expertly realized. We see enchanted blades and deceptions, pulse-pounding sequences of valor and scenes of dreadful evil, both earthly and extraterrestrial. It stands as a masterpiece: a horror novel that is above all a paean to the human inventiveness, 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 gather at the table, preparing to summon their beast into existence with the power of their thoughts.

According to Joe Hill in his epigraph: “Here be dragons”. Don’t miss them.