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A group of six unlikely but doughty children confront the trail of a vast and fearsome otherworldly evil that has entered our world from the deepest abyss of darkness. They are compelled to spend their lifetimes fighting it, experiencing one nightmare after another in the ordeal.

A Resonant Storyline with a Distinctive Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of the master of horror’s iconic book It (his best; no arguments). It parallels of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s new massive horror novel, in which six friends invoke the primordial, deeply sinister beast the Sorrowful Monarch from the Abyssal Void to assist them in vanquishing some baddies. Unsurprisingly, their supernatural ritual goes awry.

Acknowledging a Family Legacy

Joe Hill began his writing journey striving diligently to remain separate from his renowned parent, adopting the nom de plume he still uses today and avoiding meeting his agent (he possesses a uncanny likeness to his dad). However, in his newest work, he fully acknowledges it. Certain passages that consciously reflect some of his father’s iconic (that classic opening line); a moment that evokes a recurring theme in King’s works (a battle of wits). Throughout this massive book, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his lineage, and readers share in the joy.

Introducing the Central Figures

Returning to the group: five of them are students at the made-up the esteemed institution in this northeastern locale. There’s Arthur, academic and intelligent, deciphering ancient puzzles in his spare time; another key figure, affluent, clever, and inclined to bulldoze those who oppose him; twins Donna and Donovan; the beautiful Allie herself. Then we have Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but assumes a vital role of their group as they toy, somewhat credulous, partly skeptical, in supernatural practices.

The Critical Ritual

Our hero becomes, for reasons we don’t need to go into, forced into stealing rare books from his beloved college library by a bunch of local criminals. This wounds his academic spirit, especially when he’s forced to acquire the institution’s prized and unsettling publication: the diary of occultist Enoch Crane (put to death “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the cover is fashioned from his hide). Our Scooby gang peruse the diary, realize they are able to call forth what the author references as a clever snake to help Arthur out with his coercion issue – and occupy the subsequent narrative reaping the consequences. King Sorrow will indeed rid them of those troublesome local drug dealers, but they must select a fresh offering every twelve months or become his victim themselves. As Arthur later puts it: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is additional horrors.”

Narrative Dexterity and Imaginative Range

Spanning forty years, Hill also moves with seamless grace between genres: as the allies strive to manage the situation they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, picking people who are obviously evil to immolate, or searching for methods to destroy the entity themselves, we transition from page-turner to shadowy tale, covert operations to romance to horror. My favorite genre switch was to a adventure narrative, far beneath the surface under the English county, a part infused with JRR Tolkien that was gloriously terrifying.

A Rich Mosaic of Horror and Hope

We encounter trolls – the classic variety and online ones, properly scary and expertly realized. We see enchanted blades and betrayals, breath-taking moments of courage and instances of dreadful evil, both human and supernatural. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is primarily a ode to the imagination, and to affection and camaraderie. “We longed for a tale to embrace and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the friends sit around the table, preparing to summon their serpent into being with the strength of their collective will.

As Hill puts it in his opening statement: “This is dragon territory”. Do not overlook this.