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Six unlikely but brave kids confront the way of a vast and fearsome supernatural darkness that has entered our world from the outer limits of shadow. They have no choice but to devote their lives confronting it, experiencing horror after horror in the ordeal.

An Echoing Storyline with a New Twist

This is the plot, roughly, of the master of horror’s novel It (arguably his finest; no arguments). It parallels of King’s son Joe Hill’s new massive horror novel, in which a close-knit group invoke the ancient, infinitely malicious beast King Sorrow from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some baddies. Needless to say, their arcane ceremony goes awry.

Embracing a Authorial Lineage

The author launched his profession making great efforts to remain separate from his renowned parent, publishing under the pen name he still uses today and avoiding meeting his agent (he possesses a uncanny likeness to his dad). Yet with this recent release, he embraces it. There are lines that deliberately echo some of King’s most famous (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a scene that brings to mind a recurring theme in King’s works (a game of puzzles). In this epic story, the author rejoices in his heritage, and readers share in the joy.

Introducing the Central Figures

Returning to the group: five of them are students at the imagined Rackham College in Maine. There’s Arthur, academic and intelligent, deciphering historical enigmas in his spare time; another key figure, affluent, astute, and inclined to bulldoze those who oppose him; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful the lovely Allie. And there’s Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but emerges as crucial of their circle as they dabble, partly convinced, partly skeptical, in arcane arts.

The Critical Ritual

Arthur is, as a result of external pressures, forced into stealing rare books from his cherished academic collection by a set of regional villains. This wounds his academic spirit, notably because he’s made to take the library’s most valuable and unsettling title: the logbook of practitioner this enigmatic character (condemned “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the cover is made from his skin). The intrepid group read the journal, learn they can invoke what the occultist details as a “arrogant beast to help Arthur out with his blackmail problem – and spend the rest of the novel enduring the repercussions. King Sorrow will undoubtedly remove those troublesome local drug dealers, but they are required to pick a fresh offering annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Stylistic Dexterity and Imaginative Range

Covering a generation, Hill also moves with effortless ease between genres: as the companions endeavor to address the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to immolate, or hunting down ways to destroy the entity themselves, we move between page-turner to grim fantasy, black-ops torture to love story to terror. One particularly memorable shift was to a adventure narrative, within the subterranean depths under the English county, a segment tinged by the Lord of the Rings author that was magnificently horrifying.

An Expansive Tapestry of Dread and Courage

The novel features trolls – those living under bridges and internet antagonists, properly scary and superbly depicted. We see enchanted blades and betrayals, heart-stopping scenes of courage and scenes of terrible wickedness, both human and supernatural. This is a remarkable achievement: a frightening tale that is chiefly a paean to the imagination, 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 this character as the allies gather at the table, preparing to summon their serpent to life with the force of their minds.

In the author’s own words in his introductory quote: “Here be dragons”. Do not overlook this.