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A group of six oddball but brave children encounter the path of a colossal and fearsome otherworldly darkness that has invaded our world from the farthest reaches of oblivion. They must spend their lifetimes fighting it, enduring one nightmare after another in the process.

A Resonant Premise with a New Twist

This describes the premise, in essence, of the master of horror’s seminal work It (his best; no debate). It similarly frames of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s new chilling tome, in which a band of six invoke the primordial, deeply sinister beast the Sorrowful Monarch from the Endless Night to help them defeat some baddies. Needless to say, their arcane ceremony has unintended consequences.

Acknowledging a Authorial Legacy

The author launched his profession making great efforts to distance himself from his famous father, publishing under the pen name he maintains to this day and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he bears a striking resemblance to his parent). But in this latest novel, he embraces it. Several quotes that intentionally mirror some of his father’s iconic (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a incident that evokes a King plot point (a riddling contest). In this epic story, Hill is delighting in his heritage, and the audience revels alongside.

Meet the Main Characters

Back to those friends: five of them are scholars at the imagined Rackham College in Maine. There’s Arthur, studious and gifted, solving Old English riddles in his leisure hours; the character Colin, wealthy, astute, and known for crushing those who oppose him; the twin siblings; the beautiful the lovely Allie. And there’s Gwen, who isn’t their classmate, but assumes a vital role of their group as they toy, half believing, somewhat doubtful, in arcane arts.

The Critical Ritual

Arthur is, for reasons we don’t need to go into, compelled to pilfer rare books from his treasured institution’s archives by a set of regional villains. This wounds his academic spirit, particularly as he’s made to take the collection’s foremost and unsettling title: the journal of practitioner this enigmatic character (executed “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the book’s jacket is crafted from his flesh). The intrepid group read the journal, realize they are able to call forth what the author references as a “arrogant beast to aid our hero with his coercion issue – and occupy the subsequent narrative reaping the consequences. King Sorrow will certainly eliminate those troublesome local drug dealers, but they must select a different victim each year or become his victim themselves. In the character’s own words: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is more dragons.”

Genre Versatility and Inventive Scope

Covering a generation, Joe Hill transitions with natural fluency between genres: as the friends strive to manage the predicament they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, picking people who are obviously evil to immolate, or hunting down ways to slay the beast themselves, we go from thriller to dark fantasy, black-ops torture to love story to terror. A standout transition was to a adventure narrative, within the subterranean depths beneath this UK region, a section sprinkled with the Lord of the Rings author that was magnificently horrifying.

An Expansive Canvas of Fear and Hope

The novel features trolls – the classic variety and online ones, truly terrifying and expertly realized. We see enchanted blades and treacheries, breath-taking moments of valor and instances of appalling malevolence, both earthly and otherworldly. It’s a tour de force: a frightening tale that is above all a ode to the human inventiveness, 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 gather at the table, preparing to summon their dragon to life with the force of their minds.

According to Joe Hill in his introductory quote: “Hic sunt dracones”. Ensure you experience it.