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A group of six oddball but doughty youngsters confront the trail of a colossal and terrible paranormal darkness that has invaded our existence from the outer limits of shadow. They must wage a lifelong battle fighting it, enduring one nightmare after another in the struggle.

An Echoing Storyline with a New Spin

This is the plot, in essence, of Stephen King’s seminal work It (arguably his finest; no debate). It is also the plot of the celebrated author’s heir Joseph Hillstrom King’s new horror doorstopper, in which six friends summon the age-old, deeply sinister dragon the Sorrowful Monarch from the Long Dark to aid them in overcoming some baddies. Needless to say, their supernatural ritual goes awry.

Acknowledging a Literary Lineage

Joseph Hillström King launched his profession striving diligently to distance himself from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he still uses today and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he bears a striking resemblance to his parent). Yet with this recent release, he fully acknowledges it. Several quotes that deliberately echo some of his father’s iconic (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a incident that recalls a signature King element (a riddling contest). In this epic story, the author rejoices in his family connection, and the audience revels alongside.

Meet the Main Characters

Returning to the group: five of them are scholars at the fictional the esteemed institution in the New England state. We have Arthur, studious and gifted, solving historical enigmas in his leisure hours; Colin, affluent, clever, and inclined to bulldoze obstacles in his path; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful Allie. Then we have Gwen, who isn’t their classmate, but emerges as crucial of their circle as they dabble, somewhat credulous, half not, in supernatural practices.

The Fateful Ceremony

The protagonist finds himself, as a result of external pressures, obliged to take valuable volumes from his treasured institution’s archives by a bunch of local criminals. This tears at his bookish heart, notably because he’s forced to acquire the library’s most valuable and unsettling publication: the journal of occultist Enoch Crane (executed “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the book’s jacket is fashioned from his hide). These young investigators examine the log, learn they can invoke what the author references as a clever snake to assist Arthur with his coercion issue – and devote the remaining story enduring the repercussions. This ancient entity will indeed rid them of those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they’ll have to choose a fresh offering each year or fall prey to the beast. As Arthur later puts it: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Stylistic Fluidity and Imaginative Range

Covering a generation, Hill also moves with seamless grace through various literary forms: as the companions strive to manage the situation they find themselves in by, variously, picking people who are obviously evil to immolate, or searching for methods to destroy the entity themselves, we transition from suspense to shadowy tale, clandestine torment to romance to terror. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, within the subterranean depths beneath this UK region, a section sprinkled with the Lord of the Rings author that was gloriously terrifying.

A Rich Tapestry of Fear and Optimism

The novel features trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and internet antagonists, genuinely frightening and superbly depicted. We see enchanted blades and treacheries, pulse-pounding sequences of courage and ones of appalling malevolence, both mortal and supernatural. This is a remarkable achievement: a frightening tale 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 this character as the companions assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their dragon into being with the strength of their collective will.

According to Joe Hill in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Don’t miss them.