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A group of six unlikely but brave children fall into the path of a colossal and dreadful otherworldly malevolence that has entered our existence from the deepest abyss of oblivion. They have no choice but to devote their lives confronting it, enduring one nightmare after another in the struggle.

A Familiar Premise with a Fresh Approach

This outlines the narrative, in essence, of Stephen King’s novel It (arguably his finest; no debate). It parallels of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s latest massive horror novel, in which a band of six summon the age-old, utterly malevolent serpent the Sorrowful Monarch from the Long Dark to assist them in vanquishing some villains. Unsurprisingly, their otherworldly invocation goes awry.

Embracing a Family Legacy

Joe Hill began his writing journey striving diligently to distance himself from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he still uses today and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he possesses a uncanny likeness to his parent). Yet with this recent release, he fully acknowledges it. There are lines that deliberately echo some of King’s most famous (the famous Dark Tower introduction); a incident that evokes a King plot point (a battle of wits). In this epic story, the author rejoices in his heritage, and we delight along with him.

Meet the Protagonists

Back to those friends: five of them are students at the made-up Rackham College in the New England state. There’s Arthur, academic and gifted, cracking Old English riddles in his free moments; another key figure, affluent, sharp, and known for crushing obstacles in his path; Donna and Donovan; the stunning the lovely Allie. And there’s Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but becomes a key part of their band as they toy, partly convinced, half not, in the occult.

The Critical Ceremony

Arthur is, as a result of external pressures, compelled to pilfer valuable volumes from his treasured institution’s archives by a bunch of local criminals. This tears at his bookish heart, especially when he’s made to take the institution’s prized and chilling work: the diary of adept this enigmatic character (put to death “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the book’s jacket is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang examine the log, discover they could summon what the author references as a clever snake to help Arthur out with his extortion dilemma – and occupy the subsequent narrative facing the fallout. This ancient entity will certainly eliminate those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they must select a different victim annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As Arthur later puts it: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is additional horrors.”

Narrative Dexterity and Creative Scope

Moving through four decades, Hill also moves with natural fluency between genres: as the companions endeavor to address the situation they find themselves in by, variously, picking people who are obviously evil to sacrifice, or searching for methods to destroy the entity themselves, we transition from thriller to shadowy tale, black-ops torture to love story to horror. A standout transition was to a heroic journey, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a section sprinkled with JRR Tolkien that was magnificently horrifying.

A Rich Canvas of Dread and Courage

We encounter trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and digital trolls, properly scary and expertly realized. We see enchanted blades and deceptions, pulse-pounding sequences of bravery and ones of dreadful evil, both human and supernatural. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is primarily a tribute to the human inventiveness, and to affection and camaraderie. “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 dragon to life with the strength of their collective will.

According to Joe Hill in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Ensure you experience it.