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Six unlikely but brave youngsters confront the way of a vast and fearsome otherworldly evil that has infiltrated our world from the farthest reaches of darkness. They are compelled to devote their lives battling it, experiencing terror upon terror in the process.

A Familiar Storyline with a Fresh Spin

This describes the premise, roughly, of Stephen King’s seminal work It (his best; no arguments). It is also the plot of King’s son Joe Hill’s recent chilling tome, in which a close-knit group invoke the ancient, deeply sinister dragon King Sorrow from the Long Dark to assist them in vanquishing some antagonists. Needless to say, their otherworldly invocation goes awry.

Acknowledging a Family Lineage

The author started his career going to great lengths to distance himself from his well-known dad, adopting the nom de plume he maintains to this day and avoiding meeting his agent (he exhibits a uncanny likeness to his parent). However, in his newest work, he embraces it. Certain passages that deliberately echo some of his father’s iconic (the famous Dark Tower introduction); a scene that brings to mind a King plot point (a riddling contest). Throughout this massive book, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his heritage, and we delight along with him.

Introducing the Protagonists

Back to those friends: five of them are pupils at the imagined Rackham College in Maine. First is Arthur, bookish and intelligent, solving historical enigmas in his free moments; the character Colin, affluent, clever, and prone to trampling those who oppose him; the twin siblings; the attractive Allie. Additionally, Gwen appears, who remains outside their academic circle, but emerges as crucial of their group as they experiment, somewhat credulous, half not, in the occult.

The Critical Ceremony

Arthur is, as a result of external pressures, compelled to pilfer prized manuscripts from his beloved college library by a group of neighborhood thugs. This wounds his academic spirit, notably because he’s compelled to seize the institution’s prized and unsettling publication: the journal of practitioner the historical figure (put to death “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the cover is made from his skin). Our Scooby gang read the journal, discover they could summon what Crane describes as a armored demon” to assist Arthur with his blackmail problem – and devote the remaining story reaping the consequences. The dragon will certainly eliminate those annoying regional antagonists, but they are required to pick a different victim each year or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As Arthur later puts it: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is more dragons.”

Narrative Dexterity and Inventive Breadth

Covering a generation, the author shifts with effortless ease between genres: as the companions attempt to deal with the predicament they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or seeking means to kill the dragon themselves, we transition from page-turner to shadowy tale, covert operations to romance to fright. One particularly memorable shift was to a heroic journey, within the subterranean depths beneath this UK region, a segment infused with JRR Tolkien that was wonderfully frightening.

An Expansive Canvas of Horror and Optimism

There are trolls – the classic variety and online ones, truly terrifying and superbly depicted. The story includes mystic weapons and deceptions, heart-stopping scenes of valor and scenes of dreadful evil, both human and supernatural. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is chiefly a paean to the creative spirit, 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 companions sit around the table, preparing to summon their serpent into being with the strength of their collective will.

According to Joe Hill in his introductory quote: “Hic sunt dracones”. Do not overlook this.