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Six oddball but resilient kids fall into the trail of a immense and dreadful supernatural darkness that has entered our realm from the deepest abyss of darkness. They have no choice but to wage a lifelong battle confronting it, experiencing one nightmare after another in the process.

A Resonant Plot with a New Approach

This describes the premise, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (a standout in his career; undeniable). It parallels of the celebrated author’s heir Joseph Hillstrom King’s recent chilling tome, in which six friends summon the primordial, deeply sinister dragon the Dragon King from the Abyssal Void to assist them in vanquishing some baddies. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual goes awry.

Embracing a Authorial Lineage

Joe Hill started his career striving diligently to distance himself from his well-known dad, using the pseudonym he maintains to this day and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he bears a strong similarity to his father). But in this latest novel, he embraces it. There are lines that consciously reflect some of his father’s iconic (that classic opening line); a scene that brings to mind a signature King element (a battle of wits). In this whopper of a novel, the author rejoices in his family connection, and readers share in the joy.

Meet the Main Characters

Focusing on the companions: most are scholars at the fictional the esteemed institution in the New England state. First is Arthur, studious and intelligent, deciphering Old English riddles in his leisure hours; the character Colin, rich, sharp, and prone to trampling anyone who stands in his way; the twin siblings; the beautiful Allie. Additionally, Gwen appears, who remains outside their academic circle, but assumes a vital role of their band as they dabble, partly convinced, partly skeptical, in the occult.

The Fateful Ceremony

Our hero becomes, for reasons we don’t need to go into, compelled to pilfer rare books from his cherished academic collection by a bunch of local criminals. This devastates his scholarly soul, particularly as he’s forced to acquire the collection’s foremost and disturbing title: the journal of occultist the historical figure (executed “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the cover is fashioned from his hide). These young investigators examine the log, discover they could summon what the author references as a “proud worm to help Arthur out with his coercion issue – and spend the rest of the novel facing the fallout. King Sorrow will undoubtedly remove those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a different victim each year or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is more dragons.”

Narrative Versatility and Inventive Breadth

Covering a generation, Hill also moves with natural fluency between genres: as the friends endeavor to address the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, choosing undeniably wicked targets to offer up, or searching for methods to kill the dragon themselves, we go from suspense to shadowy tale, black-ops torture to affectionate subplot to terror. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, within the subterranean depths below Cornwall, a segment tinged by JRR Tolkien that was magnificently horrifying.

An Expansive Tapestry of Fear and Optimism

The novel features trolls – the classic variety and online ones, properly scary and expertly realized. The story includes mystic weapons and deceptions, heart-stopping scenes of courage and ones of dreadful evil, both earthly and extraterrestrial. It stands as a masterpiece: a chilling book that is primarily a ode 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 Colin as the allies assemble around a surface, getting ready to invoke their serpent into being with the power of their thoughts.

As Hill puts it in his opening statement: “Here be dragons”. Don’t miss them.