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Six oddball but doughty children confront the way of a colossal and fearsome otherworldly malevolence that has invaded our world from the farthest reaches of darkness. They have no choice but to devote their lives confronting it, experiencing terror upon terror in the process.

A Familiar Plot with a New Spin

This outlines the narrative, in essence, of Stephen King’s novel It (a standout in his career; no debate). It similarly frames of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s new horror doorstopper, in which six friends summon the ancient, utterly malevolent serpent the Sorrowful Monarch from the Endless Night to assist them in vanquishing some villains. Unsurprisingly, their otherworldly invocation backfires.

Embracing a Family Heritage

Joe Hill started his career going to great lengths to distance himself from his renowned parent, adopting the nom de plume he continues to employ and avoiding meeting his agent (he exhibits a uncanny likeness to his parent). Yet with this recent release, he fully acknowledges it. There are lines that consciously reflect some of the senior author’s well-known (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a moment that recalls a King plot point (a game of puzzles). In this whopper of a novel, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and we delight along with him.

Introducing the Central Figures

Returning to the group: most are scholars at the imagined the esteemed institution in this northeastern locale. There’s Arthur, studious and brilliant, cracking historical enigmas in his spare time; Colin, rich, clever, and known for crushing obstacles in his path; twins Donna and Donovan; the stunning Allie herself. Then we have Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but becomes a key part of their circle as they experiment, partly convinced, half not, in arcane arts.

The Fateful Summoning

The protagonist finds himself, for reasons we don’t need to go into, compelled to pilfer prized manuscripts from his treasured institution’s archives by a bunch of local criminals. This devastates his scholarly soul, notably because he’s made to take the library’s most valuable and disturbing publication: the diary of occultist the historical figure (executed “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the cover is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang read the journal, learn they can invoke what the author references as a “proud worm to help Arthur out with his extortion dilemma – and spend the rest of the novel reaping the consequences. This ancient entity will indeed rid them of those annoying regional antagonists, but they must select a different victim every twelve months or fall prey to the beast. As Arthur later puts it: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is additional horrors.”

Genre Dexterity and Imaginative Range

Moving through four decades, the author shifts with effortless ease through various literary forms: as the allies strive to manage the circumstances they find themselves in by, in different ways, picking people who are obviously evil to immolate, or seeking means to destroy the entity themselves, we transition from suspense to shadowy tale, covert operations to affectionate subplot to terror. A standout transition was to a heroic journey, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a segment infused with the fantasy maestro that was gloriously terrifying.

A Rich Tapestry of Dread and Courage

The novel features trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and online ones, truly terrifying and superbly depicted. The story includes mystic weapons and deceptions, pulse-pounding sequences of bravery and instances of terrible wickedness, both earthly and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a chilling book that is chiefly a ode to the human inventiveness, and to love and friendship. “We longed for a tale to embrace and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says the wealthy student as the friends assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their dragon to life with the power of their thoughts.

In the author’s own words in his epigraph: “Here be dragons”. Ensure you experience it.