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A group of six oddball but doughty kids encounter the path of a immense and dreadful supernatural darkness that has infiltrated our world from the farthest reaches of shadow. They have no choice but to wage a lifelong battle fighting it, enduring one nightmare after another in the process.

An Echoing Storyline with a Fresh Spin

This describes the premise, in essence, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (arguably his finest; undeniable). It parallels of the celebrated author’s heir Joe Hill’s recent chilling tome, in which six friends summon the age-old, utterly malevolent dragon the Sorrowful Monarch from the Endless Night to assist them in vanquishing some villains. Needless to say, their arcane ceremony has unintended consequences.

Celebrating a Authorial Lineage

Joe Hill started his career going to great lengths to remain separate from his renowned parent, adopting the nom de plume he still uses today and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he possesses a striking resemblance to his dad). But in this latest novel, he fully acknowledges it. Several quotes that deliberately echo some of King’s most famous (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a incident that brings to mind a recurring theme in King’s works (a riddling contest). In this epic story, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and the audience revels alongside.

The Cast of the Protagonists

Focusing on the companions: most are pupils at the made-up Rackham College in Maine. There’s Arthur, studious and intelligent, cracking historical enigmas in his leisure hours; Colin, wealthy, clever, and prone to trampling obstacles in his path; Donna and Donovan; the attractive Allie. Then we have Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but becomes a key part of their group as they experiment, half believing, partly skeptical, in the occult.

The Critical Ritual

Arthur is, due to circumstances beyond his control, obliged to take prized manuscripts from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This tears at his bookish heart, particularly as he’s made to take the institution’s prized and disturbing publication: the diary of adept Enoch Crane (put to death “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the book’s jacket is crafted from his flesh). The intrepid group examine the log, realize they are able to call forth what the author references as a “proud worm to assist Arthur with his blackmail problem – and devote the remaining story facing the fallout. This ancient entity will certainly eliminate those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they are required to pick a fresh offering every twelve months or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is more dragons.”

Genre Dexterity and Creative Range

Covering a generation, Hill also moves with natural fluency between genres: as the friends attempt to deal with the situation they find themselves in by, variously, picking people who are obviously evil to immolate, or seeking means to slay the beast themselves, we go from suspense to shadowy tale, clandestine torment to love story to horror. My favorite genre switch was to a heroic journey, far beneath the surface under the English county, a segment sprinkled with JRR Tolkien that was magnificently horrifying.

An Expansive Canvas of Fear and Hope

We encounter trolls – the classic variety and internet antagonists, properly scary and perfectly brought to life. We see enchanted blades and deceptions, pulse-pounding sequences of bravery and scenes of dreadful evil, both human and supernatural. It’s a tour de force: a horror novel that is chiefly a paean to the human inventiveness, and to devotion and companionship. “We required a narrative to trust and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the companions assemble around a surface, preparing to summon their dragon into being with the force of their minds.

As Hill puts it in his opening statement: “This is dragon territory”. Don’t miss them.