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A group of six unlikely but doughty youngsters fall into the trail of a colossal and fearsome supernatural evil that has invaded our existence from the farthest reaches of oblivion. They have no choice but to spend their lifetimes fighting it, experiencing horror after horror in the process.

A Resonant Plot with a Fresh Approach

This outlines the narrative, in essence, of the master of horror’s seminal work It (his best; no arguments). It parallels of King’s son Joe Hill’s new chilling tome, in which a band of six summon the age-old, utterly malevolent dragon the Dragon King from the Endless Night to assist them in vanquishing some antagonists. Unsurprisingly, their supernatural ritual goes awry.

Embracing a Family Heritage

The author started his career making great efforts to remain separate from his renowned parent, adopting the nom de plume he continues to employ and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he bears a uncanny likeness to his parent). However, in his newest work, he fully acknowledges it. There are lines that deliberately echo some of his father’s iconic (“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, the author rejoices in his lineage, and readers share in the joy.

The Cast of the Main Characters

Returning to the group: five of them are students at the fictional Rackham College in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, studious and brilliant, cracking ancient puzzles in his leisure hours; Colin, wealthy, clever, and known for crushing anyone who stands in his way; the twin siblings; the attractive the lovely Allie. Additionally, Gwen appears, who remains outside their academic circle, but emerges as crucial of their circle as they experiment, somewhat credulous, partly skeptical, in arcane arts.

The Critical Ritual

Arthur is, for reasons we don’t need to go into, obliged to take valuable volumes from his cherished academic collection by a bunch of local criminals. This devastates his scholarly soul, especially when he’s compelled to seize the collection’s foremost and unsettling title: the logbook of practitioner this enigmatic character (condemned “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the binding is fashioned from his hide). The intrepid group peruse the diary, discover they could summon what the occultist details as a “arrogant beast to aid our hero with his blackmail problem – and spend the rest of the novel facing the fallout. King Sorrow will undoubtedly remove those troublesome local drug dealers, but they must select a different victim annually or fall prey to the beast. As our protagonist states: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is additional horrors.”

Stylistic Versatility and Imaginative Scope

Spanning forty years, Joe Hill transitions with effortless ease across narrative styles: as the companions strive to manage the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to destroy the entity themselves, we transition from thriller to dark fantasy, covert operations to romance to horror. My favorite genre switch was to a heroic journey, within the subterranean depths under the English county, a part tinged by JRR Tolkien that was wonderfully frightening.

A Detailed Tapestry of Dread and Courage

There are trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and digital trolls, genuinely frightening and perfectly brought to life. We see enchanted blades and betrayals, pulse-pounding sequences of bravery and scenes of appalling malevolence, both human and supernatural. It’s a tour de force: a frightening tale that is chiefly a tribute to the human inventiveness, and to affection and camaraderie. “We longed for a tale to embrace and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says Colin as the allies sit around the table, getting ready to invoke their dragon into existence with the strength of their collective will.

According to Joe Hill in his opening statement: “Here be dragons”. Don’t miss them.