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A group of six quirky but doughty children fall into the trail of a vast and dreadful otherworldly darkness that has entered our existence from the deepest abyss of oblivion. They are compelled to devote their lives fighting it, enduring terror upon terror in the process.

A Familiar Storyline with a New Approach

This outlines the narrative, in essence, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (a standout in his career; undeniable). It is also the plot of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s latest massive horror novel, in which a close-knit group invoke the ancient, infinitely malicious serpent King Sorrow from the Long Dark to assist them in vanquishing some villains. Needless to say, their otherworldly invocation goes awry.

Embracing a Literary Lineage

The author started his career making great efforts to remain separate from his famous father, using the pseudonym he still uses today and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he possesses a strong similarity to his father). But in this latest novel, he embraces it. Several quotes that intentionally mirror 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 battle of wits). In this whopper of a novel, Hill is delighting in his family connection, and readers share in the joy.

Introducing the Protagonists

Focusing on the companions: the majority are students at the imagined Rackham College in this northeastern locale. First is Arthur, bookish and brilliant, deciphering historical enigmas in his leisure hours; Colin, wealthy, sharp, and known for crushing anyone who stands in his way; the twin siblings; the attractive Allie. And there’s Gwen, who isn’t their classmate, but assumes a vital role of their band as they toy, half believing, half not, in arcane arts.

The Fateful Ritual

Our hero becomes, for reasons we don’t need to go into, obliged to take prized manuscripts from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This tears at his bookish heart, notably because he’s compelled to seize the institution’s prized and disturbing title: the logbook of occultist this enigmatic character (executed “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang peruse the diary, discover they could summon what the occultist details as a armored demon” to aid our hero with his coercion issue – and occupy the subsequent narrative reaping the consequences. The dragon will undoubtedly remove those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they must select a different victim each year or become his victim themselves. As Arthur later puts it: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is more dragons.”

Stylistic Dexterity and Creative Breadth

Moving through four decades, the author shifts with natural fluency between genres: as the friends attempt to deal with the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or seeking means to slay the beast themselves, we move between thriller to dark fantasy, clandestine torment to affectionate subplot to terror. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a segment tinged by the fantasy maestro that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Canvas of Dread and Hope

We encounter trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and digital trolls, truly terrifying and superbly depicted. We see enchanted blades and deceptions, breath-taking moments of valor and ones of dreadful evil, both human and extraterrestrial. It stands as a masterpiece: a horror novel that is primarily a ode to the human inventiveness, 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 friends gather at the table, making preparations to call forth their serpent into existence with the power of their thoughts.

In the author’s own words in his opening statement: “Here be dragons”. Don’t miss them.