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Six quirky but doughty children encounter the path of a immense and fearsome supernatural malevolence that has entered our world from the farthest reaches of oblivion. They are compelled to devote their lives confronting it, experiencing terror upon terror in the ordeal.

An Echoing Plot with a Distinctive Spin

This describes the premise, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s novel It (a standout in his career; no debate). It similarly frames of King’s son Joe Hill’s recent horror doorstopper, in which a close-knit group summon the ancient, infinitely malicious serpent the Sorrowful Monarch from the Long Dark to aid them in overcoming some baddies. As one might expect, their otherworldly invocation backfires.

Celebrating a Authorial Heritage

The author began his writing journey striving diligently to distance himself from his well-known dad, publishing under the pen name he continues to employ and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he bears a strong similarity to his parent). Yet with this recent release, he fully acknowledges it. There are lines that deliberately echo some of the senior author’s well-known (the famous Dark Tower introduction); a scene that recalls a recurring theme in King’s works (a game of puzzles). In this whopper of a novel, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and the audience revels alongside.

Introducing the Main Characters

Back to those friends: the majority are scholars at the fictional Rackham College in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, studious and intelligent, deciphering Old English riddles in his spare time; Colin, wealthy, clever, and inclined to bulldoze anyone who stands in his way; twins Donna and Donovan; the stunning Allie herself. And there’s Gwen, who isn’t their classmate, but emerges as crucial of their circle as they toy, somewhat credulous, half not, in supernatural practices.

The Critical Summoning

Our hero becomes, due to circumstances beyond his control, forced into stealing rare books from his cherished academic collection by a set of regional villains. This wounds his academic spirit, notably because he’s compelled to seize the library’s most valuable and unsettling publication: the journal of adept this enigmatic character (put to death “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the book’s jacket is fashioned from his hide). The intrepid group examine the log, discover they could summon what the occultist details as a armoured devil” to assist Arthur with his extortion dilemma – and occupy the subsequent narrative facing the fallout. The dragon will indeed rid them of those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a fresh offering annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As Arthur later puts it: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Genre Dexterity and Creative Scope

Moving through four decades, Joe Hill transitions with effortless ease between genres: as the friends endeavor to address the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, choosing undeniably wicked targets to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to destroy the entity themselves, we transition from suspense to dark fantasy, clandestine torment to love story to horror. One particularly memorable shift was to a heroic journey, deep in the caves below Cornwall, a segment sprinkled with JRR Tolkien that was wonderfully frightening.

An Expansive Tapestry of Horror and Hope

The novel features trolls – the classic variety and digital trolls, genuinely frightening and superbly depicted. The story includes mystic weapons and treacheries, breath-taking moments of valor and scenes of appalling malevolence, both earthly and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a chilling book that is above all a ode to the imagination, 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 this character as the friends gather at the table, making preparations to call forth their beast into existence with the power of their thoughts.

In the author’s own words in his introductory quote: “This is dragon territory”. Don’t miss them.