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Six quirky but doughty children encounter the way of a vast and terrible supernatural evil that has infiltrated our world from the outer limits of oblivion. They must devote their lives fighting it, enduring terror upon terror in the process.

A Resonant Premise with a Fresh Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s seminal work It (a standout in his career; undeniable). It similarly frames of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s recent horror doorstopper, in which six friends call forth the primordial, infinitely malicious serpent King Sorrow from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some villains. Unsurprisingly, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Acknowledging a Authorial Legacy

The author started his career striving diligently to avoid any connection from his renowned parent, adopting the nom de plume he still uses today and avoiding meeting his agent (he bears a strong similarity to his parent). But in this latest novel, he leans into it. Several quotes that intentionally mirror some of King’s most famous (that classic opening line); a incident that evokes a signature King element (a battle of wits). Throughout this massive book, the author rejoices in his heritage, and we delight along with him.

Meet the Central Figures

Back to those friends: the majority are pupils at the imagined this academic setting in the New England state. We have Arthur, studious and brilliant, solving Old English riddles in his leisure hours; Colin, wealthy, sharp, and inclined to bulldoze those who oppose him; the twin siblings; the stunning Allie. And there’s Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but becomes a key part of their group as they dabble, partly convinced, half not, in the occult.

The Fateful Summoning

The protagonist finds himself, as a result of external pressures, forced into stealing rare books from his treasured institution’s archives by a bunch of local criminals. This wounds his academic spirit, notably because he’s forced to acquire the institution’s prized and unsettling work: the diary of practitioner the historical figure (put to death “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the book’s jacket is made from his skin). The intrepid group peruse the diary, learn they can invoke what the occultist details as a clever snake to aid our hero with his extortion dilemma – and spend the rest of the novel enduring the repercussions. This ancient entity will indeed rid them of those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a new sacrifice annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Stylistic Fluidity and Imaginative Scope

Covering a generation, Joe Hill transitions with seamless grace across narrative styles: as the allies endeavor to address the situation they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to kill the dragon themselves, we transition from suspense to grim fantasy, black-ops torture to affectionate subplot to fright. One particularly memorable shift was to a heroic journey, within the subterranean depths beneath this UK region, a part infused with JRR Tolkien that was wonderfully frightening.

A Detailed Canvas of Fear and Hope

The novel features trolls – those living under bridges and digital trolls, truly terrifying and superbly depicted. There are magical swords and treacheries, breath-taking moments of valor and instances of dreadful evil, both human and supernatural. It’s a tour de force: a horror novel that is primarily a ode 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 friends assemble around a surface, preparing to summon their serpent into existence with the force of their minds.

According to Joe Hill in his epigraph: “Hic sunt dracones”. Do not overlook this.