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Six oddball but brave youngsters confront the trail of a immense and fearsome paranormal darkness that has entered our existence from the deepest abyss of shadow. They are compelled to devote their lives confronting it, enduring horror after horror in the struggle.

An Echoing Plot with a Fresh Twist

This is the plot, roughly, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (arguably his finest; no arguments). It parallels of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s new horror doorstopper, in which a close-knit group invoke the ancient, deeply sinister dragon King Sorrow from the Long Dark to aid them in overcoming some villains. Unsurprisingly, their supernatural ritual goes awry.

Acknowledging a Authorial Heritage

The author started his career making great efforts to avoid any connection from his famous father, using the pseudonym he still uses today and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he possesses a uncanny likeness to his father). However, in his newest work, he leans into it. There are lines that consciously reflect some of his father’s iconic (that classic opening line); a moment that evokes a recurring theme in King’s works (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, the author rejoices in his lineage, and readers share in the joy.

Introducing the Protagonists

Focusing on the companions: five of them are scholars at the imagined this academic setting in Maine. First is Arthur, academic and gifted, cracking historical enigmas in his spare time; another key figure, wealthy, clever, and known for crushing obstacles in his path; twins Donna and Donovan; the attractive Allie herself. Additionally, Gwen appears, who isn’t their classmate, but becomes a key part of their group as they dabble, somewhat credulous, somewhat doubtful, in arcane arts.

The Fateful Summoning

Arthur is, for reasons we don’t need to go into, forced into stealing prized manuscripts from his cherished academic collection by a set of regional villains. This devastates his scholarly soul, notably because he’s compelled to seize the collection’s foremost and unsettling title: the journal of occultist the historical figure (put to death “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the book’s jacket is crafted from his flesh). The intrepid group peruse the diary, realize they are able to call forth what the author references as a “proud worm to aid our hero with his blackmail problem – and devote the remaining story facing the fallout. The dragon will indeed rid them of those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a fresh offering every twelve months or fall prey to the beast. As our protagonist states: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is more dragons.”

Narrative Dexterity and Inventive Breadth

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, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or searching for methods to kill the dragon themselves, we go from suspense to grim fantasy, covert operations to love story to horror. My favorite genre switch was to a adventure narrative, within the subterranean depths below Cornwall, a segment infused with the fantasy maestro that was magnificently horrifying.

A Rich Canvas of Horror and Optimism

We encounter trolls – the classic variety and digital trolls, properly scary and perfectly brought to life. The story includes mystic weapons and betrayals, pulse-pounding sequences of bravery and scenes of dreadful evil, both human and supernatural. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is above all a tribute to the human inventiveness, 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 the wealthy student as the friends gather at the table, preparing to summon their dragon to life with the power of their thoughts.

In the author’s own words in his epigraph: “Hic sunt dracones”. Do not overlook this.