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Six oddball but brave children confront the path of a colossal and terrible supernatural darkness that has infiltrated our realm from the farthest reaches of oblivion. They are compelled to devote their lives battling it, facing one nightmare after another in the struggle.

A Familiar Storyline with a Distinctive Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of the master of horror’s novel It (arguably his finest; no debate). It similarly frames of Stephen King’s offspring Joseph Hillstrom King’s latest chilling tome, in which six friends summon the ancient, deeply sinister serpent the Dragon King from the Long Dark to help them defeat some antagonists. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Celebrating a Literary Heritage

Joseph Hillström King launched his profession making great efforts to distance himself from his well-known dad, adopting the nom de plume he continues to employ and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he possesses a uncanny likeness to his father). Yet with this recent release, he embraces it. There are lines that consciously reflect some of his father’s iconic (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a incident that brings to mind a recurring theme in King’s works (a riddling contest). Throughout this massive book, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his heritage, and we delight along with him.

Meet the Main Characters

Back to those friends: most are students at the fictional the esteemed institution in this northeastern locale. There’s Arthur, studious and intelligent, solving Old English riddles in his leisure hours; the character Colin, rich, sharp, and inclined to bulldoze those who oppose him; the twin siblings; the stunning Allie. Additionally, Gwen appears, who doesn’t study with them, but emerges as crucial of their circle as they experiment, half believing, somewhat doubtful, in the occult.

The Critical Ritual

The protagonist finds himself, due to circumstances beyond his control, compelled to pilfer valuable volumes from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This tears at his bookish heart, especially when he’s made to take the collection’s foremost and unsettling work: the journal of adept Enoch Crane (executed “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). The intrepid group read the journal, discover they could summon what the occultist details as a clever snake to assist Arthur with his coercion issue – and devote the remaining story reaping the consequences. King Sorrow will indeed rid them of those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a new sacrifice every twelve months or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. In the character’s own words: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is additional horrors.”

Genre Dexterity and Inventive Breadth

Moving through four decades, Hill also moves with effortless ease through various literary forms: as the companions attempt to deal with the situation they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, choosing undeniably wicked targets to offer up, or searching for methods to kill the dragon themselves, we go from suspense to shadowy tale, black-ops torture to romance to terror. One particularly memorable shift was to a heroic journey, deep in the caves below Cornwall, a part tinged by JRR Tolkien that was magnificently horrifying.

A Rich Mosaic of Fear and Hope

There are trolls – those living under bridges and digital trolls, truly terrifying and superbly depicted. The story includes mystic weapons and treacheries, heart-stopping scenes of valor and scenes of dreadful evil, both human and extraterrestrial. This is a remarkable achievement: a frightening tale that is chiefly a paean to the creative spirit, and to love and friendship. “We needed a story to believe and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says Colin as the allies gather at the table, getting ready to invoke their serpent to life with the force of their minds.

According to Joe Hill in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Ensure you experience it.