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Six quirky but doughty youngsters confront the way of a vast and dreadful paranormal darkness that has entered our realm from the farthest reaches of oblivion. They are compelled to devote their lives confronting it, facing terror upon terror in the struggle.

A Familiar Storyline with a Distinctive Twist

This outlines the narrative, roughly, of Stephen King’s novel It (his best; no debate). It is also the plot of King’s son Joe Hill’s latest chilling tome, in which a close-knit group summon the primordial, deeply sinister serpent the Dragon King from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some villains. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual backfires.

Acknowledging a Literary Legacy

Joseph Hillström King launched his profession going to great lengths 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 striking resemblance to his dad). Yet with this recent release, he fully acknowledges it. Several quotes that deliberately echo some of King’s most famous (the famous Dark Tower introduction); a moment that brings to mind a King plot point (a game of puzzles). In this epic story, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his lineage, and we delight along with him.

Introducing the Central Figures

Returning to the group: five of them are students at the made-up Rackham College in this northeastern locale. There’s Arthur, bookish and gifted, cracking Old English riddles in his free moments; the character Colin, affluent, astute, and prone to trampling obstacles in his path; twins Donna and Donovan; the beautiful Allie. And there’s Gwen, who isn’t their classmate, but assumes a vital role of their circle as they experiment, partly convinced, somewhat doubtful, in supernatural practices.

The Fateful Ceremony

Arthur is, as a result of external pressures, forced into stealing rare books from his cherished academic collection by a set of regional villains. This devastates his scholarly soul, notably because he’s compelled to seize the library’s most valuable and disturbing publication: the journal of occultist the historical figure (condemned “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the binding is fashioned from his hide). The intrepid group peruse the diary, learn they can invoke what the occultist details as a “proud worm to assist Arthur with his extortion dilemma – and occupy the subsequent narrative reaping the consequences. The dragon 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.”

Genre Fluidity and Inventive Scope

Spanning forty years, the author shifts with natural fluency between genres: as the allies strive to manage the predicament they find themselves in by, in different ways, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or seeking means to slay the beast themselves, we go from suspense to shadowy tale, covert operations to romance to terror. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, deep in the caves below Cornwall, a section sprinkled with the fantasy maestro that was wonderfully frightening.

A Rich Tapestry of Fear and Courage

There are trolls – the classic variety and internet antagonists, genuinely frightening and expertly realized. There are magical swords and deceptions, heart-stopping scenes of valor and instances of terrible wickedness, both mortal and extraterrestrial. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is primarily a ode to the creative spirit, and to devotion and companionship. “We required a narrative to trust and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the companions assemble around a surface, preparing to summon their beast into existence with the strength of their collective will.

According to Joe Hill in his opening statement: “Here be dragons”. Do not overlook this.