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Six unlikely but brave kids encounter the trail of a immense and fearsome otherworldly malevolence that has entered our existence from the deepest abyss of shadow. They are compelled to devote their lives fighting it, experiencing one nightmare after another in the struggle.

An Echoing Premise with a New Twist

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s novel It (his best; no debate). It parallels of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s latest chilling tome, in which six friends invoke the primordial, utterly malevolent dragon the Dragon King from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some villains. Needless to say, their arcane ceremony has unintended consequences.

Embracing a Literary Heritage

Joseph Hillström King started his career striving diligently to distance himself from his well-known dad, using the pseudonym he maintains to this day and avoiding meeting his agent (he possesses a strong similarity to his father). Yet with this recent release, he embraces it. There are lines that intentionally mirror some of King’s most famous (the famous Dark Tower introduction); a moment that recalls a signature King element (a battle of wits). In this epic story, Hill is delighting in his family connection, and readers share in the joy.

Introducing the Main Characters

Returning to the group: five of them are scholars at the made-up the esteemed institution in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, academic and gifted, deciphering Old English riddles in his free moments; another key figure, affluent, clever, and inclined to bulldoze those who oppose him; Donna and Donovan; the attractive Allie. And there’s Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but becomes a key part of their band as they toy, somewhat credulous, half not, in the occult.

The Critical Ritual

The protagonist finds himself, due to circumstances beyond his control, forced into stealing prized manuscripts from his beloved college library by a bunch of local criminals. This devastates his scholarly soul, notably because he’s made to take the library’s most valuable and chilling work: the diary of adept Enoch Crane (executed “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the cover is crafted from his flesh). These young investigators peruse the diary, realize they are able to call forth what the occultist details as a “arrogant beast to aid our hero with his blackmail problem – and spend the rest of the novel reaping the consequences. This ancient entity will certainly eliminate those troublesome local drug dealers, but they are required to pick a new sacrifice annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. In the character’s own words: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Narrative Dexterity and Imaginative Range

Spanning forty years, the author shifts with effortless ease through various literary forms: as the allies endeavor to address the circumstances they find themselves in by, in different ways, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or searching for methods 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 adventure narrative, far beneath the surface under the English county, a segment infused with the Lord of the Rings author that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Tapestry of Fear and Optimism

We encounter trolls – those living under bridges and online ones, truly terrifying and expertly realized. There are magical swords and treacheries, pulse-pounding sequences of valor and scenes of dreadful evil, both mortal and supernatural. It’s a tour de force: a horror novel that is above all a paean to the human inventiveness, and to devotion and companionship. “We needed a story to believe and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the allies assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their serpent into being with the power of their thoughts.

As Hill puts it in his opening statement: “Hic sunt dracones”. Do not overlook this.