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A group of six unlikely but doughty children encounter the path of a immense and fearsome supernatural darkness that has infiltrated our existence from the farthest reaches of darkness. They must devote their lives confronting it, experiencing one nightmare after another in the process.

A Resonant Premise with a Distinctive Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s novel It (a standout in his career; undeniable). It is also the plot of King’s son Joe Hill’s recent horror doorstopper, in which six friends invoke the primordial, utterly malevolent serpent the Sorrowful Monarch from the Endless Night to aid them in overcoming some baddies. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Embracing a Family Lineage

Joe Hill launched his profession making great efforts to remain separate from his famous father, publishing under the pen name he still uses today and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he possesses a striking resemblance to his dad). Yet with this recent release, he leans into it. Certain passages that deliberately echo some of King’s most famous (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a scene that brings to mind a signature King element (a battle of wits). In this epic story, the author rejoices in his heritage, and the audience revels alongside.

Introducing the Protagonists

Back to those friends: the majority are students at the imagined this academic setting in this northeastern locale. First is Arthur, academic and gifted, cracking historical enigmas in his free moments; the character Colin, rich, astute, and prone to trampling anyone who stands in his way; the twin siblings; the attractive the lovely Allie. And there’s Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but emerges as crucial of their band as they toy, half believing, partly skeptical, in arcane arts.

The Fateful Summoning

Our hero becomes, for reasons we don’t need to go into, compelled to pilfer prized manuscripts from his beloved college library by a bunch of local criminals. This tears at his bookish heart, particularly as he’s compelled to seize the library’s most valuable and unsettling title: the diary of occultist the historical figure (executed “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the cover is made from his skin). These young investigators read the journal, discover they could summon what the occultist details as a armoured devil” to help Arthur out with his extortion dilemma – and spend the rest of the novel enduring the repercussions. The dragon will certainly eliminate those annoying regional antagonists, but they must select a new sacrifice every twelve months or become his victim themselves. In the character’s own words: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is additional horrors.”

Stylistic Dexterity and Inventive Breadth

Spanning forty years, the author shifts with seamless grace across narrative styles: as the companions endeavor to address the situation they find themselves in by, variously, choosing undeniably wicked targets to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to destroy the entity themselves, we move between suspense to shadowy tale, covert operations to romance to horror. A standout transition was to a heroic journey, deep in the caves under the English county, a section infused with the fantasy maestro that was magnificently horrifying.

A Rich Mosaic of Dread and Optimism

There are trolls – the classic variety and internet antagonists, truly terrifying and expertly realized. We see enchanted blades and deceptions, pulse-pounding sequences of valor and instances of dreadful evil, both mortal and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is above all a tribute to the creative spirit, and to devotion and companionship. “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 allies assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their serpent into existence with the force of their minds.

According to Joe Hill in his epigraph: “Hic sunt dracones”. Ensure you experience it.