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Six unlikely but doughty children encounter the trail of a vast and terrible supernatural evil that has invaded our existence from the outer limits of shadow. They have no choice but to wage a lifelong battle confronting it, experiencing terror upon terror in the struggle.

A Familiar Premise with a Fresh Twist

This outlines the narrative, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s seminal work It (a standout in his career; undeniable). It similarly frames of the celebrated author’s heir Joe Hill’s latest chilling tome, in which a close-knit group invoke the ancient, infinitely malicious serpent the Sorrowful Monarch from the Long Dark to help them defeat some antagonists. Needless to say, their otherworldly invocation goes awry.

Embracing a Literary Heritage

Joe Hill started his career striving diligently to remain separate from his renowned parent, publishing under the pen name he still uses today and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he exhibits a uncanny likeness to his father). Yet with this recent release, he leans into it. There are lines that intentionally mirror some of King’s most famous (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a moment that evokes a King plot point (a game of puzzles). In this epic story, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and readers share in the joy.

Introducing the Protagonists

Back to those friends: most are pupils at the imagined this academic setting in this northeastern locale. First is Arthur, bookish and intelligent, solving Old English riddles in his free moments; Colin, wealthy, astute, and known for crushing anyone who stands in his way; Donna and Donovan; the attractive the lovely Allie. And there’s Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but assumes a vital role of their band as they experiment, partly convinced, partly skeptical, in supernatural practices.

The Critical Summoning

Our hero becomes, due to circumstances beyond his control, forced into stealing rare books from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This devastates his scholarly soul, especially when he’s made to take the collection’s foremost and disturbing publication: the diary of adept Enoch Crane (executed “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). The intrepid group peruse the diary, discover they could summon what Crane describes as a “proud worm to assist Arthur with his coercion issue – and devote the remaining story reaping the consequences. This ancient entity will undoubtedly remove those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a new sacrifice annually or fall prey to the beast. In the character’s own words: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is more dragons.”

Narrative Versatility and Inventive Scope

Spanning forty years, Joe Hill transitions with natural fluency across narrative styles: as the friends endeavor to address the situation they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, choosing undeniably wicked targets to sacrifice, or searching for methods to slay the beast themselves, we transition from thriller to dark fantasy, black-ops torture to romance to horror. My favorite genre switch was to a heroic journey, far beneath the surface under the English county, a section infused with JRR Tolkien that was gloriously terrifying.

An Expansive Tapestry of Dread and Hope

The novel features trolls – those living under bridges and digital trolls, properly scary and perfectly brought to life. We see enchanted blades and betrayals, heart-stopping scenes of valor and instances of dreadful evil, both mortal and extraterrestrial. It stands as a masterpiece: a frightening tale that is above all a paean to the imagination, and to affection and camaraderie. “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 sit around the table, preparing to summon their serpent into being with the power of their thoughts.

According to Joe Hill in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Do not overlook this.