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A group of six oddball but brave kids fall into the way of a vast and fearsome otherworldly malevolence that has infiltrated our existence from the farthest reaches of shadow. They are compelled to wage a lifelong battle confronting it, experiencing terror upon terror in the ordeal.

A Familiar Premise with a Distinctive Twist

This describes the premise, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (a standout in his career; undeniable). It similarly frames of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s new horror doorstopper, in which a close-knit group invoke the age-old, infinitely malicious serpent King Sorrow from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some antagonists. Needless to say, their otherworldly invocation goes awry.

Acknowledging a Literary Lineage

Joseph Hillström King launched his profession making great efforts to distance himself from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he maintains to this day and avoiding meeting his agent (he possesses a uncanny likeness to his dad). But in this latest novel, he leans into it. There are lines that intentionally mirror some of his father’s iconic (the famous Dark Tower introduction); a moment that brings to mind a recurring theme in King’s works (a battle of wits). In this epic story, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and the audience revels alongside.

Meet the Protagonists

Focusing on the companions: the majority are students at the fictional Rackham College in the New England state. First is Arthur, studious and intelligent, solving Old English riddles in his spare time; the character Colin, wealthy, clever, and inclined to bulldoze anyone who stands in his way; Donna and Donovan; the stunning Allie. Additionally, Gwen appears, who isn’t their classmate, but assumes a vital role of their band as they dabble, half believing, half not, in supernatural practices.

The Critical Summoning

Our hero becomes, due to circumstances beyond his control, compelled to pilfer valuable volumes from his treasured institution’s archives by a set of regional villains. This tears at his bookish heart, especially when he’s made to take the institution’s prized and disturbing title: the logbook of adept Enoch Crane (executed “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the binding is fashioned from his hide). The intrepid group peruse the diary, realize they are able to call forth what Crane describes as a clever snake to aid our hero with his blackmail problem – and occupy the subsequent narrative reaping the consequences. The dragon will undoubtedly remove those troublesome local drug dealers, but they’ll have to choose a new sacrifice each year or become his victim themselves. As Arthur later puts it: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is additional horrors.”

Stylistic Versatility and Creative Range

Spanning forty years, the author shifts with natural fluency through various literary forms: as the companions strive to manage the predicament they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, picking people who are obviously evil to immolate, or hunting down ways to destroy the entity themselves, we go from suspense to shadowy tale, clandestine torment to romance to horror. One particularly memorable shift was to a adventure narrative, far beneath the surface beneath this UK region, a segment tinged by the Lord of the Rings author that was gloriously terrifying.

An Expansive Canvas of Dread and Hope

We encounter trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and digital trolls, genuinely frightening and superbly depicted. The story includes mystic weapons and betrayals, pulse-pounding sequences of bravery and ones of terrible wickedness, both human and supernatural. It’s a tour de force: a horror novel that is above all a tribute to the human inventiveness, and to love and friendship. “We longed for a tale to embrace and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the friends gather at the table, making preparations to call forth their beast into existence with the force of their minds.

As Hill puts it in his opening statement: “Hic sunt dracones”. Ensure you experience it.