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Six oddball but resilient youngsters fall into the path of a vast and terrible supernatural evil that has entered our world from the outer limits of oblivion. They are compelled to wage a lifelong battle battling it, enduring horror after horror in the ordeal.

An Echoing Premise with a Distinctive Approach

This outlines the narrative, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s novel It (his best; no debate). It similarly frames of Stephen King’s offspring Joseph Hillstrom King’s new chilling tome, in which a band of six invoke the age-old, deeply sinister dragon the Sorrowful Monarch from the Long Dark to assist them in vanquishing some villains. Needless to say, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Acknowledging a Authorial Heritage

The author started his career striving diligently to distance himself from his renowned parent, adopting the nom de plume he continues to employ and avoiding meeting his agent (he exhibits a uncanny likeness to his parent). Yet with this recent release, he leans into it. Several quotes that intentionally mirror some of the senior author’s well-known (that classic opening line); a moment that recalls a recurring theme in King’s works (a game of puzzles). Throughout this massive book, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and we delight along with him.

The Cast of the Main Characters

Returning to the group: five of them are scholars at the made-up Rackham College in Maine. There’s Arthur, academic and brilliant, solving Old English riddles in his free moments; Colin, wealthy, astute, and inclined to bulldoze those who oppose him; the twin siblings; the attractive Allie herself. And there’s Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but assumes a vital role of their band as they experiment, somewhat credulous, somewhat doubtful, in arcane arts.

The Fateful Ceremony

Our hero becomes, due to circumstances beyond his control, forced into stealing prized manuscripts from his beloved college library by a group of neighborhood thugs. This devastates his scholarly soul, especially when he’s forced to acquire the library’s most valuable and disturbing work: the logbook of occultist this enigmatic character (executed “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the binding is made from his skin). These young investigators read the journal, learn they can invoke what the occultist details as a clever snake to aid our hero with his extortion dilemma – and devote the remaining story enduring the repercussions. This ancient entity will undoubtedly remove those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they are required to pick a new sacrifice annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As Arthur later puts it: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is more dragons.”

Genre Dexterity and Creative Range

Covering a generation, the author shifts with seamless grace between genres: as the companions endeavor to address the situation they find themselves in by, variously, picking people who are obviously evil to immolate, or seeking means to slay the beast themselves, we transition from thriller to grim fantasy, covert operations to affectionate subplot to terror. A standout transition was to a heroic journey, within the subterranean depths below Cornwall, a segment tinged by the Lord of the Rings author that was wonderfully frightening.

A Detailed Tapestry of Dread and Hope

There are trolls – the classic variety and digital trolls, genuinely frightening and superbly depicted. We see enchanted blades and deceptions, breath-taking moments of bravery and scenes of terrible wickedness, both earthly and extraterrestrial. It stands as a masterpiece: a frightening tale that is primarily a tribute to the imagination, and to love and friendship. “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 sit around the table, getting ready to invoke their beast to life with the power of their thoughts.

According to Joe Hill in his epigraph: “Hic sunt dracones”. Don’t miss them.