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Six oddball but doughty youngsters confront the path of a vast and dreadful paranormal malevolence that has invaded our realm from the deepest abyss of oblivion. They are compelled to spend their lifetimes confronting it, enduring horror after horror in the process.

A Resonant Storyline with a New Twist

This outlines the narrative, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (a standout in his career; no debate). It is also the plot of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s latest chilling tome, in which a band of six summon the primordial, utterly malevolent serpent King Sorrow from the Endless Night to help them defeat some baddies. As one might expect, their arcane ceremony goes awry.

Embracing a Literary Lineage

The author began his writing journey going to great lengths to distance himself from his famous father, publishing under the pen name he still uses today and avoiding meeting his agent (he possesses a strong similarity to his father). Yet with this recent release, he leans into it. Several quotes that consciously reflect some of his father’s iconic (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a scene that recalls a recurring theme in King’s works (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, Hill is delighting in his heritage, and readers share in the joy.

Meet the Central Figures

Focusing on the companions: most are students at the imagined this academic setting in the New England state. We have Arthur, bookish and brilliant, cracking Old English riddles in his spare time; the character Colin, affluent, sharp, and prone to trampling those who oppose him; twins Donna and Donovan; the beautiful the lovely Allie. Additionally, Gwen appears, who remains outside their academic circle, but emerges as crucial of their group as they toy, somewhat credulous, somewhat doubtful, in arcane arts.

The Critical Ritual

The protagonist finds himself, for reasons we don’t need to go into, forced into stealing rare books from his cherished academic collection by a set of regional villains. This tears at his bookish heart, particularly as he’s forced to acquire the collection’s foremost and unsettling title: the diary of practitioner Enoch Crane (condemned “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang examine the log, discover they could summon what Crane describes as a “proud worm to assist Arthur with his coercion issue – and spend the rest of the novel facing the fallout. King Sorrow will undoubtedly remove those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they are required to pick a different victim every twelve months or become his victim themselves. In the character’s own words: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is more dragons.”

Narrative Versatility and Inventive Breadth

Moving through four decades, Hill also moves with effortless ease through various literary forms: as the friends strive to manage the situation they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or seeking means to destroy the entity themselves, we transition from page-turner to dark fantasy, clandestine torment to affectionate subplot to fright. My favorite genre switch was to a quest story, within the subterranean depths beneath this UK region, a segment infused with the fantasy maestro that was wonderfully frightening.

A Rich Mosaic of Fear and Courage

We encounter trolls – those living under bridges and online ones, properly scary and expertly realized. There are magical swords and betrayals, breath-taking moments of valor and ones of appalling malevolence, both earthly and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a frightening tale that is primarily a paean to the human inventiveness, and to devotion and companionship. “We required a narrative to trust and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says Colin as the friends assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their beast to life with the strength of their collective will.

In the author’s own words in his opening statement: “This is dragon territory”. Ensure you experience it.