🔗 Share this article

Six oddball but brave kids confront the trail of a immense and fearsome paranormal malevolence that has entered our realm from the outer limits of darkness. They have no choice but to spend their lifetimes fighting it, facing horror after horror in the struggle.

A Familiar Storyline with a Fresh Twist

This describes the premise, in essence, of Stephen King’s seminal work It (a standout in his career; undeniable). It parallels of the celebrated author’s heir Joe Hill’s latest massive horror novel, in which a close-knit group call forth the primordial, deeply sinister dragon the Dragon King from the Abyssal Void to assist them in vanquishing some antagonists. Needless to say, their arcane ceremony has unintended consequences.

Embracing a Literary Heritage

The author launched his profession striving diligently to avoid any connection from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he maintains to this day and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he bears a strong similarity to his parent). But in this latest novel, he fully acknowledges it. There are lines that deliberately echo some of his father’s iconic (that classic opening line); a moment that brings to mind a recurring theme in King’s works (a battle of wits). In this whopper of a novel, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and we delight along with him.

Introducing the Main Characters

Back to those friends: the majority are scholars at the fictional the esteemed institution in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, bookish and gifted, solving historical enigmas in his leisure hours; Colin, affluent, astute, and prone to trampling those who oppose him; twins Donna and Donovan; the beautiful Allie. Then we have Gwen, who isn’t their classmate, but becomes a key part of their band as they toy, half believing, half not, in supernatural practices.

The Fateful Ritual

The protagonist finds himself, as a result of external pressures, forced into stealing rare books from his cherished academic collection by a bunch of local criminals. This wounds his academic spirit, especially when he’s made to take the library’s most valuable and chilling work: the logbook of practitioner this enigmatic character (condemned “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the binding is made from his skin). The intrepid group read the journal, realize they are able to call forth what the occultist details as a armored demon” to assist Arthur with his blackmail problem – and spend the rest of the novel reaping the consequences. This ancient entity will indeed rid them of those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a fresh offering annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As Arthur later puts it: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is additional horrors.”

Genre Dexterity and Creative Breadth

Spanning forty years, the author shifts with natural fluency across narrative styles: as the allies attempt to deal with the situation they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or seeking means to destroy the entity themselves, we move between thriller to grim fantasy, black-ops torture to romance to horror. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, within the subterranean depths below Cornwall, a section infused with the fantasy maestro that was wonderfully frightening.

A Detailed Tapestry of Dread and Courage

We encounter trolls – the classic variety and online ones, genuinely frightening and expertly realized. There are magical swords and betrayals, breath-taking moments of bravery and instances of appalling malevolence, both human and supernatural. It’s a tour de force: a frightening tale that is above all a tribute to the human inventiveness, 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 this character as the companions gather at the table, getting ready to invoke their beast into being with the strength of their collective will.

As Hill puts it in his epigraph: “Hic sunt dracones”. Don’t miss them.