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Six unlikely but resilient youngsters fall into the trail of a immense and dreadful supernatural malevolence that has infiltrated our realm from the farthest reaches of shadow. They have no choice but to devote their lives battling it, enduring one nightmare after another in the struggle.

A Familiar Storyline with a Fresh Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of the master of horror’s novel It (arguably his finest; no arguments). It similarly frames of the celebrated author’s heir Joseph Hillstrom King’s new horror doorstopper, in which six friends summon the age-old, utterly malevolent dragon the Sorrowful Monarch from the Endless Night to help them defeat some antagonists. Needless to say, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Embracing a Family Lineage

The author launched his profession going to great lengths to avoid any connection from his well-known dad, using the pseudonym he maintains to this day and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he exhibits a striking resemblance to his father). But in this latest novel, he embraces it. There are lines that deliberately echo some of King’s most famous (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a incident that evokes a King plot point (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, Hill is delighting in his heritage, and we delight along with him.

Meet the Protagonists

Returning to the group: most are students at the fictional this academic setting in Maine. First is Arthur, academic and brilliant, deciphering ancient puzzles in his spare time; Colin, affluent, astute, and inclined to bulldoze obstacles in his path; the twin siblings; the attractive Allie. Additionally, Gwen appears, who doesn’t study with them, but becomes a key part of their band as they toy, partly convinced, somewhat doubtful, in supernatural practices.

The Fateful Ritual

The protagonist finds himself, as a result of external pressures, obliged to take valuable volumes from his treasured institution’s archives by a group of neighborhood thugs. This wounds his academic spirit, notably because he’s compelled to seize the collection’s foremost and chilling publication: the diary of adept the historical figure (put to death “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang read the journal, learn they can invoke what the occultist details as a cunning serpent to aid our hero with his coercion issue – and spend the rest of the novel enduring the repercussions. The dragon will indeed rid them of those troublesome local drug dealers, but they’ll have to choose a fresh offering annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is more dragons.”

Stylistic Versatility and Imaginative Breadth

Spanning forty years, the author shifts with natural fluency across narrative styles: as the friends strive to manage the predicament they find themselves in by, in different ways, picking people who are obviously evil to immolate, or seeking means to kill the dragon themselves, we go from thriller to dark fantasy, clandestine torment to romance to horror. A standout transition was to a quest story, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a section sprinkled with JRR Tolkien that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Canvas of Horror and Courage

The novel features trolls – those living under bridges and internet antagonists, truly terrifying and perfectly brought to life. We see enchanted blades and deceptions, pulse-pounding sequences of valor and ones of appalling malevolence, both human and extraterrestrial. This is a remarkable achievement: a frightening tale that is primarily a ode to the creative spirit, 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 Colin as the allies gather at the table, getting ready to invoke their dragon to life with the force of their minds.

As Hill puts it in his epigraph: “Here be dragons”. Do not overlook this.