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A group of six oddball but brave kids confront the way of a vast and fearsome supernatural darkness that has entered our existence from the deepest abyss of oblivion. They must spend their lifetimes fighting it, experiencing horror after horror in the ordeal.

An Echoing Premise with a New Spin

This describes the premise, in essence, of Stephen King’s seminal work It (arguably his finest; no debate). It similarly frames of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s recent chilling tome, in which six friends invoke the ancient, deeply sinister serpent the Sorrowful Monarch from the Endless Night to assist them in vanquishing some antagonists. Unsurprisingly, their arcane ceremony backfires.

Embracing a Literary Legacy

The author launched his profession striving diligently to remain separate from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he maintains to this day and avoiding meeting his agent (he possesses a striking resemblance to his dad). However, in his newest work, he embraces it. Certain passages that deliberately echo some of his father’s iconic (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a moment that brings to mind a King plot point (a battle of wits). Throughout this massive book, Hill is delighting in his heritage, and readers share in the joy.

Introducing the Protagonists

Focusing on the companions: five of them are students at the fictional Rackham College in the New England state. There’s Arthur, studious and brilliant, solving Old English riddles in his spare time; another key figure, affluent, clever, and inclined to bulldoze those who oppose him; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful Allie herself. Additionally, Gwen appears, who remains outside their academic circle, but becomes a key part of their group as they experiment, half believing, half not, in supernatural practices.

The Critical Ritual

The protagonist finds himself, for reasons we don’t need to go into, obliged to take rare books from his treasured institution’s archives by a set of regional villains. This wounds his academic spirit, particularly as he’s forced to acquire the institution’s prized and unsettling work: the logbook of occultist the historical figure (put to death “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the book’s jacket is made from his skin). These young investigators read the journal, discover they could summon what Crane describes as a cunning serpent to assist Arthur with his blackmail problem – and spend the rest of the novel reaping the consequences. This ancient entity will certainly eliminate those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a new sacrifice each year or fall prey to the beast. As our protagonist states: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is more dragons.”

Stylistic Dexterity and Inventive Range

Moving through four decades, Hill also moves with natural fluency through various literary forms: as the friends strive to manage the predicament they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or searching for methods to destroy the entity themselves, we move between suspense to dark fantasy, clandestine torment to affectionate subplot to fright. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, far beneath the surface beneath this UK region, a segment infused with the fantasy maestro that was magnificently horrifying.

A Rich Mosaic of Fear and Courage

There are trolls – those living under bridges and digital trolls, genuinely frightening and perfectly brought to life. There are magical swords and deceptions, breath-taking moments of bravery and scenes of terrible wickedness, both mortal and supernatural. It’s a tour de force: a frightening tale that is primarily a paean to the imagination, and to affection and camaraderie. “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 allies sit around the table, preparing to summon their dragon into existence with the force of their minds.

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