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Six quirky but doughty children fall into the path of a colossal and terrible otherworldly evil that has entered our world from the outer limits of shadow. They must devote their lives fighting it, experiencing one nightmare after another in the ordeal.

An Echoing Storyline with a Distinctive Spin

This is the plot, in essence, of Stephen King’s novel It (a standout in his career; no arguments). It is also the plot of the celebrated author’s heir Joseph Hillstrom King’s recent chilling tome, in which six friends invoke the ancient, utterly malevolent dragon the Dragon King from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some baddies. Unsurprisingly, their arcane ceremony backfires.

Celebrating a Literary Legacy

Joseph Hillström King launched his profession going to great lengths to distance himself from his famous father, adopting the nom de plume he maintains to this day and avoiding meeting his agent (he exhibits a striking resemblance to his parent). Yet with this recent release, he embraces it. There are lines that deliberately echo some of the senior author’s well-known (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a moment that brings to mind a King plot point (a game of puzzles). In this whopper of a novel, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his heritage, and we delight along with him.

Introducing the Protagonists

Returning to the group: the majority are students at the made-up this academic setting in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, studious and brilliant, cracking ancient puzzles in his free moments; Colin, wealthy, astute, and known for crushing obstacles in his path; twins Donna and Donovan; the attractive Allie. And there’s Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but becomes a key part of their band as they toy, half believing, somewhat doubtful, in the occult.

The Fateful Summoning

Arthur is, due to circumstances beyond his control, obliged to take prized manuscripts from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This tears at his bookish heart, notably because he’s compelled to seize the library’s most valuable and disturbing work: the journal of adept Enoch Crane (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 the occultist details as a cunning serpent to help Arthur out with his extortion dilemma – and spend the rest of the novel facing the fallout. This ancient entity will undoubtedly remove those annoying regional antagonists, but they’ll have to choose a new sacrifice every twelve months or fall prey to the beast. As our protagonist states: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is more dragons.”

Stylistic Versatility and Inventive Scope

Spanning forty years, Hill also moves with natural fluency between genres: as the friends strive to manage the situation they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, choosing undeniably wicked targets to offer up, or seeking means to destroy the entity themselves, we go from page-turner to grim fantasy, black-ops torture to affectionate subplot to horror. My favorite genre switch was to a quest story, far beneath the surface beneath this UK region, a section infused with JRR Tolkien that was wonderfully frightening.

A Detailed Tapestry of Horror and Hope

There are trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and digital trolls, genuinely frightening and perfectly brought to life. The story includes mystic weapons and betrayals, pulse-pounding sequences of bravery and ones of terrible wickedness, both human and extraterrestrial. It’s a tour de force: a frightening tale that is primarily a tribute to the creative spirit, 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 companions assemble around a surface, preparing to summon their serpent into being with the power of their thoughts.

As Hill puts it in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Don’t miss them.