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A group of six unlikely but resilient youngsters fall into the way of a colossal and fearsome paranormal malevolence that has entered our existence from the farthest reaches of darkness. They have no choice but to wage a lifelong battle fighting it, enduring horror after horror in the ordeal.

A Resonant Plot with a Fresh Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of the master of horror’s seminal work It (arguably his finest; no debate). It parallels of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s recent chilling tome, in which a band of six call forth the primordial, utterly malevolent beast King Sorrow from the Abyssal Void to aid them in overcoming some villains. Needless to say, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Acknowledging a Literary Heritage

The author launched his profession going to great lengths to avoid any connection from his renowned parent, adopting the nom de plume he still uses today and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he possesses a strong similarity to his father). But in this latest novel, he embraces it. There are lines that intentionally mirror some of the senior author’s well-known (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a incident that brings to mind a recurring theme in King’s works (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, the author rejoices in his family connection, and the audience revels alongside.

Introducing the Protagonists

Returning to the group: five of them are scholars at the made-up Rackham College in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, studious and gifted, solving Old English riddles in his spare time; Colin, affluent, clever, and inclined to bulldoze anyone who stands in his way; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful Allie herself. Additionally, Gwen appears, who isn’t their classmate, but emerges as crucial of their circle as they dabble, somewhat credulous, half not, in arcane arts.

The Fateful Summoning

Arthur is, for reasons we don’t need to go into, forced into stealing prized manuscripts from his cherished academic collection by a set of regional villains. This wounds his academic spirit, notably because he’s compelled to seize the collection’s foremost and chilling publication: the logbook of practitioner Enoch Crane (put to death “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the cover is made from his skin). Our Scooby gang examine the log, discover they could summon what Crane describes as a armored demon” to assist Arthur with his extortion dilemma – and devote the remaining story reaping the consequences. This ancient entity will undoubtedly remove those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they must select a different victim annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is more dragons.”

Genre Fluidity and Imaginative Breadth

Covering a generation, the author shifts with seamless grace between genres: as the companions endeavor to address the predicament they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, choosing undeniably wicked targets to immolate, or searching for methods to kill the dragon themselves, we move between thriller to dark fantasy, clandestine torment to love story to horror. One particularly memorable shift was to a heroic journey, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a segment sprinkled with the Lord of the Rings author that was gloriously terrifying.

An Expansive Mosaic of Fear and Hope

There are trolls – those living under bridges and digital trolls, genuinely frightening and superbly depicted. We see enchanted blades and treacheries, pulse-pounding sequences of valor and ones of terrible wickedness, both human and supernatural. It’s a tour de force: a chilling book that is chiefly a tribute to the human inventiveness, and to devotion and companionship. “We needed a story to believe and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says the wealthy student as the friends gather at the table, preparing to summon their beast into existence with the power of their thoughts.

As Hill puts it in his introductory quote: “Here be dragons”. Ensure you experience it.