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A group of six oddball but doughty children fall into the path of a colossal and dreadful supernatural evil that has entered our realm from the deepest abyss of oblivion. They have no choice but to devote their lives battling it, experiencing terror upon terror in the struggle.

An Echoing Premise with a Fresh Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s novel It (arguably his finest; no arguments). It similarly frames of King’s son Joe Hill’s recent chilling tome, in which six friends invoke the primordial, deeply sinister beast the Dragon King from the Endless Night to assist them in vanquishing some villains. Unsurprisingly, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Celebrating a Authorial Lineage

Joe Hill began his writing journey going to great lengths to remain separate from his well-known dad, using the pseudonym he continues to employ and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he possesses a strong similarity to his parent). Yet with this recent release, he fully acknowledges it. Certain passages that intentionally mirror some of his father’s iconic (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a scene that brings to mind a King plot point (a game of puzzles). In this whopper of a novel, the author rejoices in his lineage, and the audience revels alongside.

The Cast of the Protagonists

Back to those friends: the majority are students at the imagined this academic setting in the New England state. There’s Arthur, studious and brilliant, cracking historical enigmas in his free moments; the character Colin, rich, astute, and prone to trampling those who oppose him; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful the lovely Allie. And there’s Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but assumes a vital role of their circle as they dabble, half believing, somewhat doubtful, in supernatural practices.

The Fateful Summoning

Our hero becomes, for reasons we don’t need to go into, forced into stealing rare books from his beloved college library by a set of regional villains. This devastates his scholarly soul, particularly as he’s compelled to seize the library’s most valuable and chilling work: the logbook of practitioner Enoch Crane (put to death “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the binding is fashioned from his hide). The intrepid group peruse the diary, discover they could summon what Crane describes as a “proud worm to help Arthur out with his extortion dilemma – and occupy the subsequent narrative facing the fallout. The dragon will undoubtedly remove those troublesome local drug dealers, but they are required to pick a fresh offering annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is more dragons.”

Genre Dexterity and Imaginative Breadth

Moving through four decades, the author shifts with effortless ease across narrative styles: as the friends endeavor to address the predicament they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or seeking means to kill the dragon themselves, we transition from suspense to grim fantasy, clandestine torment to affectionate subplot to horror. One particularly memorable shift was to a heroic journey, far beneath the surface under the English county, a part infused with the fantasy maestro that was wonderfully frightening.

A Rich Tapestry of Fear and Hope

We encounter trolls – the classic variety and internet antagonists, properly scary and expertly realized. The story includes mystic weapons and deceptions, heart-stopping scenes of bravery and ones of terrible wickedness, both human and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is above all a ode to the creative spirit, and to love and friendship. “We longed for a tale to embrace and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says the wealthy student as the companions gather at the table, preparing to summon their dragon to life with the strength of their collective will.

According to Joe Hill in his opening statement: “Here be dragons”. Do not overlook this.