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A group of six unlikely but brave youngsters fall into the trail of a immense and fearsome paranormal malevolence that has entered our realm from the farthest reaches of oblivion. They are compelled to spend their lifetimes fighting it, facing one nightmare after another in the ordeal.

A Familiar Storyline with a New Twist

This outlines the narrative, broadly speaking, of the master of horror’s seminal work It (his best; undeniable). It parallels of the celebrated author’s heir Joseph Hillstrom King’s latest chilling tome, in which a band of six summon the primordial, deeply sinister beast the Sorrowful Monarch from the Long Dark to assist them in vanquishing some baddies. As one might expect, their otherworldly invocation goes awry.

Embracing a Literary Heritage

Joseph Hillström King launched his profession going to great lengths to distance himself from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he continues to employ and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he possesses a strong similarity to his father). However, in his newest work, he fully acknowledges it. There are lines that consciously reflect some of the senior author’s well-known (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a scene that evokes a signature King element (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, the author rejoices in his family connection, and the audience revels alongside.

The Cast of the Main Characters

Returning to the group: five of them are pupils at the made-up Rackham College in Maine. We have Arthur, academic and gifted, deciphering Old English riddles in his spare time; Colin, rich, clever, and inclined to bulldoze obstacles in his path; twins Donna and Donovan; the attractive Allie. And there’s Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but becomes a key part of their band as they toy, half believing, half not, in supernatural practices.

The Fateful Summoning

Our hero becomes, as a result of external pressures, obliged to take prized manuscripts from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This wounds his academic spirit, notably because he’s made to take the institution’s prized and unsettling work: the journal of practitioner Enoch Crane (executed “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the binding is made from his skin). These young investigators read the journal, learn they can invoke what Crane describes as a “proud worm to assist Arthur with his coercion issue – and devote the remaining story enduring the repercussions. King Sorrow will certainly eliminate those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they must select a different victim each year or become his victim themselves. As Arthur later puts it: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is additional horrors.”

Narrative Fluidity and Inventive Breadth

Spanning forty years, Hill also moves with natural fluency through various literary forms: as the allies attempt to deal with the situation they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or hunting down ways to slay the beast themselves, we transition from page-turner to grim fantasy, black-ops torture to romance to terror. My favorite genre switch was to a heroic journey, deep in the caves below Cornwall, a part tinged by the fantasy maestro that was gloriously terrifying.

A Rich Canvas of Dread and Hope

We encounter trolls – the classic variety and internet antagonists, properly scary and perfectly brought to life. The story includes mystic weapons and deceptions, breath-taking moments of courage and ones of dreadful evil, both human and extraterrestrial. This is a remarkable achievement: a chilling book that is chiefly a tribute to the human inventiveness, and to love and friendship. “We required a narrative to trust and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the friends gather at the table, preparing to summon their dragon into being with the strength of their collective will.

In the author’s own words in his introductory quote: “This is dragon territory”. Ensure you experience it.