King Sorrow by Joe Hill Review – An Dragon-Fired Horror Epic Is a Tour de Force

Six quirky but resilient children encounter the trail of a colossal and terrible paranormal darkness that has infiltrated our world from the farthest reaches of shadow. They must spend their lifetimes fighting it, facing horror after horror in the struggle.

An Echoing Storyline with a Fresh Approach

This describes the premise, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s iconic book It (a standout in his career; no debate). It parallels of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s recent massive horror novel, in which six friends call forth the age-old, utterly malevolent serpent King Sorrow from the Endless Night to assist them in vanquishing some antagonists. Unsurprisingly, their supernatural ritual backfires.

Celebrating a Literary Lineage

Joe Hill launched his profession going to great lengths to avoid any connection from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he still uses today and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he bears a strong similarity to his dad). But in this latest novel, he leans into it. Several quotes 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). In this epic story, the author rejoices in his lineage, and we delight along with him.

Meet the Central Figures

Back to those friends: most are pupils at the made-up the esteemed institution in Maine. First is Arthur, studious and gifted, solving ancient puzzles in his free moments; Colin, wealthy, clever, and known for crushing obstacles in his path; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful the lovely Allie. Then we have Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but becomes a key part of their group as they dabble, somewhat credulous, half not, in supernatural practices.

The Pivotal Ceremony

Our hero becomes, for reasons we don’t need to go into, obliged to take valuable volumes from his treasured institution’s archives by a bunch of local criminals. This devastates his scholarly soul, particularly as he’s forced to acquire the institution’s prized and unsettling publication: the logbook of occultist this enigmatic character (executed “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the book’s jacket is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang read the journal, learn they can invoke what Crane describes as a clever snake to assist Arthur with his blackmail problem – and occupy the subsequent narrative enduring the repercussions. This ancient entity will undoubtedly remove those troublesome local drug dealers, but they’ll have to choose a different victim annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Narrative Fluidity and Inventive Scope

Spanning forty years, Hill also moves with natural fluency between genres: as the friends endeavor to address the predicament they find themselves in by, through diverse methods, picking people who are obviously evil to sacrifice, or seeking means to kill the dragon themselves, we go from page-turner to grim fantasy, covert operations to romance to terror. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, deep in the caves below Cornwall, a segment sprinkled with the Lord of the Rings author that was gloriously terrifying.

A Detailed Canvas of Fear and Optimism

The novel features trolls – the classic variety and digital trolls, truly terrifying and expertly realized. There are magical swords and deceptions, pulse-pounding sequences of courage and ones of terrible wickedness, both earthly and otherworldly. It stands as a masterpiece: a frightening tale that is chiefly a paean to the human inventiveness, and to affection and camaraderie. “We required a narrative to trust and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says the wealthy student as the allies assemble around a surface, getting ready to invoke their beast into existence with the strength of their collective will.

As Hill puts it in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Ensure you experience it.