King Sorrow by Joseph Hillstrom King Review – A Epic Supernatural Epic Is a Tour de Force

Six oddball but brave kids encounter the trail of a vast and fearsome supernatural evil that has infiltrated our realm from the farthest reaches of darkness. They must devote their lives confronting it, experiencing terror upon terror in the struggle.

A Resonant Plot with a Fresh Spin

This outlines the narrative, in essence, of the master of horror’s iconic book It (his best; no debate). It parallels of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s recent chilling tome, in which a close-knit group invoke the ancient, utterly malevolent dragon King Sorrow from the Long Dark to help them defeat some baddies. Unsurprisingly, their otherworldly invocation backfires.

Embracing a Authorial Lineage

The author started his career making great efforts to avoid any connection from his famous father, publishing under the pen name he maintains to this day and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he possesses a strong similarity to his parent). But in this latest novel, he leans into it. Several quotes that consciously reflect some of the senior author’s well-known (that classic opening line); a incident that brings to mind a King plot point (a battle of wits). Throughout this massive book, the author rejoices in his lineage, and we delight along with him.

The Cast of the Central Figures

Back to those friends: five of them are pupils at the fictional the esteemed institution in this northeastern locale. There’s Arthur, academic and intelligent, solving ancient puzzles in his free moments; another key figure, rich, sharp, and inclined to bulldoze anyone who stands in his way; the twin siblings; the stunning Allie. And there’s Gwen, who isn’t their classmate, but assumes a vital role of their circle as they dabble, somewhat credulous, half not, in arcane arts.

The Fateful Ceremony

The protagonist finds himself, for reasons we don’t need to go into, compelled to pilfer valuable volumes from his treasured institution’s archives by a group of neighborhood thugs. This tears at his bookish heart, notably because he’s compelled to seize the collection’s foremost and disturbing work: the logbook of occultist Enoch Crane (condemned “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the book’s jacket is made from his skin). Our Scooby gang read the journal, discover they could summon what the occultist details as a “proud worm to aid our hero with his extortion dilemma – and spend the rest of the novel facing the fallout. The dragon will indeed rid them of those annoying regional antagonists, but they are required to pick a different victim every twelve months or fall prey to the beast. As Arthur later puts it: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Genre Dexterity and Inventive Breadth

Moving through four decades, Hill also moves with natural fluency through various literary forms: as the allies endeavor to address the situation they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or searching for methods to slay the beast themselves, we transition from thriller to grim fantasy, covert operations to affectionate subplot to terror. A standout transition was to a heroic journey, within the subterranean depths below Cornwall, a segment tinged by the fantasy maestro that was wonderfully frightening.

An Expansive Mosaic of Dread and Courage

The novel features trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and digital trolls, properly scary and expertly realized. The story includes mystic weapons and deceptions, heart-stopping scenes of bravery and scenes of appalling malevolence, both mortal and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a frightening tale that is above all a paean to the imagination, 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 Colin as the allies assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their dragon into being with the force of their minds.

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