King Sorrow by Joseph Hillstrom King Review – An Epic Supernatural Saga Delivers Masterpiece-Level Thrills

Six oddball but resilient kids fall into the trail of a colossal and terrible otherworldly malevolence that has entered our existence from the outer limits of darkness. They must devote their lives fighting it, enduring horror after horror in the process.

A Resonant Plot with a Fresh Twist

This is the plot, roughly, of Stephen King’s seminal work It (arguably his finest; undeniable). It similarly frames of the celebrated author’s heir Joe Hill’s new horror doorstopper, in which a band of six invoke the primordial, infinitely malicious serpent the Dragon King from the Abyssal Void to assist them in vanquishing some antagonists. Needless to say, their otherworldly invocation has unintended consequences.

Embracing a Authorial Legacy

The author launched his profession striving diligently to remain separate from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he still uses today and avoiding meeting his agent (he bears a strong similarity to his father). But in this latest novel, he leans into it. There are lines that intentionally mirror some of the senior author’s well-known (that classic opening line); a scene that recalls a signature King element (a battle of wits). Throughout this massive book, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and readers share in the joy.

Meet the Protagonists

Returning to the group: the majority are pupils at the imagined this academic setting in the New England state. There’s Arthur, studious and brilliant, solving ancient puzzles in his leisure hours; the character Colin, rich, clever, and known for crushing anyone who stands in his way; Donna and Donovan; the beautiful the lovely Allie. Then we have Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but emerges as crucial of their circle as they toy, partly convinced, half not, in the occult.

The Fateful Summoning

The protagonist finds himself, for reasons we don’t need to go into, forced into stealing prized manuscripts 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 library’s most valuable and disturbing title: the diary of practitioner the historical figure (put to death “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the book’s jacket is crafted from his flesh). The intrepid group read the journal, realize they are able to call forth what the author references as a clever snake to assist Arthur with his extortion dilemma – and spend the rest of the novel enduring the repercussions. King Sorrow will certainly eliminate those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they’ll have to choose a new sacrifice annually or fall prey to the beast. As our protagonist states: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is additional horrors.”

Stylistic Fluidity and Imaginative Range

Moving through four decades, Hill also moves with natural fluency across narrative styles: as the companions endeavor to address the predicament they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to immolate, or searching for methods to destroy the entity themselves, we go from thriller to shadowy tale, clandestine torment to love story to horror. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a section infused with JRR Tolkien that was gloriously terrifying.

A Rich Tapestry of Fear and Hope

We encounter trolls – the classic variety and internet antagonists, properly scary and superbly depicted. We see enchanted blades and deceptions, heart-stopping scenes of valor and scenes of dreadful evil, both earthly and otherworldly. It’s a tour de force: a frightening tale that is chiefly a tribute to the creative spirit, and to love and friendship. “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, getting ready to invoke their serpent to life with the power of their thoughts.

According to Joe Hill in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Ensure you experience it.