Here There Be Dragons: King Sorrow by Joe Hill

When Arthur's incarcerated mother is threatened by the children of another inmate, he’s forced into an impossible position: steal rare books from the exclusive school where he both works and attends. When his friends - Collin, Van, Donna, Gwen, and Allie - are attacked while trying to help, they decide to use a human-skin bound book by Enoch Crane to summon King Sorrow from the Long Dark to deal with their tormentors. Through a mix of cannabis, intent, and a touch of the magic of friendship, they succeed. However, in doing so, they trap themselves in a dark cycle: every year, they must either offer up a name to the dragon or sacrifice themselves. What follows is a harrowing moral dilemma: is it worth sacrificing your soul to destroy evil?

Welcome to King Sorrow by Joe Hill.

Dragons aren't trainable anymore.

Normally, I shy away from writing about bigger authors, because they are given coverage from mainstream outlets that a lot of smaller authors don't have access to. I made an exception in the case of this novel, because it reminded me so much of why I love reading. There were passages that made me laugh out loud, made me gasp, and at one point, I even yelled angrily at the book (if you have read it, all I'll say is the sword). It takes an author of great skill for me to get that vocal, and I want to give credit where it's due.

One aspect of this novel I really enjoyed was the fact that Hill makes dragons scary again. A lot of people have grown up with the idea of dragons being almost like giant lizard puppies - tamable, loving, and lacking smarts. Barring Game of Thrones stans, a lot of people lean more towards Puff the Magic Dragon and less towards an intelligent, horrific entity that has potentially lived for thousands of years. King Sorrow is terrifying - he talks like an affable professor with a sadistic streak, which makes it even worse. He slithers into the world to haunt the people who have been chosen, not caring about collateral damage and playing on the insecurities of the friends who doubt what they are doing is for the greater good. 

The novel also takes on modern events (like why they didn't stop Osama Bin Laden when they could have, actual trolls being trolls online, and tech bros) and gives them a special twist, noting that no matter how much evil you destroy, there is always another evil to take its place. Collin becomes the stereotypical billionaire, reminding one of the worst traits of some of the current ones while Donna becomes a Fox News pundit, using her personal trauma to malign anyone who is different from her (which doesn't excuse the damage she does to others).

There were a few places where the story felt disjointed, because when we jump to other viewpoints, it sometimes feels like we are jumping into a new novel entirely. That could just be because of how good Hill is at writing his characters, but it could also just be the nature of time jumps and working with a bigger cast of characters that deserve their own time in the spotlight. 

If you are fan of scary scalies or any of Stephen King's early works, I highly advise you check this one out. Buy it from a local bookstore, or from bookshop.org (which supports local bookstores). 

Remember, when the ghosts begin throwing chairs and the evil winds of dragon wings blow, I shall be here with another suggestion, should you need it.