Like his father before him, Joe Hill excels at simultaneously writing horrific, fantastical tales while developing intricate, relatable, memorable characters in his books. Hill has been writing novels since 2007’s Heart-Shaped Box, but long before that, he started with short stories, novellas, and comics. While not as much as a world-renowned author like his dad, Hill has had some incredible books, and solid adaptations based on them.
His Locke & Key comics were constant award winners; his novella, Strange Weather, won him a Bram Stoker Award and has a comic spinoff, and his short story, The Black Phone, had a great film adaptation and recently released an even better (in my opinion) sequel. Unfortunately for those of us who love novels, Hill isn’t as prolific a writer as some. Although he recently stated he has a goal to start writing one book a year, since 2007, he’s released just five novels, with his biggest break being between 2016’s incredible dystopian sci-fi horror book, The Fireman, and his most recent fantasy horror epic, King Sorrow, which may just be his best release yet.
King Sorrow follows six college-aged friends: Arthur, Colin, Allie, Gwen, and twins Donna and Van. The close-knit group parties together regularly at Colin’s rich grandfather’s mansion, fascinated by his love for history and the occult. When Arthur visits his mother in prison, who was sentenced after an unfortunate accident, he butts heads with a trio of Nighswanders, a local family of cretins who are visiting their mother as well.
After learning that Arthur works in the local college’s library, the family threatens that if he doesn’t continuously steal thousands of dollars in rare books from the library for them to sell, they’re going to have their mother murder his mother in the detention center. Desperate for his mother’s release in a year, Arthur agrees to the blackmail, but nothing he can steal is ever enough.
After keeping the situation a secret from his friends, Arthur and his comrades take a bad beating from the Nighswanders, and it’s then that the group decides to use one of the rarest books from the college library, a journal bound in human skin, to summon King Sorrow, a black-scaled, vicious, smart-mouthed dragon, to this world to dispatch their enemies. In a Faustian deal that promises no winners, the group invites King Sorrow into their lives, and it turns out to be the worst mistake that any of them has ever made.
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First and foremost, the premise of this book is so. freaking. cool. I’ve often struggled with the fantasy genre, and I cater more towards fantasy books that take place in our world, but include significant fantastical elements like creatures, settings, and themes. Books like Stephen King’s Fairy Tale and Clive Barker’s Weaveworld are great examples. Joe Hill finds that exact perfect balance here.
King Sorrow covers a ton of real-world themes and commentary throughout its beastly 877 hardback pages, while still weaving in mythical creatures, weapons, and characters throughout its story. It’s as wondrous as it is heartbreaking, and it hits a 10 out of 10 in both.
Every character is equally developed and explored. Even though they’re flawed, realistic, and often frustrating, every reader will walk away from this book with their favorites, and they won’t all be the same choice. Arthur is honorable to a fault; Van and Donna are one another’s yin and yang; Allie is a sweet, timid drunk, hiding from her true self. There’s no box left unchecked with Hill’s exploration of King Sorrow’s main group (and even several supporting characters). You simply fall in love with them.
That character depth works as an excellent counterbalance to the mystery that surrounds King Sorrow. His nasty, haunting, bloodthirsty personality only fixates on fear, grief, and destruction. Hill’s story transitions from a college-aged coming-of-age tale into a disturbing, messed-up game of Dungeons & Dragons, complete with heart-wrenching, unexpected deaths, and fist-raising, cheer-invoking triumphs.
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The pacing works perfectly. Hill uses a fast pace to skip between the unimportant behind-the-scenes moments and then slows everything down to catch us all up on what’s currently going on and what’s happened since the last segment. It’s a constant roller coaster of slow builds to thrills, and in turn, things never get boring.
Hill nails a bloody, smoke-and-fire-filled finale that is somehow even more metal than The Fireman. He caps the story nicely, keeping the reader reflective of what they’ve lost and what they still have. It’s such an immersive story, and by the end, you’re just as emotionally exhausted as everyone in the book.
Hill always does a great job of drawing the reader into the story, but King Sorrow is different. It’s lingered in my brain well after I’ve finished, and it will continue to do so for some time. That’s the sign of a powerful book, and I believe it’s even overtaken Stephen Graham Jones’ The Buffalo Hunter Hunter as my favorite read this year. I absolutely recommend picking this one up enjoying the ride.
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