Joe Hill delivers an epic Faustian novel with King Sorrow. A tale that spans decades, Hill entertains and horrifies as he guides seven friends through a terrible deal that they have made with an unnatural creature, a murderous dragon from the Long Dark.

Yes, a dragon, set in the modern world. Sounds kind of iffy, but Hill makes it work. He’s story walks the line between the modern world and that have the inhabitants of fairy tales. It’s a balancing act that he pulls off, and it works like gangbusters.

Trapped, hassled and blackmailed, one drunken night a group of friends stumble on a half-baked plan inspired by the occult items around them. They would summon supernatural help. Unfortunately, they are not prepared for what comes through, and the obligations that are put on them within the deal that has been struck.

We travel through the years with the characters, their choices, and the horrors they face and deliver thanks to their deal with King Sorrow. He’s a horrifying ancient creature that sounds like a London cabbie, and his wry humor is only equaled by his brutality.

The friends try to figure out a way out from under the deal, and over the years, it’s going to claim too many of them. Will they be able to go back on their deal? Find a way out? How do you kill a magical being like a dragon who has come through to the modern world?

Hill also makes nods to some influences. His father’s work gets checked with mentions of The Shop, and the characters in The Dead Zone. He also reworks the familiar opening line of The Gunslinger. But it doesn’t stop there. With a dragon you can’t help but mention Tolkien, and on top of that he throws in a couple of nice Jaws references (I got no spit).

Despite the books daunting size, it’s a fast and very enjoyable read centered around some standout sequences – the plane sequence is fantastic and lays the groundwork for everything that will follow later in the story.

I loved crawling inside this world, and the way it edges up against our own. A place where belief meets and merges with our own existence. And the trials of the characters, the events they go through. With a book of this size, you have time to get to know and relate to all the characters, become invested in them, and hope that they will make it through to the end.

I found this to be a very enjoyable ride, and I love that Hill takes the time to let us live in and soak up the world, good and bad, and fight alongside our new friends to take on King Sorrow.

A titanic and engaging read. It’s not my favorite of Hill’s books but it’s damned good.