William Morrow & Company
King Sorrow
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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill, a chilling tale of modern-world dangers, dark academia, and the unexpected consequences of revenge as six friends dabble in the occult and are tragically, horrifyingly successful... calling forth an evil entity that demands regular human sacrifice.
"A brilliantly Faustian fable with a heart as huge as a dragon's, and a stinging twist in its tail. I devoured it." --Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in Suite 11
Arthur Oakes is a reader, a dreamer, and a student at Rackham College, Maine, renowned for its frosty winters, exceptional library, and beautiful buildings. But his idyll--and burgeoning romance with Gwen Underfoot--is shattered when a local drug dealer and her partner corner him into one of the worst crimes he can imagine: stealing rare books from the college library.
Trapped and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for comfort and help. Together they dream up a wild, fantastical scheme to free Arthur from the cruel trap in which he finds himself. Wealthy, irrepressible Colin Wren suggests using the unnerving Crane journal (bound in the skin of its author) to summon a dragon to do their bidding. The others--brave, beautiful Alison Shiner; the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride; and brainy, bold Gwen--don't hesitate to join Colin in an effort to smash reality and bring a creature of the impossible into our world.
But there's nothing simple about dealing with dragons, and their pact to save Arthur becomes a terrifying bargain in which the six must choose a new sacrifice for King Sorrow every year--or become his next meal.
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Book Details
ISBN:
9780062200600
EAN:
9780062200600
Binding:
Hardcover
Pages:
896
Authors:
Joe Hill
Publisher:
William Morrow & Company
In 1989, Arthur Oakes is studying at a pricey university, where he works in the rare books section of the university library; his pacifist mother is currently incarcerated for second-degree murder. When the daughter of another inmate learns of Arthur’s work, she blackmails him - he is to steal rare books for her to sell, or she will have her mother’s friends torture and/or murder *his* mother. Arthur is in despair, until a group of his college friends and a townie friend combine their efforts and summon a dragon to deal with the situation. Alas, they have bitten off far more than they can chew, and now the friends find that they have a hungry dragon to feed every year…. This is a very long book, but it doesn’t feel that way while reading it because Mr. Hill has his father’s knack of creating characters and situations that engage the reader and feel like real-world events, despite their fantastical premises. There’s also a bit of what I’m calling “meta-adjacent” writing, in that early on Mr. Hill has *his* characters reference characters in his father’s book, “The Dead Zone,” and later on there’s a sentence that begins “Full dark, no stars,” the title of a collection of Stephen King’s short stories. Very much a hoot! Back to the book at hand - definitely worth reading, but be prepared to devote a lot of time to it; recommended!
5⭐️ I think there may be a new King of horror! Joe Hill has written an expansive 877 page fantasy/horror story with a dragon! This is one of my favorite books of 2025!This book is about so much more than a fantasy/ dragon tale. The characters are well developed and beautifully flawed. Arthur, Gwen, Donna and Donovan the twins, Allie, and Colin are six friends joined forever by one night of calling to the Long Dark to summon King Sorrow.It’s a story about love, friendship, loss, grief, found family, addiction, good vs evil, and of course the dragon! So much to love about this story I did not want it to end! But what a perfect ending!I can’t wait for the series that I’m sure is coming soon!
Gripped me from the start to the finish . Builds up the characters perfectly , big fella is scary but funny? At the same time , highly recommend A++++
King Sorrow by Joe Hill is a dark academia meets urban fantasy with some horror elements. I have been waiting 9 years for another full-length novel by Joe Hill. And, man, did he deliver this epic 880-page tome. The novel is an ensemble of 6 characters, Hill said on the Talking Scared Podcast. He was inspired by the show Friends to create the character dynamic. The basic plot is that six friends conjure a dragon to incinerate some people. But the dragon sticks around and demands a sacrifice every year, or a member of the group gets it. The plot reminded me of the Anime Death Note, where the guy has a list that a demon takes out. There was another part that reminded me of the show Grimm, where a bit of fairy tale meets real life. The novel is broken up into different books. We get a new perspective with each book. All 6 friends have their own perspective. One chapter is a shared perspective. The pace of the story is incredible for a story of this size. There was only one part in the middle where I felt the lag. For the most part, the novel is a breeze. I read it in a week and two days. The story nails the college to adulthood eras. The characters continue growing throughout the story, some learning from their ways and others digging in. I do like that no character is safe. Hill will keep you on your toes to see who lives and survives.
When I got this book, I was anxious to start it, yet I was intimidated by its size. A book this big better be good and keep my interest.And oh my, I loved it! It was one of those I could not put down (but I had to because my hands cramped). Here’s the thing, I expected there would be some lag somewhere with this many pages, some part that would be yadda yadda he could’ve cut this part out and saved some pages. But no! There was never a part I was bored of or that dragged on. That’s impressive. I was fully immersed in this story and attached to the characters and I am so sad it’s finished!Now I must move on to a reading slump as no book will compare. Thank you Joe Hill for the amazing read!
