Book Review: King Sorrow by Joe Hill

5/5 stars. This is the first book I have read by Joe Hill, and I am glad it was. This is one of the most unique and intriguing books I have read, encompassing a central horror plot with fantastical and mythical characters. Hill has a writing style that matches my reading preferences to a tee, while his character work is excellent, and the execution of the story was magnificent. This book will continue to impact me as I think about it in more depth, but my initial thoughts are about King Sorrow’s development as the evil incarnate for this fairy-tale horror story, and the connections within the friendships of the six main characters over the course of 40 years.

When King Sorrow was first introduced, I thought this was a fascinating use of the dragon character. I love dragons in stories, but to take that character and make it into a trickster who thrives on human pain and suffering was a master stroke of writing. Later, when Hill introduced giants and trolls as historical creatures, then encompasses their abilities into the story, I became enamored with his use of magical and mythical creatures.

Finally, the six main characters begin as college students and one high school senior, but as the story progresses, we follow their growth and development as two become teachers, one an EMT, one a reporter, and finally a tech guru who builds a fortune. All of these characters have gifts of one kind or another, are mostly intelligent, but are also deeply flawed by alcoholism, drug addiction, or even addiction to knowledge and power. I do not usually enjoy the coming-of-age tale, but in this context and with these characters, Hill does a wonderful job of making the reader care about what happens to these morally ambiguous and sometimes loathsome characters.

I also listened to the audiobook while reading and found it very well done with a large cast of narrators, mainly distinguished by Ari Fliakos, who does a magnificent job, especially as King Sorrow!!

I highly recommend this fairy-tale horror story and look forward to reading many more works by Joe Hill!!