Synopsis
Bookish dreamer Arthur Oakes is a student at Rackham College, Maine, renowned for its frosty winters and beautiful buildings.
But his idyll – and burgeoning romance with Gwen Underfoot – is shattered when local drug dealers force him into a terrible crime: stealing rare and valuable books from the exceptional college library.
Trapped and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for help: the wealthy, irrepressible Colin Wren; brave, beautiful Allison Shiner; the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride; and brainy, bold Gwen. Together they dream up an impossible, fantastical scheme that they scarcely imagine will work: to summon the fabled dragon King Sorrow to kill those tormenting Arthur.
But the six stumble backwards into a deadly bargain – they soon learn they must choose a new sacrifice for King Sorrow each year or one of them will become his next victim. Unleashing consequences they can neither predict nor control, this promise will, over the course of four decades, shape and endanger their lives in ways they could never expect.
Review
A ROARING success.
I plan my tbr months ahead, but this one snuck up on me, and, in a split second decision, I decided to pick up this 900 page book.
In 1989, five friends summon a dragon to take care of blackmailers. Then we follow them all the way to middle age as they deal with the consequences.
First of all, the writing is amazing, bingable, and immersive. Each character has a distinct voice and personality. With multiple main characters, you tend to find a focus on two and a forgetfulness of the others. Not here. Every character has their own POV and have fleshed out motivations and weaknesses.
I can normally guess any big reveals. In here, I was blindsided. Hill creates such a community and dependency between these characters that you’re invested in each one.
I also loved all the Easter eggs (if you have read this, wink wink) Hill utilises. Names, mythology, literary devices, even history or recent events.
This is dark, but the dialogue is sharp, tone funny, and plot gripping. A story about morality and friendship and responsibility/blame.
It is intentionally provocative, and it is a brave and clever author that can handle such themes, trusting the reader will know his intentions.
I did think the ending was slightly cheesy and implausible, but this is a story about a dragon with two of the characters coincidentally called Arthur and Gwen.
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