King Sorrow

By Joe Hill

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062200607
• ISBN13: 9780062200600
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 896 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.3" x 6.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Dark and Awesome!

As stated several times in this book, sorrow only leads to more sorrow, or if you use dragon to solve your problems, you may just be making a bigger problem than the solution. Yes, this is a beast of a book but it is just the right size for the matter contained therein and it kept my interest the whole time! In the beginning, I really felt for Arthur Oakes and is awful problem, all because he lent a sweatshirt to a girl so that she could see her mother in prison. One little action that leads to so much more! His friends have his back and I love that they do that, despite their own damage and issues. No one is perfect, or all good, or all bad. They are nicely complicated which makes for a great story and hard decisions that need to be made, whether it is worth it to give King Sorrow a soul every year in return for his so called protection. As this take place over many years, it is also interesting to see how the friends are shaped by this deal, how they may change to become more kind or harden themselves, becoming selfish at the expense of everything else. I like how the points of view change too, from Arthur, to Gwen, Colin, Donna, Van, and Alison, and a few others, so you can really see how the bargain affects them and how their choices are made. And the ending was awesome and really shows the sacrifices made, both selfless and selfish of the characters which made me both shout "Yes!" and also shed a few tears. It is a world rich in mythos (including other fantastical creatures beside King Sorrow) while also diving into the realm of spirits and demons and still feels entirely real and plausible. I definitely could believe that there is a dragon or two behind some of the tragedies that have hit the world in these days. This was a novel well worth the wait by Joe Hill and I am so glad I got the chance to read this treasure. I think it may be one of my favorite books written this year and I will definitely be reading this again!