Welcome, Readers, to another monthly book Spotlight. This month we’re checking out the newest Stephen King novel, which released in October.
This is a continuation of The Talisman series of novels co-written by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Now, of course, Peter Straub has sadly passed away so the authorial credit is posthumous. He passed in 2022, but prior to that had been in contact with Stephen King in regards to what he’d want to do with a third book in the series. Mr. King (Uncle Stevie, to us constant readers.) does an Afterword section in this book where he details the process and how it all came about – he reads this himself in the audio version and it’s always nice to hear him speaking about the authorial process. Notes were taken and plots were discussed and so even though Mr. Straub isn’t around any more, he had a great deal of input and, as such, his name is plenty deserving to be on the cover right next to his co-conspirator’s.
So, with all that said, let’s flip on over to Mid-World and see what ol’ Travelin’ Jack has been up to!
There will be spoilers ahead for both The Talisman and Black House! You have been warned!
Book Stats
- Author: Stephen King and Peter Straub.
Formats: Hardcover, Kindle, Audible, and Audio CD
Price: $24.01 for Hardcover, $16.99 for Kindle, $29.49 for Audible, or one Credit on Audible, and $62.90 for CD.
Length: 704 pages or 22 hours 45 minutes in audio format.
Narrator: Patton Oswalt.
Number of books in the series: Strictly speaking, three but really more like eleven.
Basic Premise
In 1981, Jack Sawyer’s mom was dying of cancer. He stood alone on a beach in New Hampshire despite the cold, wet weather and wished it weren’t so. He was able to fix it all by traveling to a place called Mid-World by some, the Territories by others.
In 2001, he encountered an evil in the town of French Landing, Wisconsin. That evil extended out from those same Territories and was capturing and killing children. Now a Lieutenant in the LAPD, he lends his considerable skill to the case of the French Landing Fisherman after some serious prompting. This new killer is emulating the patterns of an old one, ensnaring and performing cannibalism on kids. During this adventure, two things happened that will affect the story of Other Worlds than These almost more than any other; he meets Queen Sophie and they fall deeply in love. He is also shot by a lady named Wanda Kinderling, and she gets him right in the heart. At the end of the book, he is transported into the Territories and musty remain there primarily. The magic used to heal his heart only remains strong in Mid-World, but back on America Side? It will slowly give out, causing his heart to fail.
At the start of this book we meet him some time after all this. Sophie, his true love, has passed away some years ago. He’s been lumped in with a group of immigrants from America in the employ of Governor Youngblood, the immature and somewhat crazy figurehead of the coastal town of Dezi. Youngblood has an interdimensional gate between his estate and 1975 America he can bring people through and as such has collected a court Jester, a cleaning lady and several other people from our world, but not our When. Jack has an ability all of his own to flip between worlds and has no need of the gate, but his ability to do this comes with its own limitations; he can no longer bring other people with him, but can bring back material goods. That’s his primary function, now… using the awe-inspiring ability to slip between worlds to fetch books, coca cola and novelty nick-knacks back to Mid-World from our own world and when. He always arrives in the current day, unlike the other Americans he spends time with who are all from 1975.
He has to be quick about getting whatever it is that Youngblood wants as, remember, he literally has a ticking clock hanging over his head before his heart gives out.
This time he’s given two jobs to perform. The first is to bring back coke and an old Western novel for his patron. The second is to investigate a huge crack forming in the Territories, specifically near The Blasted Lands, an arid, radiation drenched and completely inhabitable area of the world. This crack isn’t just some canyon… it’s growing in size and has an almost irresistible draw to it. Get too close and your only worldly desire will be to fall in.
On America side, Jack learns that his friend Dale has gone missing. It seems to be tied to a case involving two teenagers who’s M.O. Is to copy a pair of serial killers from long ago. Jack gets very uneasy over this because it so strongly echoes what happened in French Landing. New serial killers copying the methods and means of old ones. Of course, this and the gullet opening in Mid-World are connected. He learns this the hard way as more and more teenagers, both from America and Mid-World start congregating and employing the same tactics… wanton destruction and sadism for the sake of it. They all dye their hair bright red and unleash hell on both Mid-World and America.
It’s up to Jack Sawyer once again to foil the multiverse ending machinations of the Crimson King as he hides in the spaces between worlds. Jack has a few people who are able to help, but what can a rag-tag group of folks from 1975 New York hope to accomplish, even working alongside a man who has saved all worlds once before? You’ll have to read it to find out.
My Take
I loved 95% of this book. Maybe even 99% of it.
The ending threw me. And I know, I know. The ending isn’t the important part, the real story is the friends we made along the way. I get it. And this is some wonderful character work by one of my favorite authors. I was sad when some of the characters died because I liked them enough to be sad about it. I was happy that some of the characters survived because they were my favorites. I love Jack Sawyer. Seeing him go on a coming of age journey in The Talisman was amazing and then seeing him as a grown Copiceman in the LAPD for Black House was just plain awesome. Black House is one of those rare occasions where the sequel novel, to me anyway, completely outshines the original. I loved the Talisman but I capital L Loved Black House. Starting Jack off for the third book in this sad kind of limbo where he’s running errands for a petty dictator and his wife is dead? Bold move. Where can he go but Up, right? And there’s so many fun and interesting plot threads to follow. There’s a revenge story that’s sure to be cathartic when it comes to a head and a world-spanning mission filled with locations both old and new… Let’s talk about Mid-World.
Mid-World is sort of like a mish-mosh of fantasy and Western. You’ve got gunslingers and governors set up against coastal baronies and strange, mythical creatures. You also have remnants of an advanced civilization from some version of America that’s filled with futuristic tech but it’s been in this world so long it’s lying dormant. The Blasted lands are a localized nuclear apocalypse initiated a long time back using this old weaponry, but unlike a Chernobyl, the world still hasn’t recovered. You have these old vaults filled with amazing tech that’s been around for thousands of years – sonic weapons and ray-guns but you also have rusty cowboy style revolver pistols that are in semi-common use. Magic and machines and witches and mutants all butting heads to the tune of a sad, acoustic guitar. It’s just an incredible world. I want to see jack save it because I love it so dearly. It’s the same world that Roland traveled in The Dark Tower novels, and it’s been hinted at or referenced in many other King books. The Crimson King is one of Stephen King’s most enduring antagonists.
But the end of this particular book was a little anticlimactic. So much build-up for a straight fizzle at the finish line. So, yeah. I loved this book all the way up to that point.
But then again, speaking of Roland, I had the exact same reaction to the ending to the entire Dark Tower series and that might be one of Stephen King’s most beloved series, so what do I know? (Ka is a wheel, but is it too much to ask for a flat tire every so often? A detour?)
Patton Oswalt is our narrator and he does a really good job. You know he does. His narration and voice over skills are just plain great and he was a joy to listen to!
Look, if you’ve read The Dark Tower series from The Little Sisters of Eluria… oh fine. The Gunslinger through to The Dark Tower (Novel.) and you’ve already read The Talisman and Black House, I feel like you should really read this one. You’re going to have a good time most of the way. And maybe you aren’t a curmudgeon like me and will enjoy the ending!
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