Books: Black House (Book Two) by Peter Straub and Stephen King (2001)

 

“Twenty years ago, a boy named Jack Sawyer traveled to a parallel universe called The Territories to save his mother and her Territories "twinner" from a premature and agonizing death that would have brought cataclysm to the other world. Now Jack is a retired Los Angeles homicide detective living in the nearly nonexistent hamlet of Tamarack, WI. A few years earlier, Jack cooperated with the local cops in French Landing (a fictionalized version of Trempealeau, Wisconsin) involving a farm insurance salesman who was also a killer. While in Wisconsin, Jack is irresistibly enraptured by the natural beauty of the Coulee Country, echoing his reaction to The Territories as a child. 

When a series of gruesome murders begin occurring that are reminiscent of those committed several decades earlier by a real-life madman named Albert Fish, the killer is dubbed "The Fisherman" Jack's buddy, the local chief of police, begs Jack to help his inexperienced force find him. But is this merely the work of a disturbed individual, or has a mysterious and malignant force been unleashed in this quiet town? What causes Jack's inexplicable waking dreams –if that is what they are- of robins' eggs and red feathers? Is there a connection, as well, to the events that forced him leave Los Angeles? Quickly it becomes clear there is more to these cases than murder, and Jack must retrieve his childhood memories to rescue the latest victim, someone who is coveted by the killer's evil overlord, a powerful entity from End-World, in the Dark Tower continuity. And someone King’s Constant Reader has encountered before.” 

As I mentioned in The Talisman re-read review, that 1984 book was never intended to include the Dark Tower, mostly because King really had not started to connect the dots (and he would recton some stuff, like Pennywise the Clown in IT). The Black House does work as a standalone sequel, though, but in the seventeen years between them, the Dark Tower universe began thread its way through King’s book regular titles, most notably 1994’s Insomnia (here is the unseen overreaching antagonist in 1982s The Gunslinger, Wizard and Glass, The Song Susannah, as well as the novella Low Men in Yellow Coats in The Hearts in Atlantis collection). What makes this work as standalone sequel is that the Territories has very minor role in this book, serving as both a Red Herring to Jack before the larger the full plot is revealed, with the Fisherman's significance is explained to him. The authors’ drop enough information so reading The Talisman is not a huge necessity (though is highly recommended).

While I remembered some of this books actions – especially the motorcycle club and the connections to the Dark Tower- I forgot the ending. It’ll be interesting to see how this now plays out in the upcoming third and final book, Other Worlds Than These. 

Beyond the Crimson King –spoken about, but not seen and the Territories -the books other DT references include Little Sisters (Little Sisters of Eluria) The Beams, Ka, Gilead, Ted Brautigan, Roland Deschain, and Roland's ka-tet are all explicitly mentioned. How Black House is connected to the Dark Tower universe is that The Furnace Lands are located in End-World, possibly implying that the Territories (also called the Borderlands) may exist on the same level of the Tower as Mid-World. The Territories are said to be in the Inner Baronies, suggesting it is part of In-World. The Big Combination is the Forge of the King that Susannah sees glowing red in the sky from the ramparts of Castle Discordia. When Susannah and Roland and Oy near the Tower, they see that the glow from the Forge has gone out now Finally In The Dark Tower, Walter/Flagg dons the same metal cap as he one the Fisherman puts on Tyler Marshall. Flagg describes the cap as having been "borrowed from a certain deserted house in the town of French Landing, Wisconsin."

Books: The Talisman by Peter Straub and Stephen King (Book One) 1984

“On a brisk autumn day, a thirteen-year-old boy stands on the shores of the gray Atlantic, near a silent amusement park and a fading ocean resort called the Alhambra. The past has driven Jack Sawyer here: his father is gone, his mother is dying, and the world no longer makes sense. But for Jack everything is about to change. For he has been chosen to make a journey back across America–and into another realm.” 

The Territories, for the few who’ve not read this book in the last forty-two years, is a parallel world physically smaller than the world from which Jack comes. Throughout the novel, Jack uses the size differential to travel quickly across the country. The eastern region, corresponding to the Eastern Seaboard, is the most densely populated and is governed under a feudal system headed by the Queen. The central regions, roughly corresponding to the American plains, are a grain growing area known as "the Outposts." Beyond them, the western region of the Territories is a destroyed area known as "the Blasted Lands" (analogous to the American Southwest – primarily New Mexico, where the atomic bomb was tested). It was apparently wrecked by radioactivity and has dangerous mutants and occasional fireballs. 

Jack begins his quest at the New Hampshire hotel called the Alhambra (a notable location in King's novel The Tommyknockers), where he meets Speedy Parker who tells him he must go on this quest to save both his mother and Queen Laura. So Jack sets off to seek the mystical Talisman in this parallel world, with help and encouragement from Speedy Parker. Parker warns young Jack that Morgan of Orris, the enemy of the free people of the Territories, will be after him, as will his uncle in the real world, Morgan Sloat, the business partner who probably caused Jack's father's death, who wants Jack dead. So both versions of Morgan are hunting for Jack, and both are aware of his nature, as well as their own.  

Back when King and Straub wrote The Talisman, I do not think King intentionally connected this book to the wider DTU. The Gunslinger had been released in 1982 (which was a combination of five short stories he wrote between 1978 and 1981 and The Drawing of the Three was still five years away). However, there are many things within this book that would be revisited in many of King’s other books, just not the Dark Tower (the idea of the train and the blasted lands would be reused in King’s fourth Dark Tower Universe book Wizard and Glass). 

Consciously or not, there are many references throughout the book that make rereading this novel feel like The Territories is just a small part of some bigger multiple universes. 

Even Jack’s Dad notes to his brother-in-law Morgan Sloat: 

“And should I tell you another crazy thing?”

“Why not?” Sloat answered.

“That’s (the Territories) are not the only world out there.” 

Another example comes from Wizard and Glass book again; where Roland’s ka-tet visits a version of the world has been depopulated by the influenza from the novel The Stand. As Jake points out in that book, in his version of 1980’s New York from which he comes from, they never encountered Captain Trips (this is also a clever way to explain the differences between King’s original version of the book, which is set in the late 1970s and the updated, extended version, which moved the dates up to 1986). Roland ponders that Jake’s universe is "another when. Then adds, “There are other worlds than these.”

 

Books: The Talisman Series comes to a Close this October

 

Back in 1984, when writers Stephen King and Peter Straub released The Talisman, I was in the height of my fantasy reading. But I was also reading both authors novels. This book combined a lot of King’s style of pop-cultural reference and teen-age angst with Straub’s sometimes literary style and scholarly attention to detail. Yes, in some way, this should’ve not worked. Both writers, while long time friends, approached their work differently. King was already working on another High Fantasy series, what became the Dark Tower universe and what he often called a mixture The Lord of the Rings with Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone’s Man with No Name trilogy from the 1960s. 

At the time, Straub had never appeared interested in this sub-genre. As a matter of fact, in his life time, he never wrote anything close to High Fantasy beyond this book and its 2001 sequel.

So in the Talisman, we get the staple of most fantasy, where someone needs to make an epic quest to save the great land. Here, 12 year-old Jack Sawyer (another King trope of a kid with some sort on unknown power) must try and save his dying mother in our world and her twinnner, in The Territories. 

The Territories is a parallel world, a sort of pocket universe, which is physically smaller than the world from which Jack comes from. Throughout the course of the novel, Jack uses the size differential as a method to travel quickly across the country. The eastern region, corresponding to the Eastern Seaboard, is the most densely populated and is governed under a feudal system headed by the Queen. The central regions, roughly corresponding to the American plains, are a grain growing area known as "the Outposts." Beyond them, the western region of the Territories is a destroyed area known as "the Blasted Lands" (analogous to the American Southwest – primarily New Mexico, where the atomic bomb was tested). It apparently was wrecked by radioactivity, and has dangerous mutants and occasional fireballs. 

Jack begins his quest at the New Hampshire hotel called the Alhambra (a notable location in King's novel The Tommyknockers) where he meets Speedy Parker (another King trope, the unassuming older black man who seemly has the same type of powers as the protagonist –think of Scatman Crothers Dick Hollorann from The Shinning), who tells him he must go on this quest to save both his mother and Queen Laura 

So Jack sets off to seek the mystical Talisman in this parallel world, with help and encouragement from Speedy Parker. But Parker warns young Jack of Morgan of Orris, the enemy of the free people of the Territories, will be after him, as well his uncle in the real world, Morgan Sloat, the business partner who probably caused the death of Jack's father, wants Jack dead. So both versions of Morgan are hunting for Jack, and both are aware of his nature, as well as their own. 

While the 2001 Black House is very much a standalone tale and the writers do a great job explaining some of backstory of The Talisman, the novel also serves as a small stopover to King’s Dark Tower Universe, which by 2001 had become extensive, with certain books and short stories serving as bits of new information. As an example, 1996’s Insomnia actually introduced the main villain to the Dark Tower, and here in The Black House we are introduced to other aspects of that universe. 

Meanwhile, back in ’84, The Talisman was not really designed to be connected to the DT, though it became clear to King fans much later that The Territories must be connected, and The Black House does expose certain things that now make it clear that 1984 book is connected. 

In The Black House, decades after the events in The Talisman, Jack has grown up to become a lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department, where his professionalism and uncanny talent have helped him establish a nearly legendary reputation. He has repressed the memories of his adventures in "The Territories" and his hunt for the Talisman, but the residue of these events has served to subtly affect his life even after he has forgotten them. When a series of murders in Los Angeles are traced to a farm insurance salesman from French Landing, Wisconsin (Straub’s home state; and French Landing is fictionalized version of Trempealeau, Wisconsin), Jack cooperates with the French Landing police to capture the killer. While in Wisconsin, Jack is irresistibly enraptured by the natural beauty of the Coulee Country, echoing his reaction to The Territories as a child. When he later intrudes upon a homicide investigation in Santa Monica, certain aspects of the crime scene threaten to revive his repressed memories. He subsequently resigns from the LAPD, moving to French Landing to enjoy his early retirement. When the Fisherman begins to terrorize French Landing, the police all but beg "Hollywood" Jack Sawyer for his assistance; they are surprised when Jack flatly refuses. Memories of the Santa Monica event threaten to overwhelm Jack, and he fears that involving himself in the investigation may affect his sanity. When a fourth child is taken by the Fisherman, events no longer allow Jack to remain aloof. It quickly becomes apparent to him that the Fisherman is much more than a serial killer. 

In the last two-and-half decades, both writers said that a third book would come. In 2006, Straub said “Steve and I agreed years back that we would do a third one, and that would be it, because Black House virtually sets up, and all but promises a follow-up. And then we would have a three-volume fantasy novel. That's perfect. That's probably what it wanted to be from the beginning” Then in 2009, in another interview he said “We were going to start right about now, but King got sidetracked by a Broadway musical that he was writing with John Melencamp. So that's been taking shape. And I think they were having out-of-town tryouts this autumn. Then we'll see what happens. But at some point we'll get back to it, because we have to. It's like two-thirds of a long, long story, and the other part really should be done.” 

Then in 2010, he told Youtube “Steve and I agreed [...] three years ago that we would in all likelihood write a third book, the last of the Jack Sawyer novels. In a way, though, it was there from the beginning, at least the ending of Black House, because the ending of Black House opens up into another narrative altogether. The protagonist is given a wonderful but profound problem, and he will have to cope with that problem. And it practically writes another book by itself. It doesn't, I assure you, but it does kind of tell us what one of central issues of that novel will be. I think we'll begin in a year or so. It doesn't have a title” 

From then on, both of their assistance kept saying a book was coming, but schedule coordination was very difficult. Then Straub died on September 4, 2022, aged 79, from complications of a broken hip. Asked once again about a third book, Kind said in 2023 expressed the possibility of finally writing the third installment of The Talisman series despite the passing of Straub, saying: "Before he died, Peter sent me this long letter and said we oughta do the third one, and he gave me a really cool idea and I had some ideas of my own.”

Now four years after Straub’s passing, on October 6, 2026, we’ll be getting the finale of The Talisman trilogy. Called Other Worlds than These, and what is has in store for Jack and (probably The Dark Tower) is yet to be revealed.

But in the meantime, I’m rereading both The Talisman after 42 years and The Black House after twenty-five years. So by the time the book hits my doorstep, I’ll be all caught up.

 

Books: The Lighthouse At The End Of The World by Philip Suggars (2026)

“Oyster McLellen has spent his life causing mischief. Running with a small-time gang and fleecing money from tourists in Hyde Park to support his struggling family in the absence of his father, who abandoned them years ago. When a simple money drop for his boss, Big Mickey, goes wrong, Oyster's future looks bleak. His only chance to redeem himself in the eyes of Mickey is to get the money back, but as he pursues the thieves across South London he suddenly finds himself washed up on a beach, surrounded by broken phones and shattered office furniture. His new world: Greater London. A city built on the detritus of our own, where leviathans crafted from broken skyscrapers roam the seas, where ink beetles nestle beneath the skin of its residents and where Oyster's father, Lucas, may well have escaped to all those years ago. But there are bigger things at stake. Oyster's allegiances are torn between the enigmatic Nonesuch, the eccentric escapist Marya Petrovna, and the terrifying Mr Primrose - and he will have to choose who to align himself with quickly. Because plans are afoot: something ancient is brewing, and a choice needs to be made, the consequences of which will determine the fate of Londons, and life, everywhere.” 

While The Lighthouse at the End of the World has nothing to do with Jules Verne’s 1901 tale of the same name, Philip Suggars does give another in a long line of fantasy novels set in London, or alternative London, one where magic works and peoples alliances are always suspect. It is not a horrible debut (and a beginning of series) but the book did frustrate me from time to time. 

The book started well, with Oyster trying to provide for the remnants of his small family (his sister, his disengaged mother, and himself) since his father left them, which shows the empathy he has despite his exterior roughness he constantly needs to show. Because in the London writer Suggars created is one that is grey, gritty, and grimy, where our Oyster is trying his best (and failing somewhat at it), despite the odds being stacked against him. This seemly Dicken’s inspired supporting casts are well drawn, with the only flaw being we seen this all before. 

While Suggars paints a reasonably odd and weird Greater London, once Oyster arrives, we get whole other set main and side characters, all with their motivations, at times, it was hard to keep them all straight. The ending was somewhat disappointing (because it becomes very clear early on, his Oysters Dad was somehow apart of all this), because it all felt rushed and then it was over and somehow Oyster survived. 

I really liked the weirdness of Suggar’s Greater London and those who dwell there, but the book could’ve cut certain things and enhanced others (like his Mother’s role in all of this). It probably could’ve been about twenty pages or so shorter, but that theme seems to run through a lot of books I read –overlong with too many superfluous sub-plots.