Black House
Published: 15, September 2001
Author: Stephen King & Peter Straub
Genre: American, Arthurian, Classic, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Literature, Murder, Paranormal, Psychic, Serial Killer, Supernatural, Thriller, Witches, Wizards
Book 2 of 3: Talisman (The third book has not yet been published.)
Check the summary of this book here:
The Review
Stephen King and Peter Straub collaborated on the horror book Black House, the sequel to The Talisman. This is one of Stephen King's multiple novels that connect up with the Dark Tower series, which also includes Hearts in Atlantis and Insomnia. Black House was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel. The novel is set in Straub's hometown of Wisconsin, rather than King's favorite setting of Maine. The town of French Landing is a fictitious version of Lacrosse County, Wisconsin. Centralia is also named after the adjacent tiny town of Centerville, Wisconsin.
One of my favorite parts of the book was the chapter based on Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven.
As far as I know, one more book in this series is in the works, but neither of the two authors has offered a time or date for release.
I was scared it would be too terrifying or too dull — I have read practically all of Stephen King's works over the years and was concerned that they were all starting to sound the same.
But, despite certain unpleasant features, it was a really engaging novel, and no, I never get tired of reading Stephen King, and his works do not all seem the same.
I'm sure reading the first book, The Talisman, will help you comprehend this one, but if you haven't, don't worry; you'll still like this one.
The novel has various references to the previous one, yet the plot stands well on its own. It also makes allusions to places and events from The Talisman's Dark Tower series, which helps to comprehend this one.
It is not required. But, once again, I recommend reading them all, especially the first book in this series, The Talisman.
Peter Straub and Stephen King, what a fantastic arrangement. They blend flawlessly and provide a narrative line that is both interesting and enthralling no matter how many times I read it.
I could go on and on about the excellent character development, imagery, and the way the book has its own distinct atmosphere. To be absolutely honest and upfront, I read literature in this category only for the sake of entertainment.
If the book morphs in my mind's eye from words to images, if I can visualize the characters so well that I literally care about them, and if I am both delighted with the ending and unhappy that it finished, then I am a very happy customer!
"The Talisman," an epic masterpiece saga. The reader can sense the banter and friendliness between King and Straub in the descriptions and character development in these stories because of the way they are written.
Black House is more than merely a continuation of Jack's quest in The Talisman. It's also a look at the evil that can infiltrate a tiny community, as well as the unusual heroes that arise from such devastation.
This is one of the themes that make Stephen King and Peter Straub such excellent storytellers. Both are masters of character development and their use of tiny, seemingly idyllic communities as the background for the war between good and evil is what gives this narrative credibility.
The cleverness of this novel is that there is no quest this time, nor is it merely about the now-grown-up Jack Sawyer.
Black House is as much a novel about a tiny community in trouble as it is about the conclusion that reaches out like the limbs of a tree into Stephen King's Dark Tower series.
Once again, the characters are so well-developed that I felt profound emotions for each of them, as well as for the enigmatic Tower that lurks in the shadows, leaving a scary image in the reader's imagination.
The conclusion of Black House is both rewarding and devastating, leaving me curious about what happens next.
The narrative takes place around twenty years after the events of The Talisman. Jack Sawyer is a retired LAPD investigator who now lives in the little community of Tamarack, Wisconsin. He has mostly forgotten his childhood escapades.
Stephen King has a continuous story theme that runs across several of his stories like an undercurrent.
The image of the Dark Tower and Roland the The Gunslinger are notions that he returns to, sometimes explicitly as in the Dark Tower novels, sometimes subtly as in The Black House.
The finale of this work is based in part on the legend of the Tower, which adds another strand of mystery to the topic while also illuminating others.
Here I am about to mention something that is essentially for those who are going to read this novel as if it were the same as the quest in the previous book, but it is not, and as a result, some readers may not like it, so here goes...
Stephen King and Peter Straub are back with the Black House, a sequel to their previous work The Talisman.
You don't have to have read the first novel to appreciate this one. Indeed, it may be better if you haven't read the previous book because it was a normal fantasy adventure and its sheer plainness may lead you to think negatively of the Black House, which would be a shame because this new work is a work of genius.
Final Thoughts
The title is a play on the title of Charles Dickens's work Bleak House. This is done on purpose. The book is stylistically similar to Dickens' work, and even the complicated storyline has Dickensian reverberations.
The writers make no attempt to conceal their link; the book is full of outright nods to Bleak House, and at one point, one of the characters even spends some time reading that novel aloud to one of the other characters, who is blind. I adore these small details - it's merely a game, but it adds depth and freshness that I adore.
Black House is one of Stephen King and Peter Straub's best stories, and this Audiobook is delivered by Frank Muller, who was without a doubt the best voice in Audiobook before his unfortunate accident a few years ago.
Black House is a sort of sequel to the novel Talisman, and it has many of the same villains. The Crimson King, who appears in Insomnia and the Dark Tower series, is just as terrifying.
The Black House was a literal "black house," and it was here in the Talisman that Jack fought one of his most courageous fights.
Because of the relationship with the villain and who he or she is representing, I believe I can call it another branch of the Dark Tower series.
Synopsis
“From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of The Talisman, “an intelligent…suspenseful page-turner” (The Wall Street Journal) from “two master craftsmen, each at the top of his game” (The Washington Post).
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 an 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, Wisconsin. He has no recollection of his adventures in the Territories, and was compelled to leave the police force when an odd, happenstance event threatened to awaken those memories.
When a series of gruesome murders occur in western Wisconsin that are reminiscent of those committed several decades ago by a madman named Albert Fish, the killer is dubbed “The Fishman,” and Jack’s buddy, the local chief of police, begs Jack to help the inexperienced force find him. But are these new killings 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? It’s almost as if someone is trying to tell him something. As this cryptic message becomes increasingly impossible to ignore, Jack is drawn back to the Territories and to his own hidden past, where he may find the soul-strength to enter a terrifying house at the end of a deserted tract of forest, there to encounter the obscene and ferocious evils sheltered within it.”
Useful Search Related Words & Keywords
Crimson King, French Landing, Hearts In Atlantis, Jack Sawyer, King And Peter, King And Straub, Sequel To The Talisman, Serial Killer
Rating: 95/100
Recommended: 100/100 Yes.
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