Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King and Peter Straub review – a self-indulgent finale to the Talisman trilogy - The Guardian
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Bear with me, because there is some backstory to get through before we can talk about the book I am actually here to review. Back in 1984, Stephen King and Peter Straub collaborated on the fantasy novel The Talisman. Like all the best King stories, it follows a young boy: in this case Jack Sawyer, 12, whose mother, Lily, is dying. Jack learns that a magical object called the Talisman might save her – if he can find it in a parallel world known as the Territories. Straub and King followed this up in 2001 with Black House, in which an adult Jack investigates a series of child murders that turn out to have disturbing links to the Territories. The books are very different: one a coming-of-age cross-country quest, in which Jack flips back and forth between two versions of the US; the other a fantastical and horror-inflected murder mystery. Both are brilliant and enduring classics which will always have a place on my bookshelves – I reread both of them, all 1,800-odd pages, to prepare for Other Worlds Than These and was as swept away and delighted as the first time round.
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Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. We may earn a commission from these links. Here’s how we test products and why you should trust us. Simon & SchusterOther Worlds Than These is haunted by old friends, some very far gone, and it made me think about my own. This new book is the final chapter in the Talisman trilogy that Stephen King and Peter Straub began 42 years ago, and a bittersweet trail of empty spaces can be found throughout the pages of this otherwise hard-charging odyssey. Among the missing is Straub himself, who died in 2022. His name on the cover of the new book is not just a tribute. Straub came up with a concept for Other Worlds Than These and emailed the ideas to King back in 2013. They didn’t move fast enough back then, so King had to head off alone to finish the journey, doing his best to remember his old friend and collaborator’s voice. Maybe that’s why the novel weaves its adventure so seamlessly with heartache. I read the novel by alternating between a physical book and the audio version, which is narrated by Patton Oswalt with just the right note of wry fatalism.
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