The untitled sequel to Stephen King and Peter Straub’s Black House, currently being referred to as The Talisman 3, needs to provide readers with answers to certain questions. Straub and King’s previous novels in the series, The Talisman and Black House, follow protagonist Jack Sawyer’s journey through the alternate world of the Territories, first as a young boy and then as an adult. While there are plenty of amazing Stephen King books, this series stands out as the most successful of the author’s collaborative projects. King’s long-awaited fantasy sequel is very exciting, considering readers are finally seeing an end to their 24-year wait for a final installment to the series. Out of all of Stephen King’s upcoming book releases, The Talisman 3 is arguably the most anticipated by his longtime Constant Readers. With Black House ending on a cliffhanger and Jack’s fate left unclear, there are some key questions that The Talisman 3 needs to answer.
Near the ending of Stephen King’s book with Peter Straub, Black House, the demon Lord Malshun refers to a “young fellow in upstate New York who shows great promise.” Readers are still confused as to whom this may be, although there are multiple theories. Considering Malshun dwells on replacing Charles Burnside with another host, it can be assumed that this is another serial killer, but it’s unclear exactly who. One Stephen King adaptation may be finally coming to Netflix, but it has a long complicated history with the legendary Steven Spielberg. Some believe that Malshun is speaking about Albert Fish, but seeing as he is never upstate, and his business is essentially done by this point in the book, it seems unlikely. Others think that this mysterious figure could be someone from a book that isn’t a collaboration between Stephen King and another author and likely from Straub’s standalone works, such as Fee Bandolier from the Blue Rose trilogy.
There is also speculation that it could be The Dark Tower’s Jake Chambers. While New York City is not part of “upstate” New York, it still would make some sense, considering there is some sort of connection between the two series. Of course, there’s always a chance that the person Malshun is referring to is a Breaker or a Twinner of another character that is yet to be revealed. With King writing this upcoming title, anything is possible, but this question is one that readers are desperate to get the answer to.
Black House is definitely one of the Stephen King books that need a sequel, mainly because of its ending. Jack is assassinated at a police press conference, shot by the wife of someone he put away. Just before he dies on the scene, Speedy emerges from the audience and flips Jack into the Territories. The final moments of Black House see Jack unconscious in the Queen’s Pavilion, and while it is confirmed that he won’t succumb to his injuries and will recover, Speedy’s Twinner, Parkus, labels him as a “creature of the Territories.” This opens up all manner of directions for King to take Jack’s story in The Talisman 3, but this ending is so vague that anything is possible.
Stephen King has a slew of new books coming out in the next few years, but the long-teased sequel he finally confirmed is the most exciting of the decade. King has already confirmed his return to the Territories, so it would be incredibly strange for the author to not revisit Jack’s story, especially after Black House’s cliffhanger ending. Parkus implies that Jake may never be able to return to his own world, but it’s hoped that The Talisman 3’s story will follow the character after chasing down the Fisherman. However, there’s a chance the upcoming title could jump ahead in time, so there’s a lot of context for King to fill in about Jack’s life after returning to the Territories.
There’s no doubt that The Talisman 3 is King’s most exciting book in years, especially because the author can finally shed some light on the connections between Black House and The Dark Tower book series. King’s original post to X about returning to the Territories also included a mention of Mid-world, but it’s now deleted. There are plenty of references to King’s other stories throughout The Dark Tower series, and it seems the upcoming book may unite the two series together more firmly.
The universe of The Dark Tower is sprawling and vast, and it can help to know how to read the books and in which order to read them before jumping in. Annoyingly, The Talisman series creates some Dark Tower plot holes. While The Talisman had no connection to the Dark Tower series when it was published in 1984, there are several direct references to The Dark Tower’s world when an adult Jack travels back to the Territories in Black House. Some of these references include nods to Roland, the gunslingers, and the titular tower itself. Assuming King’s social media post is correct, and The Talisman 3 will be set in both the Territories and Mid-world, the new book has the opportunity to explain to readers what the connection between the two locations is.
The Talisman focuses on Jack’s journey to find a way to help save his dying mother, Lily, from cancer. While he is successful in his quest, Lily does eventually die young, but this is where the continuity gets a little murky. Initially, Stephen King’s novel The Tommyknockers features a brief cameo from a young boy widely thought to be Jack. He says that his mother died in a car crash, despite the efforts Jack made to save her life. With The Tommyknockers taking place seven years after The Talisman, it’s impossible that Jack would still be a young kid. However, readers have pointed out that Jack’s presence in The Tommyknockers makes little sense. That timeline conflict can easily be explained by King’s own admission that The Tommyknockers was written while he was under the influence; it’s highly likely that he just wasn’t paying that close attention to continuity and the minutiae at the time of writing.
Stephen King has a long history of revisiting his older works and fixing continuity errors or fleshing them out so they address questions retroactively created by new books, the most well-known of which is his 2003 revised and expanded edition of The Gunslinger. He and Peter Straub seemingly addressed what happened to Jack’s mother 13 years later in Black House, however. In The Talisman, Jack meets Queen Laura, Lily’s Twinner, who is also dying, and she’s another figure he saves with the titular crystal. When Black House revisits the Territories, Laura’s daughter Sophie is now ruling, and one line establishes that her cancer eventually returned. This implies that Lily’s cancer also returned unless she found a way to flip into the Territories like her son. While it’s unlikely this will be a big feature point in The Talisman 3, it would still be nice to get a concrete resolution to that dangling thread.