Rating: 
Summary: You must read The Talisman and DT before this
Review: The first ten pages of this book are pure literary writing, beautiful prose. The story itself is fairly simple and if you're familiar (as you should be)with Jack Sawyer's adventures into the Territorries from "The Talisman," then you might be delighted to find out the deep connnections with the Dark Tower series (all of King's books have to do with the Dark Tower in some way). I would advise anyone to begin with the Talisman, move into the Dark Towers, read this book, then Hearts in Atlantis, and then Insomnia, It, The Stand, etc. etc. ad nausea.
Rating: 
Summary: After the shovel, the more delicate tools-- please!
Review: It takes King and Straub over five hundred pages to get us to what should be the end of a novel whose central plot culminates in the Fisherman's death and the mystery's resolution. The terrain isn't all that easy to traverse. The first two hundred pages are ponderously expository, inviting as much skimming as reading. The novel as a whole is dogged by an intrusive narrator who frequently interrupts the story to provide transitions ('let's make like an amoeba and split'), to tell us what we're thinking ('Our hearts groan for a hero'), or to tease us with hints of things to come. The most egregious example of this occurs near the novel's end: 'you're not going to like what happens next,' the narrator tells us. 'Certainly the idea that he [spoiler withheld] might be dying in a few minutes has not occurred to him.' Curiously, while Black House is ostensibly Jack Sawyer's novel, Jack'a watery shadow of the boy he was in The Talisman--is not compelling enough to be the hero of his own tale. Furthermore, of the dozens and dozens of characters in Black House, perhaps ten of them further the narrative. The rest of them bring Coulee Country to life, to be sure, but they are narratological dead ends that have no bearing on the story's outcome. Wendell Green, for example, the rabid reporter desperate to make a killing on the killings, threatens to impede the investigation and tarnish Jack's reputation, but after a couple of punches in the stomach and a whack on the head, he slinks away. At least Sophie, a woman in a parallel universe with whom Jack falls truly, madly, deeply, and spontaneously in love, is still with us at the end of the novel, playing a minor role in the resolution of Jack's personal life-and-death drama.
What occupies most of the last 125 pages of Black House is the denouement of the parallel supernatural plot hinted at from the novel's beginning but only partially fleshed out in its final third. The evil the Fisherman has done was encouraged by a ghoul named Lord Malshun, head henchman to the ultimate evildoer, the Crimson King (whom we never actually get to meet in Black House). Lord Malshun directs the collection and enslavement of telekinetics who are then put to work to psychically 'break' the 'axle' around which the universe's many parallel worlds turn independently. Bit by bit, they gnaw away at the 'beams' that support the universes, the goal being to collapse time and space into utter chaos over which the Crimson King intends to rule. (If you've read Hearts in Atlantis, this is the work that Brautigan, here the 'chief breaker,' is forced to perform.) Lord Malshun is thus the prime mover behind the evil in French Landing, working with the Fisherman to find Ty Marshall, the breaker of all breakers (and allowing him to eat those children who have no breaking abilities). Malshun, however, with his one red eye and spoon like face, is a cartoon ghoul easily brought down by rays from a baseball bat Jack calls 'Wonderboy' after The Natural's bat. As the 'axle' on which the murder mystery plot turns, the supernatural underpinning is too flimsy to bear the weight of a story like the Fisherman's. Too bad King and Straub didn't notice that real evil, as it is embodied by the Fisherman, is all the evil Black House needs.I suspect that Black House's weakness can be explained by the supernatural plot's potential to generate yet another sequel, one that would take us to the Crimson King's court and focus on the supernatural machinery we barely glimpse in this continuation of The Talisman. Black House is not intended to be a whole in its own right, we might argue, generously seeing its narratological imbalance as a temporary thing to be righted in Talisman III. Yet this possibility is about as satisfying to us as Sppedy Parker's explanation of the work of the Crimson King was to Jack. Noting Jack's confusion, Speedy, a repeat character from The Talisman, insists, 'There's no need for you to understand it all in order to do your job.' Now there's an excuse for poor storytelling if I ever heard one. Despite the novel's warts, die-hard Stephen King fans like me will want to read Black House just to make the acquaintance of the Fisherman and of Henry Leyden, the real hero of the novel, a blind-from-birth radio personality whose keen powers of observation make him an extraordinary human being and a pretty darn good detective. And afterwards they may want to join me in volunteering to proof the first draft of the sequel. As readers, we will do our jobs, after all, and they will be easier if King and Straub do theirs first.
Rating: 
Summary: It's About Time!
Review: I've been waiting for this book ever since I finished "The Talisman" -- way back when it was first published. Now Jack and I are both in our early 30s. For me, reading "Black House" felt like seeing an old childhood friend again after far too long. But we barely had time to catch up before the story took off, like an inexorable dark train carrying us to parts unknown. "Black House" was totally absorbing. I didn't want it to end, and yet I couldn't resist staying up until 5 a.m. finishing it. The characters are great -- especially the motorcycle gang who help Jack solve the crime, and his friend Henry, a blind DJ. King and Straub are both masters when it comes to creating a wholly believable place, and they've done it again, both with the small Wisconsin town and its mirror image in the Territories. The ending suggests that King and Straub have more stories to tell us about the Territories and its' inhabitants. I hope they don't wait another 20 years to give us the next story ... but "Black House" was worth the wait.
Rating:
Summary: A truly worthy sequel
Review: As we move into the new Millennium, books are going to have to change to meet the ever growing needs of people. Stephen King and Peter Straub are showing with their latest opus that they are capable of doing just that. As the book opens, we(the audience) are flying 200 feet above a beautiful bucolic small town in Wisconsin, we will soon learn that first impressions can be decieving. This town is wrapped in the cold grip of a madman conveniently dubbed "The Fisherman" by the local press. As the book proceeds King and Straub flex their literary muscles and prove to us why they are the masters of horror. A familiar character pops up. Jack Sawyer is back and very very confused. He has forgotten everything that has happened in the Talisman as well as his friend Lester "Speedy" Parker. Well without giving the story away I will tell you that this book is absolutely one of the finest novels of both author' careers Straub's more literary approach lays a great foundation for King's more radical(but no less awe-inspiring)prose. The book provides an amazing look at small-town America in the new Millenium while simultaneously, being an amazing follow up to one of the finest novels of the dark fantasy/horror genre.
Rating:
Summary: No sequel
Review: I think sequeling The Talisman was almost an impossible task. The last time we saw Jack, he was on the brink of adulthood. He'd gone through some harrowing adventures, and these experiences had formed his character in a way that is reminiscent of the kids of the Losers' Club in IT. In addition, The Talisman was a blend of both authors' interests and obsessions, written while both were still feeling their way into their master works. As a result, The Talisman is magical; visual images are so clear you can practically smell the air of the Territories. From the very first page of Black House, I felt that we were missing a huge chunk of what made Jack . . . Jack. In addition, the narration seems a trifle overbearing, the explanations too glib. Some things are excellent, of course. Great characterization, smacking dialogue, a lovely view of small town life, and even the violence is handled with sensitivity. (And yes, it is graphic, so if that kind of thing bothers you, don't pick up this book.) In order to enjoy the book, I had to put The Talisman out of my mind, and let Black House stand on its own. Which it does, very nicely. These authors are good--the best in their field. Their comfort level with one another must be very high, because I couldn't tell one author from the other in the text. So overall, I have to say that Black House deserves to be #1 on the NYT list for a very long time. This is a deliberate, skilled, perfectly turned novel. Read it and love it. But it's not on the same level as The Talisman which was, for all it's imperfections and flaws, a brilliant novel
Rating:
Summary: Black House
Review: The book was ok in typical King/Straub fashion. However the writers seemed to have a hard time being harmonious, thus making the read somewhat jerky.
Rating:
Summary: I can't wait for the next one
Review: This book is really more of King's creation than Straub's. The Talisman was a wonderful, imaginative book. Black House is pretty good as an installment of the (endless!) Dark Tower series. At any rate, it was nice to hear about the Ted Brautigan character in "Black House" too, just to find out what became of him after the novella "Low Men in Yellow Coats". The book is a bit dark, but certainly entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Now its all clear...
Review: I must say first how much I love Stephen King-- Straub's name may be on the novel as well, but this is King in all his fantastic glory. I think one day, the people of tomorrow will look back and reflect on how incredible King is-- I mean, he seems to connect everything and anything that at one time seemingly means nothing. I remember reading Hearts in Atlantis and hating it-- nothing made sense-- but here I sit nearly two years later and one line, ONE LINE, in Black House brings it all together. The story is written like a screenplay-- its take a bit getting used to, but after the first few chapters, I was mesmerized. Wow. I would almost recommend to King that this should be Book V in the Dark Tower series, as it answers most of the questions I've ever had. It's amazing how one word, one line, or one paragraph in a King novel may have nothing to do with anything the first time through, and that the answer may come clear years later. Bravo King and Straub, I read this in a matter of days-- I have not read such a spectacular novel in a very long time. Thankee-sai.
Rating:
Summary: Jack Sawyer returns to the Territories
Review: It's been about 20 years since I read (and thoroughly enjoyed) "The Talisman", and I always wished that the authors would do a sequel. Now my wish has been granted (sort of), and I have enjoyed this new book by two well-known authors of the genre. The story line is quite well done, and the characters, even the relatively minor ones, are well drawn. The plot, once it gets into gear, moves along briskly, and you get caught up in the excitement of it all. Once again, we see a connection between this book and Mr. King's Dark Tower series, and at least he keeps the plot lines consistent. My only complaint about this book (and it's a big one) is that it's just too darn wordy! An editor with some clout could have seriously reduced the size of this book without compromising the story in any way. Sometimes less is more, and that would apply to this book.
Rating:
Summary: Peter Straub wrote it too!
Review: Hi - I've been a major King fan since I was about 10 (Salem's Lot) and led to Straub through King's recommendation (Ghost Story). Black House is an amazing book I read in one sitting, The Talisman - a book I named my daughter from! - it isn't - because it's better. The only disturbing thing is how little credit Straub is geting for this book, and how easily he appears to be overlooked in all the excitment about the DT references. In fact, if I was Straub, I'd be asking for royalities to DT from now on! That lovely prose, the interesting use of present tense, and that narrative voice - all classic Straub. Jazz loving Henry - very Straub. And evil old Burny - quite reminiscent of Mr X and The Hellfire Club's Dick Dart. The more classic King characters seem to be Dale, Beezer and Mr Munshun - well unless they adopted each other's characters, and are playing jokes on us all. Buy the book, it's great - check out the references to the Dark Tower which of course leave you hanging for more - but don't forget it's CO written and Peter deserves some credit here too!
|
