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Last twelvemonth , Stephen Kingconfirmed that he was work on the farseeing - awaitedThe Talisman 3 , and I ’m incredibly activated about it for a ground I have n’t go out anyone talking about yet . The Talisman 3is Stephen King ’s most prognosticate book in yearsfor a number of reasons . For starters , we finally get to see the tardy Peter Straub ’s long - teased idea fora thirdTalismanbook that King has been hinting atfor a few years now . Now that he ’s brush off his honest-to-goodness collaborator ’s notes and start putting them together , it will be interesting to see what he comes up with .
It will also be capital to see what Jack Sawyer is up to these twenty-four hour period , since we have n’t seen Travelin ' Jack since 2001’sTalismansequel , Black House . He ’s underrated in the pantheon of Stephen King ’s protagonists , and he deserve some more time in the spotlight . It would also be great to see King pen another right risky venture heroic poem , peculiarly asThe Talisman 3can reply several lingering questions . But beyond that , I ’m also eager to see Stephen King come back to his roots in one other big way , and it ’s one I conceive fellow Constant Readers might match with .
Stephen King’s Books Have Lost A Bit Of Magic Since The Dark Tower Series Ended
Randall Flagg Took A Lot Of Dark Magic With Him When He Went
translate Stephen King is always a serious time , and the quality of his volume stay on for the most part consistent , which is an tremendous exploit for any author , let alone one who has been pen for as long as King has . But if I ’m being honest , King ’s books have fall back a footling bit of magic since theDark Towerseries concluded . While certain one - off book , likeRevival , have read he still has a heck of a pitching weapon , there ’s not quite as much nil on his fastball anymore .
While certain one - off Koran , likeRevival , have show he still has a heck of a lurch weapon system , there ’s not quite as much zip on his smoke anymore .
Part of that might be me and the natural side effect of aging : the shine wears off of everything , even the matter you screw , include new books . But that ’s not only it . There ’s no denying that King ’s authorship has change , specially in the retiring decennary . That may be because , as he gets into the back nine of his career , he feel free to experiment than ever before , and it ’s led to a more divers , but less cohesive , offering . And it could be that he ’s mellowed a bit with age , understandably not quite as keen to winkle the tight and sometimes controversial edge he did as a new gentleman’s gentleman now that he ’s nearing his 8th 10 on this earth .
Randall Flagg has appeared in more Stephen King tarradiddle – or bruit to have appeared – than any other character , but the precise telephone number may surprise you .
And to be honest , for me , it ’s also thatRandall Flagg was killed off inThe Dark Tower , and no scoundrel or opponent has come closely to matching him since . Rose the Hat fromDoctor Sleepmight have eventually touch him , but her potential was geld unforesightful when she was pop in that Scripture and remained a one - off antagonist . While King ’s classic villains are all iconic for a understanding , no modern villains have jump off off the varlet in the path Randall Flagg did , a bad guy who truly delight in being a bad guy , and an opposer who was a mates for any of King ’s protagonist and heroes . His magic might have been dark , but it was magical nonetheless , and King ’s cosmos is a small bit dimmer now that he ’s no longer in it .
Stephen King’s Crime Novels Have Been Great, But It’s Just Not The Same
Universes Have To Be Maintained Or They Fall Apart
the true be told , that interconnect Stephen King universe hold together byThe Dark Towerhas atrophied in the past decennary . King ’s attention turned in 2014 to trying his hired man at the crime play , and since then , he ’s write five books in that genre and a novella , with another volume on the way . All of them are complect through Holly Gibney , Stephen King ’s relatively new character , makingthe Holly Gibney universe the second - biggest one afterThe Dark Tower . In fact , Holly Gibney now rival Randall Flaggin terms of issue of appearing , having now look in more Stephen King Holy Scripture than any other lineament save Flagg and Roland Deschain and hiska - tet .
Books In Which Holly Has Appeared
Release Date
Mr. Mercedes
August 9 , 2014
Finders Keepers
June 2 , 2015
End of Watch
June 7 , 2016
Custom image by Yeider Chacon
The Outsider
January 12 , 2020
If It hemorrhage
Custom image by Yeider Chacon
April 21 , 2020
Holly
September 5 , 2023
Never quail
May 27 , 2025
While the Bill Hodges trilogy , The Outsider , Holly , andIf It Bleedshave all been swell , it ’s just not the same . King writes a fine crime thriller , and with a few of them , likeThe OutsiderandIf It Bleeds , he ’s even incorporated a bit of the supernatural . Still , he ’s known as the King of Horror for a ground , and his long suit remains in the horror musical genre , with dark illusion and sci - fi in a tie for a firm second place . With that shift to the crime literary genre for King , he ’s added an entirely novel universe to his bibliography , but something has also been lost .
When an source has been publish for as long as Stephen King , it ’s inevitable that readers will debate which decade of their career has been the right .
His literary universe sense more disunited . Sure , some of his iconic and well - loved locations have appeared in books in the preceding decade , but they ’ve often been contained to short stories or novellas . Castle Rock , for instance , has feature in hisGwendytrilogy written with Richard Chizmar , but otherwise , it ’s only been a setting for novellas . It ’s been even longer since anything has been set in Derry . Just about all of his fabricated townsfolk have been cite in other works , but only in passing .
A world is only as strong as the yarn that bind it , and those threads want to be maintained .
A world is only as stiff as the threads that tie up it , and those threads need to be maintained . With King ’s attention elsewhere , the yarn holding his world together have get down to chafe and snap ; as Yeats once write , things strike apart , the centre can not moderate .
The Talisman 3 Can Reignite That Magic In King’s Interconnected Universe
It Can Strengthen The Universal Threads That Have Frayed & Snapped In Recent Years
That ’s why I ’m so excited about whatThe Talisman 3might custody . In King ’s initial tweet about it ( since delete ) , he mentioned he was returning to Mid - world and The Territories , prompt some speculation that he might be penning anotherDark Towerbook . We know now that it will be a third rule book in theTalismanseries , finishing the trilogy he begin with the late Peter Straub . But considering howThe Talisman ’s subsequence , Black House , directly linkedThe Talisman ’s Territories withThe Dark Tower ’s Mid - world , the third book will almost certainly connect together some of those universal threads that have begin to fray .
Even ifThe Talisman 3is only limit in our world and The Territories , it ’s inevitable that it will displume in more of King ’s original , interlink universe in some way , reestablishing the musical theme that all Stephen King stories take topographic point in the same universe , the one controlled by the Dark Tower . It ’s even possible that it could see the counter of Randall Flagg , if only as a cameo . After all , he ’s hinted that he traveled to the titulary crumbling edifice ofBlack House , and if any of King ’s characters could find a way to cheat decease , it would be Flagg .
If any of King ’s characters could rule a way to shaft death , it would be Flagg .
The beauty of readingStephen King , and half the excitement , is know that with every pageboy turning , you could stumble upon a disclosure or a connection that makes his world feel more existent , more live on - in , both vast and small at the same prison term . The newTalismanbook can reinvigorate readers and throw in some of that wonder back into his universe that has been phlebotomize out of his world for a few years now . I , for one , will welcome that old magic .
