Black House

I have read a lot of books in my time, but none of them have engaged me as deeply as this one. King and Straub weave a tale so intricately and descriptively, it feels like I have actually been to French Landing and lived through these events. I have reread this story more than any other. It has staying power. Jack is back, and it ain't just about Twinners anymore! A must-read for anyone into the Dark Tower series.

I had such a hard time getting thru this book!!! I loved the talisman, and I was excited to find out that there was a 2nd book. Black house was such a BORE!!!! I found myself skimming page after page. I cannot stand when an author goes so much into detail that they have to have these 2 page inner monologs(sp)~ Don't get me wrong I love detail but this was way to much.

I love the whole "Territories" premise. The characters in Black House were not as interesting as in the Talisman... It was good to see ol traveling Jack again, but it was also annoying how long it took him to get involved in helping find the Fisherman.. I think people will be dissapointed with Black house~
Eventhough I was dissapointed with Black house I would definetly read any pre-quals or sequals~

If you are fan of The Talisman, as I certainly am, you will be dissapointed by this sequel. Thats not to say that Black House doesn't have its redeeming qualities, but the good moments of action are few and far between: out of the 660 pages of Black House, only about 40 actually occur in the territories. The characters are interesting and, like many critics have pointed out (almost as if they were searching for something positive to say about the book), the setting is very rich and intricately detailed...but c'mon, is that why you bought a book by Stephen King? I didn't. I thought it would be something like The Talisman, but unfortunately it is far removed from the things that made that book great to read. Pseudo-supernatural at best, except for the last 70 pages (which are quite good), I would look somewhere else for a good read. That is,unless you want to see well rounded characters sitting in a rich setting in rural Wisconsin doing what rural people do: sit around and talk about local soc-hops and backfence gossip. I don't know about everybody else, but when I read Stephen King or Peter Straub, I want to be entertained with action, horror, suspense, etc., not the humdrum day-to-day marrerisms of a small town.

I enjoyed reading this book alot.Jack is one of my faveorite characters.I just love how King ties in his dark tower series to almost all of his books.King is a masterful story tell and this is one awsome book

While I do not generally look to Stephen King for eloquent writing, he can create and describe a mind-bending nightmare world as no one else. This novel, which follows the previous Straub-King effort, is very engaging. Many of the scenes and characters are nearly cliché and predictable. The twisted aspects of the plot and the bizarre nature of the crisis go far in making up for this. An old geezer wearing a dressing gown and shifting between alternate realities while wreaking havoc is a novel idea. The pace of the novel is fast. The writing is a bit more polished and comprehensible than most King work, due most likely to the Straub collaboration. This book is self-contained; it is not necessary to read Talisman first. King does provide a unique point of view and periodically makes a comment or an observation that is immensely real, capturing the essence of the situation. The bikers and their dialogue are shallow, but the queen in the asylum and the dream connection with Jack are very good. The notes from the Fisherman, signed "your fiend" and the snatching of a kid leaving a sneaker are haunting. I enjoyed the book, but King's real talent is writing short stories. His ideas have a variety and range that are practically unmatched.