Mention “Stephen King”, and there is a fair chance most people will think you are writing about the bestselling author of horror novels such as The Shining, The Stand, and It. However, Stephen King is more than just doorstoppers that drip with hair-raising terror. He has also written hard-boiled detective stories (such as the Mr Mercedes series) and has even written a seven-volume fantasy series called The Dark Tower.All these genres are reflected in his latest book, Other Worlds Than These: A Talisman Novel, the final book of a trilogy King wrote with another celebrated horror writer, Peter Straub. The duo had collaborated on the first book of the series, The Talisman, in 1984, followed by Black House in 2001. Straub passed away in 2022, but King used his notes to finish off the series. In doing so, he brings a distinct flavour of The Dark Tower to the series’ climax. In fact, the title comes from the words of Jake Chambers, one of the characters in The Dark Tower: “Go, then. There are other worlds than these,” he says to the hero Roland Deschain as he drops, seemingly to his death.Jack Sawyer is backLike other books in the series, Other Worlds Than These revolves around Jack Sawyer. In The Talisman, he was a 12-year-old boy trying to find a cure for his dying mother, and in Black House, a detective tracking down a series of murders. In Other Worlds Than These, he is 57, a retired cop, with a lot on his plate. He is trying to track down two young criminals who are on a murderous spree, and as in the past, he is doing so while travelling between two different worlds (one might even say zones) – our own and another called the Territories. He is also trying to save both worlds from the mysterious, dangerous area called the Great Gorge, or the Gullet, to which the Governor he reports to in the Territories has sent him. Sawyer swings between being a detective in our world and a gun-toting cowboy-type warrior in the Territories, and oh yes, there are vampires (called Wombies), strange creatures, and strange happenings.This cocktail of space, time, and genres spreads across almost nine hundred pages, with Sawyer moving back and forth between modern USA and the Territories and talking to a wide range of characters in both worlds. He has his companions (or “Ka-tet” as it is called in The Territories), the corrupt Governor of the other world, a friend who can see the future (when sober), the policemen and media of our own world, and of course, mysterious people who flit in and out.Time, characters, circumstances and even language (they speak a different kind of English in The Territories, “if it please ya, Sai”) change every few pages. It is a maddeningly fascinating world, complete with characters that seem right out of cowboy westerns, medieval times, pulp fiction. Chivalry, charade, romance, detection, horror and many other genres intermingle freely across the pages, at times almost overwhelmingly so.This being a King-Straub book, there are moments of sheer shock and horror, some which even manage to be intensely moving – Sawyer cradles a badly burnt, dying friend even as the dying man’s one remaining eye remains fixed on him, and bits of his burned skin peel off, is something that we will never forget (Jack doesn’t either, and seeks revenge).Frightening and fascinatingIt is a massive, sprawling canvas, and a wonderfully familiar one, if – and that is a huge “if” – you have read a lot of Stephen King in general, and the Talisman series and The Dark Tower series in particular. There are frequent references to both series and characters and places from both that keep popping up. We are going to be blunt: you need to have read at least nine books to understand this one. If you have, then you will find yourself racing through Other Worlds Than These, gasping in shock at some event, smiling at the (re)appearance of something you had read about in an earlier book, and actually looking forward to certain meetings.Story continues below this adAnd that is the book’s strength and flaw. While it is a superb addition to a series, you need to be really familiar with its predecessors to be able to really appreciate or even understand it. Other Worlds Than These is many things, but it is not a standalone book. Newcomers will struggle to make sense of what is happening and grasp the significance of events and characters. You really need to have been with Jack Sawyer in The Talisman and Black House to understand what he is doing and why, and who his companions are in Other Worlds Than These. King’s infusing plenty of elements of The Dark Tower into the book makes familiarity with that (even longer) series necessary too. So much so that we think the publishers should slap a warning on to the book’s cover: “Read only if you have read The Talisman and Black House. Familiarity with The Dark Tower is recommended, but not compulsory.”Other Worlds Than These is really Stephen King trying to bring the journey of Ole Travelling Jack (as Sawyer is referred to in earlier books) to its final destination. And you need to have travelled with him to know what is happening. We will not drop any spoilers about how it all ends, but suffice it to say, King brings matters to a conclusion of sorts, while returning us to the beginning just as he did in The Dark Tower.Other Worlds Than These is a must-read for those who know The Talisman and The Dark Tower and are familiar with the ways and words of the Territories. If you do not know of them, our advice would be the very words of Jake Chambers that inspired the title of the book: “Go, then. There are other worlds than these.”Other Worlds Than TheseBy Stephen King and Peter Straub880 pages