Patton Oswalt will narrate the audiobook of Other Worlds Than These, the third and final installment in The Talisman series, which is set for publication on Oct. 6, 2026.
The comedian and actor said stepping into the Dark Tower world is “a dream come true” and “a little unreal,” giving the project a rare public face before readers ever get the book. The novel will be available through Simon and Schuster’s website, Audible and Google Books, and it will also be released in physical form.
That matters because this is not a standalone return to Stephen King’s shelf of fantasy-horror titles. Other Worlds Than These continues the story of Jack Sawyer, an older version of the character who is trying to save the world from infected teenagers while also stopping the mysterious Gullet at the edge of Mid-World before it destroys everything else.
The series has waited a long time for this moment. The Talisman was originally published in 1984, and Black House followed in 2001, a gap of 17 years between the first two books. King and the late Peter Straub co-wrote those installments together, and this new novel closes the arc they began.
King has said one of the characters in the novel is a standup comedian named Payton Orville, a detail that quietly folds Oswalt’s presence into the fiction itself. That blurs the line between narrator and world-building in a way that fits a series built on crossings, doubles and alternate realities.
The unanswered question now is not whether the book will arrive, but how this final chapter will land after so many years away. For readers who have waited since Black House, Oct. 6, 2026, is the date when the long-delayed return finally becomes a finished story.
