This was meant to be the sequel to The Talisman, where a young boy entered The Territories to attempt to save both his mother and the Queen of The Territories, not so much from death but from what evil forces were trying to do to them - and to much more than he could comprehend.  That young boy, Jack Sawyer, is in his thirties now, and an ex-cop.  His mind has successfully dealt with those memories - that couldn't have happened anyway, could it?  But right now things are going on that are really more grave than the simple struggle of 20 years ago.  And the only one that is able to stop all that is Jack, because of his single nature, and because he still has a lot of The Talisman in him. 

Confusing ;-) ?  You might get some out of reading The Talisman, but it is not really necessary to read and understand this story.  However, I do recommend doing so anyway - if only for the great story.

I liked this one, a lot.  It mixes both a poetic style for showing us places that can only be described that way, and a more direct style for the nasty things that do happen.  One thing I did find a bit unfortunate: what should have been The Talisman II is squeezed into the framework of the Dark Tower series, and that was not necessary.  It felt like a concession to the people that absolutely want to tie all the stories together.  The Talisman was similar, but not the same, so its sequel should have been just like that.