The Talisman (original 1984; edition 1985)

To be honest, I had no idea The Talisman was a YA adventure story before picking it up. I was interested in the collaboration between Stephen King and Peter Straub, especially from their heights in the 1980s. And even though boy’s adventure stories usually turn me off, I was instantly captured. The tale revolves around a thirteen-year-old boy who must save his cancer ridden mother by entering a mysterious and otherworldly realm. Basically, urban fantasy before the label urban fantasy was invented. Along the way, he befriends a wise black musician and a werewolf, who assist him in defeating an evil nemesis. It reminded me of King’s Gunslinger novels and used many of the same premises. All in all, The Talisman ages okay, some of the pop references will be missed by younger readers and the action is somewhat juvenile and drawn-out, but still, it’s definitely worth a peek. ( )

A coming-of-age, fantasy, horror story, starring the usual resourceful, intelligent white boy. An entertaining read. ( )

What???????????????? I did not add this amazing book to my shelf while I have been a member on Goodreads for at least 5 years?



Okay. I must spank myself now.

The Talisman written By Peter Straub and Stephen King is a great book. I have read it a couple of times (In Dutch) and I am planning on re reading it, because that was decades ago. This time in English though.

I remember that at first I thought "huh what is this? Where is he going with this" Maybe not my kind of book, Maybe too much fantasy?" But that did not take long.
Once he got me (they) they got me good. I traveled with them to other worlds and it felt like I was there, with Jack.

So when you pick this book and at first you think, hmm not sure if I want to read? Stick with it. You will love it.

( )

I've never read anything written solely by Peter Straub, so I didn't really know what to expect from a collaboration between him and Stephen King. Honestly, in the end, it just felt mostly like a Stephen King book, but maybe that's because I haven't read any Peter Straub. In terms of the writing on a basic level, The Talisman is a pretty easy read. The flow is pretty good and there aren't any stupidly show-offy words or anything like it. At times it does feel a bit like it could do with some editing, but overall, I liked it.

I liked the plot quite a lot. The core principle is something anyone can relate to, really: someone close to Jack Sawyer is dying, and he has to find a cure. The way this plays out isn't so realistic, perhaps -- if one object could cure all ills, life would be so much simpler, after all! But that's fantasy for you. The Territories is a pretty average idea of "the other world", which reminds me of Stephen Lawhead's version in The Paradise War, except less Celtic and more... well, American. The worlds King and Straub build up are rich with detail, all the same. The idea of Twinners and the importance of single-selved beings within the story is interesting, and I enjoyed the Jack/Jason thing that spanned throughout.

The characters are lovely. The bad guys are all pretty obvious and twisted, it's true, but the sympathetic characters -- particularly, for me, Wolf and Richard -- are amazing. My definition of amazing tends to be "not perfect, maybe even kind of irritating at times, but somehow I love them so much anyway". Which is the same for both Wolf and Richard. As for the main character, Jack -- well, he fits the bill, too. The only problem with him was that I could never quite picture a boy of his age acting in the way he does. I kept imagining him as older than he actually is -- fourteen, fifteen, instead of twelve. But that wasn't a huge problem for me.

I really, really enjoyed this book, overall. I can see flaws in it, and in places it turned out to be a little too predictable for me, but all the same, all that aside, I loved it. ( )

On a brisk autumn day, a twelve-year-old boy stands on the shores of the gray Atlantic, near a silent amusement park and a fading ocean resort called the Alhambra. The past has driven Jack Sawyer here: his father is gone, his mother is dying, and the world no longer makes sense. But for Jack everything is about to change. For he has been chosen to make a journey back across America--and into another realm. One of the most influential and heralded works of fantasy ever written, The Talisman is an extraordinary novel of loyalty, awakening, terror, and mystery. Jack Sawyer, on a desperate quest to save his mother's life, must search for a prize across an epic landscape of innocents and monsters, of incredible dangers and even more incredible truths. The prize is essential, but the journey means even more. Let the quest begin. . .