Kindle Book Review: The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
I first read The Talisman when I was about 12 or 13-years old, about the same age as Jack Sawyer, the protagonist in the novel. The book fascinated me in ways that kids couldn’t imagine before Harry Potter. It had fantasy, danger, and an added element that I always loved in books as a kid – a young protagonist facing the world on his/her own. Books like The Talisman and A Wrinkle In Time made reading my number one childhood activity.
I decided to finally re-read The Talisman after I found a sequel while browsing the Kindle store. Naturally, I wanted to refresh my memory before diving back into Jack Sawyer’s story. The Talisman is a tale of a young man, a child really, on a dangerous mission. He sets out to find the talisman, a mysterious object on the opposite coast of the country. He travels in both the real world, and an alternate reality he calls The Territories. The Territories are an idyllic place – clean air, no cars, simple clothing and homes. The physical description of The Territories most resembles medieval times.
Jack’s mission is to get the talisman to heal both his mother (who is dying from cancer on the east coast) and Queen Laura, the ruler of The Territories (who is dying from some unknown Territories disease). We are with Jack every step of the way. He has help along the way from a handyman named Speedy, a wolf named Wolf, and others.
I absolutely love this book. I loved it as a child (reading Stephen King novels far too early for my age) and I loved it while reading it for a second time. It flawlessly moves from “the American Territories” to “The Territories” (as Jack calls them) and back. The imagery is so powerful that you almost start to believe in The Territories yourself. The length of the book isn’t a problem, and in fact once you near the end, you don’t want it to end. (Luckily there’s a sequel titled Black House.) I would absolutely read it again, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy/mystery novel. You can grab the paperback on Amazon
