The Talisman

One book down, eleven more to go in the Stephen King Challenge. I just finished reading The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Like most people, when I think of Stephen King I think of horror but he isn’t limited to that genre. The Talisman is a fantasy novel, yes it has it’s horrific moments but it is definitely a fantasy novel.

This is the story Jack Sawyer, a twelve year old boy who sets out on a quest to find the talisman that he’s been told will save his mother’s life. He must travel across the country to reach the talisman. Not only traveling through the United States, no, his journey also means traveling in the Territories, an alternate universe connected to our own. Jack has the ability to “flip” between these worlds. The Territories has wonders but also monsters, though Jack already knows that our own world has plenty of monsters of it’s own.

I really enjoyed this book, it has it’s very intense, dark and sad scenes but it isn’t a dark story, time and time again you realize that it’s the story of friendship and love. I had a hard time getting into the book in the beginning, before he starts off on his journey, but I don’t know whether that was the book or if I was just too distracted by a crazy toddler running circles around me (usually with the volume on High!). Once Jack really got started on his journey I was truly entrenched in the story. I would definitely recommend this book.

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