Rating: 
Summary: One of my all time favorite novels
Review: I originally read this book in 8th grade(I'm 28 now) and every few years I pick it up and reread it. I've yet to be disappointed. It encompasses the strengths of both authors (King's uncanny ability to scare and Straub's exceptional story-telling) and I should know as I've read everything by both authors. If you want a really good story of the "Once upon a time" genre with a twist then this is the one. Just make sure you have the time because you won't want to put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Stephen King, is that you?
Review: I'm not really sure how to react to this book. If you're looking for classic King, move on. This isn't it. Right away, you can tell it's co-written. It's neither horror nor psych-thriller, like most of the rest of his work. At first, it struck me as a nerdy adventure story like my 8th grade lab partner would have liked. The story meanders here and there, mostly tedious, sometimes exciting in a really dangerous sort of way. The strange thing is, I didn't really like the story much, but I couldn't put it down. About 150 or 200 pages in, the main character, Jack, gets a travellin' buddy, and the story becomes a bizarre "Of Mice And Men" parody. The new character is amazingly endearing. Maybe that's what kept me going. Much like the book, my review isn't really going anywhere. There's just not a lot to say about "The Talisman." If you're looking for a story about a kid on a survival adventure all alone, go for "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon," instead.
Rating: 
Summary: wish King would read his own
Review: I know he is very busy and can't narrate all of his own books -- but I could not stand this persons way of reading this story -- it only added to the confusion of the King/Stuab narrative -- and after hearing King himself read on "Blood & Smoke" collection I really knew that this one could have been better -- I made it through 9 or the 18 tapes by sure devotion to my favorite writer -- but then listed it back here for some one else -- I'd rather read it myself -- As for the story the two have written -- I'm very sorry to say that I can not agree with most of my fellow fans of King -- the story is choppy and tangled -- it seems to move from one short story to the next with a small thread holding them together -- I love most of King's books and was delighted by "Blood and Smoke" -- even more since King narrated it himself -- but this combination with Stuab left me wanting -- just my opinion -- read it for yourself -- but be warned
Rating:
Summary: yeah-bob! its a rainbow!!
Review: I am a big fan of Stephen King, which prompted me to pick up this book while waiting in an airport somewhere in America. I never started to read it until one week ago, on a flight to somewhere else in America. From the first page, I could not put the book down, hardly pausing to eat, sleep or go to school. This is by far, the best book I have ever read. Not just by Mr. King, either. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was a great book, but I'm afraid it pales in comparison. I won't spoil it for you by mentioning characters or towns or anything like that, it will intrigue you once you opened the page. If you're like me you will laugh a little, cry a little, scream a little, cringe a little. But every minute you spend with The Talisman and the adventure it holds will captivate you until the very end-and well beyond.
Rating:
Summary: PLEASE -- Let's be serious people
Review: First -- I'm a hugh SK fan -- and we all have seen his talent grow as a writer -- but really this IS NOT his best -- not even close -- I couldn't remember reading it the first time so I got the tapes so I could prepare for the Black House -- then I remembered why the blank space This is one of the few works that is more like a poorly assembled collection of short stories that are loosely woven together with a common thread -- that of Jack going cross country to save his mom and the "Queen" -- 18 tapes and by the 9th I had to stop -- there are just too many unrelated and actually boring events that I just gave up on poor Jack -- not even 20 years ago where 12 year olds that lost to what the world was like -- biggest flaw or better: disappointment -- very little time in the other world -- that sounded interesting and where the aventure was (and faster route west) -- all in all I would go the his newer work -- or his true best DT I love SK work -- but not this one -- I have the new one -- hope they can do a better job -- but the SK forum doesn't sound too hopeful
Rating:
Summary: Right Here And Now
Review: This is my FAVORITE book! The book as a whole is like a painting of the mountains in the Territories- where the air is so clean and clear you can smell a radish pulled out of the ground a mile a way. It's a refreshing look at innocence and courage. The main character, "Travelin' Jack" Sawyer, is a 13 year old who sets out on a journey to save his mother, the famous Queen of B movies, from cancer, and save an entire world in an alternate universe called the Territories. Jack meets Wolf along the way, an orange-eyed werewolf who follows the law in The Book Of Good Farming, the Wolfs' Bible. Tragedy and terror can't stop the chain of events that Jack sets in motion, and he finds himself at the Black Hotel with Richard Sloat. What is the secret behind Jack's father's death and how does it involve Richard's father Morgan, who was once his business partner in a Hollywood film company? The ending is a perfect finish to this wonderful book. You should read this book, as Wolf always said, "Right here and now."
Rating:
Summary: A great book...right here and now.
Review: When I first began this book I was a little disappointed. Up until Part 2: The Road Of Trials, the book is kinda boring. Right when Jack flips for the first time the book becomes an incredible adventure story. I loved all of the characters...Morgan Sloat/Morgan of Orris, Sunlight Gardener/Osmond, Richard Sloat, Jack Sawyer, Wolf, and everybody. The only two parts I didn't like were the whole Part 1, and Chapter 34-35. It's not that they [were bad], they were just kinda slow. I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: What a Journey!
Review: At first I picked up this book because there are so many news about the sequel, Black House, so I wanted to know what the fuss was all about. And it turned out to be one of the best book I've read ever!! I'm not a big and loyal fan of Stephen King although I do own and read few of his books. I don't have the Dark Tower series ... I do have Hearts of Atlantis, which I think was great except for the 2nd story (boring). I agree with one of the reviewer that the first 150 pages are a little bit slow. Well, actually, not until the chapter where Jack met Wolf that I started to tune in with the book. And after that I finished the whole story in just 6 - 7 hours. This is such a wonderful book about a journey of a 12-year-old kid named Jack Sawyer to find the Talisman in order to save his beloved mother. And what a long and hard journey it had been for him... Friends lost, friends found, hopes lost, hopes found. It was beautiful. And there was a lot of times that I felt my heart squeezed 'cause I felt what Jack felt. I think I'll continue with Black House ...
Rating: 
Summary: If You're Reading This In Anticipation of Black House...
Review: I read this book in anticipation of the new King/Straub book The Black House. Now I'm wishing I hadn't. The only excuse I can think of for this poorly written, nonsensical book is that it was written fairly early in King's career, and perhaps the collaboration did not go as well as hoped. The best fantasy/horror books have a consistent framework for the magical events that occur. Without some rationale, you may as well have ten thousand monkeys randomly typing the words of the book. The worst problem with this book is the completely random events that occur, with absolutely no rhyme or reason: crazy goat-men, randomly found lightening shooters, and worms, worms, worms everywhere! Need a scary scene? How about a bunch of worms just crawling out of the walls! What's that inside a bad guy's skull? You guessed it, tiny biting worms! The plot just falls apart under the weight of this random nuttiness. Finally, someone needs to tell King/Straub:
1. A human cannot survive for 4 days with NO WATER, at least not without falling into a coma.
2. When you really, really, need to cross the country to save a dying relative, and you have a magical creature driving a fast car, it shouldn't take FIVE DAYS. I've done it myself, alone, in three days.
Rating:
Summary: One of the finest!
Review: Ever since I was twelve years old I have been a Stephen King fan. The first novel I ever read by "the master" was a novel he wrote in conjunction with another writer ny the name of Peter Straub. The Talisman hooked me from page one, I identified with the character of Jack Sawyer unlike any other character in the history of mainstream fiction. This novel, from it's fascinating beginning to it's terrifying conclusion, is everything any horror or fantasy or just fiction fan could want. Jack's strange and terrible journey across the Territories and 1980's America makes for wonderful storytelling. King and Straub(arguably the greatest writer in horror fiction) blend seamlessly together in a wonderfully hopeful and awe-inspiring tale. If you enjoy top-notch storytelling and believable characters (from Wolf to Sunlight Gardener) then this book is everything you could hope for.
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