The Talisman

Rating:
Summary: A classic and unexpected story, Right Here and Now!
Review: I have read about 25 Stephen King books and always new this one was out there but for for some reason I never picked it up, with the Black House now out I figured I should pick up the Talisman and I am glad I did. The story is full of fantasy, supsense, horror and wonderful imagery. I recommend it to all Stephen King and Peter Straub fans.

Rating:
Summary: read this right here and now
Review: this book was a pleasure when i first read it so many years ago, and upon my re-reading, i found it still to be a wonderful book. it has one of the best characters king has created (or co-created), which is wolf. it combination of horror and fantasy that any fan of king's will recognize and enjoy. (sorry to say i really haven't read any of straub's work, so i can't really compare to the rest of his work) and let's be honest, anyone who enjoys king's dark tower series definitely wants to read this book--the similarities are obvious. it does bog down a little at the end, and they do use the talisman as a convenient plot piece to get jack and richard out of trouble, but the rest of the book overpowers the weak ending.

Rating:
Summary: King's Best
Review: It is so easy to give five stars to a book and say that it "was great." With 'The Talisman' though, it goes far beyond that. This book was literally the book that intoduced me to the world of reading. It is a GREAT book by any standards. Many people who I introduced this book to were hesitant at first because of King's name attached to it. Fact is though, every person I have recommended this book to has loved it. Doctors, housewives, rich, poor, black or white, I have yet to receive a single negative review. I get asked often by different people, "what is your favorite book?", while books like 'Of Mice and Men', 'Animal Farm', and others come into mind, they all fall short of 'The Talisman'. I know that is strong praise, but the journey of Jack Sawyer is much more than a fantasy tale. It reaches the depths of emotions that we all have had in our lifetimes and makes it personal to us. We cry with Jack, laugh with Jack, and cheer for Jack. Most of all, we wish we were Jack. Buy the book and enjoy one of the greatest thrill rides in print.

Rating:
Summary: Really Really Good...ONCE YOU GET INTO IT.
Review: It took me 3 months and a 150 pages to get into this book. Three months because that's how long it took me to cover the first 150 pages. After that, I finished the book in two days. I don't know, the beginning to this book is...is so goddamned slow. I know some people will lash me for that one, but hey I love Steve King...Peter straub, I plan to read some of his...but I mean, the beginning sucked. Anyway, I know this is a little harsh. Oh well. anyway past that I thought the book was excellent and would reccomend it to anybody willing to plod through crap for a while (damn this is harsh). Right now I am just starting Black House the sequel and so far it's started out so much better. Anyway, read this book, it's good, just slow at the start.
--Dustin

Rating:
Summary: A sweet and scary page turner
Review: I lost a weekend when I picked up this book. From the time that we meet Jack, a real trooper of a pre-adolescent, to the climax of the book (a continent away from the beginning), the reader is making friends and enemies and experiencing unimaginable thrills. One of the things I like about King's books are his characters. And there are a lot of characters in this book to love...and hate! I can't really tell which of the chapters are King and which are Straub, but together, they write a wonderful adventure that's full of suspense, horror, and , indeed, laughter. I've read this book three times!

Rating:
Summary: Never forgot
Review: I read the Talisman back in 84 when it first came out. To this day, I can still remember vividly the whole story. In fact, as silly as it might sound, the first time I read it I purposely did not read the last 50 or so pages so I could read it again and still feel the suspense of not knowing the end. No, I had never done this before. I waited maybe 2 years to treat myself again to Jack and Wolf (the main characters). needless to say I loved this book. It moved me into the story and for awhile I felt I left earth and lived in its pages. Yes, it is long but well worth every page. I don't enjoy Straub very much as a rule but this combo was a dynamic duo. I hope the upcoming sequel is just as magical.

Rating:
Summary: The Talisman
Review: When the author name reads Stephen King, you can already expect one thing, quality. Just looking in a second-hand bookstore there fifteen number one bestsellers. King does not disappoint here in this instant classic written with Peter Straub(another excellent writer). King is a fantastic writer who can switch his genres from horror to fantasy/drama. This book is riveting and more can be expected from the sequel, the Black House.

Rating:
Summary: One of King and Straub's Best
Review: I originally read The Talisman in 1984 when it was released, and was blown away. I recently re-read it in preparation for Black House and found it to be a completely different experience. While I still found the story engrossing, I think it has suffered some through the years. Much of the material has a very dated feel to it. Not that this is a bad thing; most classical literature also has a dated feel, but that's part of the point. The characters, even the secondary ones, come to life and move through this quest with a cinematic quality, which is more typical of King than Straub, but even with this quality, the book somewhat suffers under the weight of the quest in general. It's almost like a series of short stories strung together to get to a common, designated end. However, as a tremendous King fan (and much less of a Straub fan), I found the Talisman (on re-read) to be some of the strongest material these guys have produced. I would definately recommend it to anyone unfamiliar with the authors' work.

Rating:
Summary: An engaging, enjoyable story of good triumphing over evil
Review: I just finished reading "The Talisman". It is only my second full length read by Stephen king, and my first by Peter Straub. The other Stephen King book I had read was "Dreamcatcher", and I thought it was alright, at times interesting, but not all that great. Then a couple friends recomended I read "The Talisman", saying it was more of a fantasy oriented story and one of the best things King had written, and, as it turns out, I really enjoyed it.
Many readers are probably familiar with the basic story by now, but in case you're not, "the Talisman" is the the story of a boy named Jack Sawyer who must make a journey across America (in both this realm and in a magical realm known as the Territories) in order to retrieve a magical object (the talisman) which will save the life of his dying mother, and help him defeat an evil power threatening to swallow his world. Along the way he must overcome a variety of enemies and evils both mundane and supernatural, from abusive employers and phony preachers, to mutant monsters and werewolves. In some ways, this story reminds me of a more fantastic version of Henry Fielding's "Joseph Andrews", one of the first novels ever written, which is also about a boy who must go on series of travels in which he overcomes various obstacles and mishaps.
One of the book's great strengths is the way in which the mundane and supernatural seem inextricably linked, creating a brooding sense of horror and true evil behind even the most ordinary places and bad guys. The story also has an equally great sense of goodness present in it through the character of Jack who is both an ordinary boy and an extraordinary hero at the same time. His character radiates a strong presence of love, courage, and perseverance which is one of the things that makes the story so compelling. You really care about him and the people he loves and you want to see him triumph.
My only negative criticisms are that at times the book does seem to drag some and be a bit long. I was also slightly disturbed by the almost completely negative portrayal of Christians, Christianity, and the Bible whenever these appear in the story. While there is certainly alot of hypocracy and fake, stupid religion out there, not all of it is and the story seems to overly emphasize the negative side of it. Also, some readers will probably be disturbed by the presence of a fair amount of foul language in certain parts of the book. All of that said though, I didn't let any of that ruin what was otherwise a fine and enjoyable fantasty story of true goodness and love triumphing over true evil and selfishness.

Rating:
Summary: Has not worn well, at least with me...
Review: Tastes change. I first read the Talisman when it came out in 1984. I was (& still consider myself) a huge King fan, as well as a huge Straub fan. At the time, I was delighted to see this merging of different styles of my two favorite horror authors. Had [I had the opportunity to rate this book at that time], I'd have given it 4 stars.
But times change, too. I recently re-read Talisman in preparatoin for Black HOuse, which I have ordered. I can't tell you how silly it felt now. The apocolyptic clash of all worlds, which ride on the ability of a young boy to recover this globe, now seems a parody of itself. Sunlight Gardner is a charicature, Morgan sloat an 80s icon. Jack is just not that interesting. The best character, Wolf, is only around for 100 pages or so.
Is it me, or is this just not as good a book as I thought it was then? probably a little of both. I'm now a 40 something corporate lawyer, as opposed to a 20 something kid w no responsibilities. Maybe another 20 ish person, reading it for the 1st time, might get as much outof it as i did the 1st time. I am looking forward to Black House. The advance chapter I ahve read looks feels & sounds excellent.