The Talisman (The Talisman #1) by Stephen King, Peter Straub

[gilda_elise]

Jack Sawyer, twelve years old, is about to begin a most fantastic journey, an exalting, terrifying quest for the Talisman--for only the Talisman can save Jack's dying mother and defeat the enemy who is out to destroy them both. But to reach his goal, Jack must make his way not only across the breadth of the United States, but through the wondrous and menacing Territories as well.

The Territories lie as firmly in the imagination as Atlantis or Oz; they are as real as every reader's own vision of that parallel world evoked in the mind's mysterious eye. In the Territories Jack finds a world little removed from the Earth's own Dark Ages: though the air is so sweet and clear a man can smell a radish being pulled from the ground a mile away, a life can be snuffed out instantly in the continuing struggle between good and evil.

As Jack makes his way westward towards the redemptive Talisman, a dual array of heart-stopping encounters challenges him at every step--from a terrifying period when he's held captive in an Indiana home for wayward boys that is run by a sadistic religious fanatic, to sudden and murderous attacks by enemies of Queen Laura in the Territories.

The book had a slow start, but once Jack is on the road, it starts to take off. As he jumps back and forth between our world and the Territories, he meets people, good and bad, who further his journey. I came to care for many of those characters: Jack, of course, Richard, but especially Wolf (Wolf!) I was not prepared for his fate.

And I loved that I could get so involved with so young a character as Jack. I’m usually not one for YF, so it says a lot about the writing skills of both King and Straub. There is a depth and maturity to their writing. Perhaps because, though the characters are young, the book isn’t necessarily geared toward the young reader.

A small flaw, the book does tend to drag from time to time. It’s a huge book that perhaps shouldn’t have been so huge.







Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.


1. The Outsider
2. War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence
3. Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts
4. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
5. Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition
6. From Baghdad to America: Life after War for a Marine and His Rescued Dog (Lava #2)
7. The Gap Into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge (Gap #2)
8. The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Medical Mystery
9. First King of Shannara (Original Shannara Trilogy 0)
10. Legends of the Fall
11. Moon of the Crusted Snow
12. Mio, My Son
13. Circe
14. Al Franken: Giant of the Senate
15. Memoirs of a Polar Bear
16. Of Mice and Men
17. A Dog's Purpose
18. A Quiet Victory for Latino Rights: FDR and the Controversy Over "Whiteness"
19. The Gap Into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises (Gap #3)
20. The Face of Apollo (Book of the Gods #1)
21. The Talisman



BOOK BINGO

Horror - The Talisman (The Talisman #1) by Stephen King, Peter Straub





1. Fantasy, Scifi, Paranormal - The Outsider by Stephen King
2. Mystery/Crime/True Crime - The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Medical Mystery by D.T. Max
3. Audiobook or Ebook - Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada
5. Diverse Reads - Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
6. Children's or YA - Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren
7. Biography/Autobiography Non fiction - From Baghdad to America by Jay Kopelman
8. Historical (fiction or nonfiction) - Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie, John Geiger
9. Set in Your State/Country or Written by a Local Author - Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison
10. Title Starts with the First Letter of Your Name - The Gap Into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge (Gap #2) by Stephen R. Donaldson
11. Female Author - Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts by Lucy Dillon
12. One Word Title - Circe by Madeline Miller
13. Free Space - Al Franken: Giant of the Senate by Al Franken
14. Movie Tie-in/Made into a Movie - A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron
15. Title is at Least Six Words Long - War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence by Ronan Farrow
17. Horror - The Talisman (The Talisman #1) by Stephen King, Peter Straub
19. A Banned Book - Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
20. A New-to-You Author - The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
21. Comic or Graphic Novel - Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
22. A Book that is Part of a Series (4+ books) - First King of Shannara (Original Shannara Trilogy 0) by Terry Brooks
24. Fairy Tale or Fairy Tale Retelling - The Face of Apollo (Book of the Gods #1) by Fred Saberhagen

Comments

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to know I'm not alone in doing that kind of thing with names.