The Talisman (original 1970; edition 2001)

by Stephen King, Peter Straub

Series: The Talisman Series (1)

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10,302	123	775	(4.01)	1 / 235
Fantasy. Fiction. Horror. HTML:On a brisk autumn day, a thirteen-year-old boy stands on the shores of the gray Atlantic, near a silent amusement park and a fading ocean resort called the Alhambra. The past has driven Jack Sawyer here: his father is gone, his mother is dying, and the world no longer makes sense. But for Jack everything is about to change. For he has been chosen to make a journey back across America--and into another realm. One of the most influential and heralded works of fantasy ever written, The Talisman is an extraordinary novel of loyalty, awakening, terror, and mystery. Jack Sawyer, on a desperate quest to save his mother's life, must search for a prize across an epic landscape of innocents and monsters, of incredible dangers and even more incredible truths. The prize is essential, but the journey means even more. Let the quest begin. . . . Features a preview of Stephen King and Peter Straub's new book Black House.… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	CorrineW
Title:	The Talisman
Authors:	Stephen King
Other authors:	Peter Straub
Info:	Ballantine Books (2001), Edition: Reissue, Mass Market Paperback, 768 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	None

Work Information

The Talisman by Stephen King (1970)

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▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

	Group › Topic	Messages	Last Message
	King's Dear Constant Readers: January 2010's SK Flavor of the Month - The Talisman	62 unread / 62	cal8769, April 2010

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▾Member reviews

English (116) French (2) Spanish (1) Portuguese (Portugal) (1) Norwegian (1) Italian (1) All languages (122)

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Showing 1-5 of 116 (next | show all)

My favorite Stephen King book. (

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kevinnewman16 | Nov 16, 2024 |

This book read like YA with cursing. The good guys were good and the bad guys were bad and there was never any doubt in your mind which was which. And, don't get me wrong, I love the Lord of the Rings so I'm not inherently opposed to a good vs. evil epic fantasy. It just has to have something compelling about the writing or the characters to make up for the lack of nuance in the plot. Unfortunately, we spend most of this book in the real world with characters who range from cardboard to actively annoying. King can and has done better. (

)

Jthierer | Nov 7, 2024 |

Even though this is not the longest book I have ever read it felt so much longer than it was. It was a challenge to get into but some parts really pull you in. (

)

duskvamp | Oct 29, 2024 |

So, it's funny because I read Fairy Tale right before this and realized this is basically a better version of that book. I actually thought the first half was really strong and was shaping up to be one of my favorite books, but the last quarter or so just felt like a complete slog. Still, this is a fun novel but probably falls squarely in the middle of Stephen King books I've read. (

)

remjunior | Oct 2, 2024 |

I'd read The Talisman several times but it was decades ago. It wasn't as good to me as I'd recalled but I enjoyed it well enough nonetheless.

The Talisman tells the story of Jack Sawyer, a 12 year old who discovers another world called The Territories. Most people have a "Twinner" in the Territories; someone who's like them but not exactly. Anyway, Jack learns he must cross the country from NH to CA to retrieve the Talisman so he can not only save his mother from cancer in the American Territories but the queen of The Territories (who's also his mother).

Along the way, Jack gets trapped into working at a tavern where everyone's mean to him, to meeting and befriending a werewolf (creatively named Wolf), to getting thrown into an orphanage where evil is afoot.

While not really connected to the Dark Tower (although there are very similar concepts), I'd say it's DT adjacent.

Again, good but not great. (

)

Jarratt | Jun 3, 2024 |

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▾Published reviews

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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (21 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
King, Stephen	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Straub, Peter	—	main author	all editions	confirmed
Benini, Milena	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Canty, Thomas	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Wiemken, Christel	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

The Talisman Series (1)

Belongs to Publisher Series

Bookspan, The Stephen King Library

Is contained in

The Talisman [and] Black House by Stephen King

Has the adaptation

The Talisman: Volume 1: The Road of Trials by Stephen King

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Audie Award (Winner – Fiction, Unabridged – 2002)

World Fantasy Award (Nominee – Novel – 1985)

Distinctions

New York Times bestseller (Fiction – 1984)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Original title

The Talisman

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1984-11-08

People/Characters

Jack Sawyer

Lester 'Speedy' Parker

Parkus

Queen Laura DeLoessian

Wolf

(show all 10 items)

Important places

Arcadia Beach, New Hampshire, USA

The Territories

Oatley Tap, New York, USA

Sunlight Gardener's School (Indiana, USA)

Thayer School (Illinois, USA)

(show all 6 items)

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Well, when Tom and me got to the edge of the hilltop, we looked away down into the village and could see three or four lights twinkling, where there was sick folks, may be; and stars over us was sparkling ever so fine; and down by the village was the river, a whole mile broad, and awful still and grand. -Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn

My new clothes was all greased up and clayey, and I was dog-tired. -Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn

Dedication

The book is for Ruth King, Elvena Straub

First words

On September 15th, 1981, a boy named Jack Sawyer stood where the water and land come together, hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking out at the steady Atlantic.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

813.54

Canonical LCC

PS3561.I483

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

Stephen King bibliography

The Talisman (King and Straub novel)

▾Book descriptions

Fantasy. Fiction. Horror. HTML:On a brisk autumn day, a thirteen-year-old boy stands on the shores of the gray Atlantic, near a silent amusement park and a fading ocean resort called the Alhambra. The past has driven Jack Sawyer here: his father is gone, his mother is dying, and the world no longer makes sense. But for Jack everything is about to change. For he has been chosen to make a journey back across America--and into another realm.

One of the most influential and heralded works of fantasy ever written, The Talisman is an extraordinary novel of loyalty, awakening, terror, and mystery. Jack Sawyer, on a desperate quest to save his mother's life, must search for a prize across an epic landscape of innocents and monsters, of incredible dangers and even more incredible truths. The prize is essential, but the journey means even more. Let the quest begin. . . .

Features a preview of Stephen King and Peter Straub's new book Black House.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

AR Level 6.2, 42 pts

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