stevendemo7's review against another edition
4.0
The Talisman is about a young boy who sets out on an epic adventure into a parallel universe to save his dying mom. Jack Sawyer has the ability to ‘flip’ into an alternate universe called The Territories where there are evil twinners of all the people he is closest too (think Coraline). As the journey progresses on Jack teams up with unlikely hero’s like a repair man named speedy Parker, a friendly wolf man, and his cousin Richard. He is determined to reach the Black Hotel and capture the Talisman before evil reaches it first.
As always with King, the novel has excellent world building and incredibly written characters. It reads as dark high fantasy not exactly horror. Flipping through the different worlds is clear and not as confusing as I anticipated. The story is tense and builds yet does not leave out any action. Wolf is one of the best written character not only in this book but the King universe thus far. I thought all the hints to ‘shining’ are awesome ! Lost a star for the ending, found it to be kinda anticlimactic. I don’t often hear/see this novel getting any attention and that is a huge mistake. It was intriguing but will I pick up The Black Hotel (sequel)? TBD
As always with King, the novel has excellent world building and incredibly written characters. It reads as dark high fantasy not exactly horror. Flipping through the different worlds is clear and not as confusing as I anticipated. The story is tense and builds yet does not leave out any action. Wolf is one of the best written character not only in this book but the King universe thus far. I thought all the hints to ‘shining’ are awesome ! Lost a star for the ending, found it to be kinda anticlimactic. I don’t often hear/see this novel getting any attention and that is a huge mistake. It was intriguing but will I pick up The Black Hotel (sequel)? TBD
irishdrew83's review against another edition
5.0
As some of you may know from reading my album reviews, I like my albums to be a certain length. The same goes for movies, and books. As a rule the page limit is 500, and sometimes that is a stretch. There are exceptions, Graham Hancock's Fingerprints of the Gods comes to mind. I find anything longer is full of filler, like a long movie. I've found another exception to add to the list. This is the first book I've read that had two authors. I can't even fathom how that would work. These two authors are Stephen King and Peter Straub, and the combination of their efforts is pure genius. This isn't horror. It's a suspenseful tale of fantasy full of emotion called The Talisman, and it's moved towards the top of my favorite novels list...
To read the rest of this review go to https://drewmartinwrites.wordpress.com/2015/09/15/the-talisman-review/
A poem I wrote inspired by this novel - https://drewmartinwrites.wordpress.com/2015/09/13/the-talisman/
To read the rest of this review go to https://drewmartinwrites.wordpress.com/2015/09/15/the-talisman-review/
A poem I wrote inspired by this novel - https://drewmartinwrites.wordpress.com/2015/09/13/the-talisman/
ktxx22's review against another edition
5.0
More like 4.5 but I was honestly pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Also I felt like both authors did a great job of character creation, setting, and overall story projection! I love the idea of an alternative universe that is right beside ours that is only a little different! That plays into the whimsy of childhood imaginations! I also think for a dark fantasy book this is a success because it’s very close to magical realism while still feeling out there.
abogges1's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
tms98's review
4.0
Ik wist op voorhand niet wat ik moest verwachten van dit verhaal en dit werd zelfs in de eerste 100 pagina’s niet duidelijk. Echter was deze Fantasyreis van Jack Sawyer ongelofelijk mooi. De Territories zijn een geweldige nieuwe wereld en de echte horror van gewone mensen blijft toch altijd veel effectiever dan alles wat in een fictieve wereld kan gebeuren.
jbmorgan86's review against another edition
3.0
This story was fun but bloated. A 300-page story was dragged out into a 735-page story. The premise is great: a kid flip flops between our world and a parallel universe to save his dying mother (all while being pursued by his maniacal uncle). Unfortunately, the execution wasn’t great. The middle of the book just draaaaaggggged on as the boy (Jack) spends time virtually imprisoned in a redneck bar and then in an abusive orphanage. There was a lot of squandered potential here. King/Straub barely even touch the surface of the fictional world they created. There some homages to Tom Sawyer and Lord of the Rings and some tie-ins with the Dark Tower that make it fun. The book, overall, was fine but it definitely doesn’t even crack my top 10 Stephen King books list.
booldozer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kirakiviat's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5