The Talisman, Stephen King
The Talisman, Stephen King
303 Rating(s)
List: $39.99 | Sale: $28.00
Club: $19.99

The Talisman

Author: Stephen King, Peter Straub

Narrator: Frank Muller

Unabridged: 28 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/06/2012


Synopsis

Soon to be a Netflix series! The iconic, “extraordinary” (The Washington Post) collaboration between bestselling authors Stephen King and Peter Straub—an epic #1 New York Times bestselling fantasy thriller about a young boy’s quest to save his mother’s life.

Jack Sawyer, twelve years old, is about to begin a most fantastic journey, an exalting, terrifying quest for the mystical Talisman—the only thing that can save Jack’s dying mother. But to reach his goal, Jack must make his way not only across the breadth of the United States but also through the wondrous and menacing parallel world of the Territories.

In the Territories, Jack finds another realm, where the air is so sweet and clear a man can smell a radish being pulled from the ground a mile away—and a life can be snuffed out instantly in the continuing struggle between good and evil. Here Jack discovers “Twinners,” reflections of the people he knows on earth—most notably Queen Laura DeLoessian, the Twinner of Jack’s own imperiled mother. As Jack “flips” between worlds, making his way westward toward the redemptive Talisman, a sequence of heart-stopping encounters challenges him at every step.

An unforgettable epic of adventure and resounding triumph, The Talisman is one of the most influential and highly praised works of fantasy ever written.

About Stephen King

Stephen Edwin King was born in 1947 in the city of Portland, Maine. He attended the University of Maine, where he received a B.A. degree in English in 1970. He married his present wife, Tabitha, in 1971, and they have three children. King is an American author of contemporary horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. His novels have sold more than 350 million copies. Many have been made into films, television movies, and comics. He has published 54 novels using a pen name (Richard Bachman) for a few of them. Many of his stories take place in his home state of Maine.

He has won about every possible literary award beginning with his 1980 novella, The Way Station. His most notable literary award was in 2007 for the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.King has had the common human weaknesses including alcoholism and drug addiction. His health during that period was so bad that he barely remembered writing the novel, Cujo. The first novel written after he quit all dependent drugs and alcohol was Needful Things.Stephen King's wife, Tabitha, has published nine of her own novels along with both sons being published writers. His daughter is a Unitarian Universalism Church minister with her same sex partner.

A life altering happening beset King in June of 1999. King was walking on the shoulder of Route 5, in Lovell, Maine, when a driver, who was distracted by an unrestrained dog, struck him from behind. His severe injuries kept him in the hospital until July 9. His lawyer purchased the van that hit him to prevent it from being sold on eBay. It was crushed at a junkyard. King thought that he would not write again, but did resume writing with this caveat, "I'm writing, but I'm writing at a slower pace".

His most notable novels are: Carrie, The Shining, The Stand, Misery, It, The Dark Tower, Under the Dome, and The Shawshank Redemption.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa on November 28, 2007

My favorite book of all time! To me, it is just the perfect epic hero's journey story. I love that it takes place in the early 80s; I love the grittiness and ugliness of what happens to Jack as he travels back and forth between this world and The Territories, and I LOVE the character of Wolf. The fi......more

Goodreads review by Mario the lone bookwolf on July 12, 2020

I wish King would have more often cooperated with other authors, this one is in some parts so different than his general work and I would really like to know who wrote which parts and how it must generally be to have the honor of working together with the King. You lucky person, Mr. Straub, you luck......more

Goodreads review by Matthew on September 01, 2020

4.5 to 5 stars The Talisman is quite epic and not necessarily for the casual King fan. If you happen to try and make this your first King book ever, you may not want to try anymore - and you might not even make it through this one. But, if you have read several of his "shorter" books, dabbled in some......more

Goodreads review by Baba on May 24, 2021

A 12 year old boy has to cross the United States from East to West coasts to hopefully save his dying mother's life. He can go by the conventional route or via the alternate world of the American Territories(!). Not only must he find the Talisman to save her life, but also to subvert an emerging and......more

Goodreads review by Uhtred on July 04, 2022

A really bad book. Strange, because it belongs to the "old" King, the one pre-2000, the one who still wrote because he liked it, not just to make money. And yet this book is really bad; slow, not very incisive, not very intriguing, with zero inventiveness. King probably has to write alone, because w......more