The Talisman: Spoiler Book Review

This is a SPOILER book review / readalong for The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.

The Talisman is a novel co-written by Stephen King and Peter Straub, originally published in 1984. The story follows a young boy named Jack Sawyer who, after his mother falls ill, embarks on a quest to find a magical talisman that has the power to heal her.

To do this, Jack must travel through a series of parallel worlds, including the mysterious territories of the Territories, a parallel world that is connected to ours. Along the way, he encounters a number of strange and dangerous creatures, including werewolves and vampires, as well as allies who help him on his quest.

As Jack journeys through these worlds, he begins to realize that his quest is much larger than just finding the talisman to save his mother. He is actually a pivotal figure in a battle between two powerful forces - the good and evil - and his success or failure will determine the fate of not just his world, but all of the parallel worlds.

Overall, The Talisman is a thrilling fantasy adventure that explores the themes of courage, sacrifice, and the power of love.

Every week I focus on a new book and dive deep into the chapters to that we can enjoy the twists and turns together.

MY READING LIST WILL BE COMING SOON!
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[RPisa]

I must say, the amount of gore and violence that happened at the Sunlight Home has been some of King’s greatest. Absolutely loved how gruesome it was, incredibly vivid and super satisfying to see such a despicable set of characters meet that fate. 😈

[sixtylives]

Another entertaining review. This is not one of my favorite books in the series, but I think it's necessary to the extended reading order because of the themes that it introduces. If I had to pick one, I guess I would be Team Wolf. Both Richard and Wolf were annoying but Richard more so in my opinion. Looking forward to your next one.

[michaelwoolvin]

The loved the three stooges aspect you gave to the end of the final showdown. Spot on!

[tommyharkanson]

Everything Everywhere All at Once is exactly what I thought of during that scene! Love the videos, and I’m following along. I’m about 4 books behind you at the moment so keep them coming!

[chefcito]

I’m not gonna lie, I had really high expectations for this books because people said it was really epic and fascinating and it end up being really predictable, but still I like it although it felt heavier than the stand, also you feel like there is not a lot happening in a lot of parts. But it was okay

[AaronPrill]

First thing I look forward to after finishing a book is coming to watch your spoiler reviews. Agree with most of what you said, especially about the repetitive nature of Jack continually getting sidetracked in various trials that were unrelated to the point of his quest. The book could have been a couple hundreds of pages shorter and still sufficiently told the story.

[mmmoynihan]

Still really enjoying watching your journey to the Dark Tower. Can’t fault the review, when I read The Talisman I had a very similar response. When you get to Black House you’ll find a much more engaging book, and a book much more linked to the narrative of the Dark Tower, but you need to have read The Talisman for context.

Fun fact. Every time I try and type ‘Talisman’ my phone tries to autocorrect to ‘Talisker’. I clearly text about scotch too much.

PS the increase in production values have not gone unnoticed, well done, the video looks and sounds great.

PPS Team Wolf

[bctank]

Listened to half of this book on audible and your sketch and narration of Wolf was spot on 😂. Richard was completely useless and Wolf had his moments, so have to give the nod to Wolf. Great review as always 👏

[bobts]

the "wolf" sketch cracked me up

[Knowmad]

I hope you did not miss the connection of speedy parker being the twinner of a gunslinger on the other side

[tonyfabiano]

Nobody that has ever existed is team Richard. I agree wolf was annoying at first but he's more beloved then Richard can ever dream to be

[chriskirsch]

Wolf was at least helpful at times. Richard did nothing meaningful the whole book. You are spot on the book would be no different without him.

I think Wolf was actually complimentary to Jack in abilities. He was big, strong and could run with Jack on his back and defend him (the herd). Jack took care of the things Wolf was bad at. Richard was just bad at everything.

[skunke]

Great opening sketch!
Your videos only get better and better!
Tbh, I am team wolf, he was a little bit more interesting than Richard. But only a little bit

[bilmoe]

I feel like this is the introduction of the wizard's glass into the gunslinger/ dark tower epic. But i read the unrevised original books without the continuity upgrades. Wizard and glass in 96 was the first time i was reintroduced to the idea that this "palantir" type object

[greenmonkey]

You need to listen to this on Audible. Frank Muller is the best Morgan Slaut.
Team Wolf only because he did more for Jack then boring ol Richard.
The whole ending fight scene, it's a 11 year old child versus his 40 year old uncle yeah he fights like a kid lol.

[jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

Great opening sketch, wolf. I read The Talisman back in the 1980s, I don't remember much about it but enjoyed it at the time and went on to read Ghost Story by Peter Straub.

[CeeJayTheth]

I love the Talisman so much. It's so good and in retrospect, it's easy to see how it could be related to The Dark Tower. However, it did NOT need to be retconned to be a direct tie-in with the sequel. Black House is one of only a very few disappointments for me in King's entire bibliography. The DT stuff ruins it for me. It retroactively hurts Talisman for me.

[carleakins]

I liked Wolf, but I was immediately worried for him because he's a) loveable and innocent, b) mentality simple, and c) he's an animal; in King books, those characters tend to suffer greatly. Richard was annoying as piss.

[RemingtonHinshaw-zijx]

Good read BUT didn’t see the necessity to read it as part of TDT extended series reading list …. Or at least only a few chapters need to be read to continue the journey to the Dark Tower.. if you disagree PLEASE comment - I am not opposed to changing my mind when a valid argument is proposed. Thanks!!

[thefantasythinker]

Fun review. I remember this one not being my favorite either. It was okay, though...Jarrod