The Talisman

Book cover of The Talisman

Book description

Twelve-year-old Jack Sawyer braves the mysterious dangers of the Territories, a surreal parallel world, in his quest--across the United States-for the Talisman, the only hope for his dying mother and for his own survival.

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Why read it?

3 authors picked The Talisman as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Sally Altass

Author

This is possibly one of the least well-known Stephen King books out there, and it is most definitely underrated.

It’s the tale of Jack Sawyer, a twelve-year-old boy who must cross the country to find The Talisman; a magical artifact that has the power to save his mother’s life from the terminal cancer that is ravaging her body.

But, Morgan Sloat is also chasing the Talisman, in the hopes that he can rule both our world, and the idyllic (and terrifying) Territories, where Jack is the born-again prince.

An all-encompassing portal, two-world fantasy adventure, this is a book that…

From Sally's list on fantasy sweeping you into a beautiful, scary world.

Leslie Tall Manning

Author

Hands-down, this is Stephen King’s best novel to date, though it doesn’t get the same hype as his other books. Written with author Peter Straub, this magical story is one of the reasons I became a writer. Any fantasy reader will fall in love with the young male hero, along with all of the odd but fleshed-out characters. I have read it twice. And I just discovered it is now in production as a Netflix series!

From Leslie's list on fantasy that makes you think way outside the box.

Miranda Kate

Author

Although this was not the first Stephen King book I fell in love with, it was the first that crossed fantasy, parallel universes, and horror, which put it at the top of my list.

I like things dark, but I also like things to be turned on their head, as Jack’s world is when he ‘flips’ into another time to a place called ‘the territories.’ King does this a lot in his writing, as well as developing his characters so fully you feel like you‘re really there with them, as I did with Jack and his companion, Wolf, a talking…

From Miranda's list on horror and feeding your horror habit.

Victoria Unveiled

By Shane Joseph,

Book cover of Victoria Unveiled

New book alert!

What is my book about?

A fast-paced literary thriller with a strong sci-fi element and loaded with existential questions. Beyond the entertainment value, this book takes a hard look at the perilous world of publishing, which is on a crash course to meet the nascent, no-holds-barred world of AI. Could these worlds co-exist, or will they destroy each other? And more importantly, how will humans tolerate their own creations, the robots, on this planet?

In this, his latest speculative fiction novel, Shane Joseph, returns to the “what if” questions facing humanity that he raised in After the Flood, a book that won him the…

Victoria Unveiled

By Shane Joseph,

What is this book about?

With Chatbots and Large Language Models changing the world of writing and publishing dramatically, what happens when we introduce a sentient robot capable of feelings into the mix?

Phil Kruger, inventor, and serial womanizer, believes he has the answer in his creation, Victoria, the first sentient robot in the world, imbued with beauty, knowledge, and strength and on a crash course to acquire human feelings through massive infusions of data. Arrayed against him are independent trade publisher Artemius (Art) Jones and his rebellious and sexually starved daughter, Paula, an editor herself, who is determined to take her father's failing press,…

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