The Talisman
Stephen King and Peter Straub

Jack Sawyer, twelve years old, is about to begin a most fantastic journey, an exalting, terrifying quest for the Talisman - for only the Talisman can save Jack's dying mother and defeat the enemy who is out to destroy them both. But to reach his goal, Jack must make his way not only across the breadth of the United States but through the wondrous and menacing Territories as well.
The Territories lie as firmly in the imagination as Atlantis or Oz; they are as real as every reader's own vision of that parallel world evoked in the mind's mysterious eye. In the Territories, Jack finds a world little removed from the earth's own Dark Ages: though the air is so sweet and clear a man can smell a radish being pulled from the ground a mile away, life can be snuffed out instantly in the continuing struggle between good and evil. And Jack discovers "Twinners", reflections of people he knows on earth - most notably the dying Queen Laura, the "Twinner" of Jack's own imperiled mother. But only a few can flip from one world to the other; Jack's late father could, the malevolent Morgan Sloat can, and so will Jack himself.
As Jack makes his way westward toward the redemptive Talisman, a dual array of heartstopping encounters challenges him at every step - from a terrifying period where he's held captive in an Indiana home for wayward boys that is run by a sadistic religious fanatic, to sudden and murderous attacks by enemies of Queen Laure in the Territories.

This book is absolutely amazing. While I'd recommend it for about ages 13 and up, what it really is is a fairy tale for adults. It opens the reader's imagination up again back to the time when they believed in other worlds and fantastical things.

Jack knows his mother is dying and when he is told that by finding the Talisman he can save her life (and the life of her Twinner Queen Laura of the Territories) he sets out on a heroic months long journey that goes from great highs (such as his friendship with Wolf) and great lows (such as when he's trapped and forced to work in a bar).

The book is a little slow at the very beginning, but that time hooks you in and makes the characters into real three dimensional people. But from the moment that Jack slides over for the first time into the Territories, the book comes alive and makes you not want to put it down. It's a very long read - over 600 pages for the hardbound version - but even that isn't long enough. Once the book is over, you're left with closure, but wanting more simply because of how good it was.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone. It's simply phenomenal and has become one of my personal favorites.

My rating: Five out of five snails.