The Talisman, Stephen King and Peter Straub.  A huge, sprawling coming of age tale packed with elements of King's Dark Tower series, and closely connected to the mythos.  This one took me a long time to read, but I never found myself losing interest - the collaborative success is not in the creation of any original elements, but in the literate blending of familiar themes and tropes.  "Travelling" Jack is King's usual young boy-child heroine who experiences a bit of the Kerouacian road narrative, a bit of the fantastic notions of good and evil writ large, and an overlarge helping of other childhood novels, from Huckleberry Finn to The Silver Chair.  One could easily write a paper on the notion of the "nightmare Narnia" King and Straub briefly mention - the ending is an unusual high note for a King tale and seems to borrow heavily from a certain scene in The Magician's Nephew and many Asian folktales. 
Despite some horrific moments, this is equally recommended as a layered young adult novel of which I'd love to see more.


Read August 2006