The Talisman

Executive Summary: I first read this back in high school, and I remember liking it, but not as much as the sequel. The ending of this is really good, but I found parts of it really slow.Audiobook: One of the main reasons I decided to reread this was that I got a good deal on the audiobook. I really like Frank Mueller from the early Dark Tower books, so I was eager to see hear him read this book. He did a good job with this one, and it helped a lot during the slow parts.Full ReviewDark Tower is still one of my favorite series. In high school once I ran out of Dark Tower books I started reading a bunch of the other stuff King wrote that had ties to that series, including this one.When I first read this, my mother didn't have cancer yet, let alone died from it. I had totally forgotten that detail, and it made the start of this book hit a little close to home for me. I love the idea of being able to find a magic cure. It seems like exactly the kind of thing a kid would think of when dealing with a dying parent. But really the premise is mostly just a Macguffin.The real point of this book to me is the journey itself. Of course being a King book, the journey is full of dark and horrible things.It's hard to say how much is Steven King and how much is Peter Straub, but it feels very much like a King novel to me. Then again I've never read Straub outside of this series, so I'm probably not the right person to speak to that.Overall, I found the ending of this book really good, but there were parts of the story that dragged or were very hard to listen to. Some of that is just my own personal history, while others is just the pacing of the book itself. I recall liking [b:Black House 10607 Black House (The Talisman, #2) Stephen King https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388263466s/10607.jpg 1738813] much better, but it seems like most people I've talked to like this one better.