Stephen King 2025 read-along discussion

Hello fellow Constant Readers! Once again the summer is coming to a close and it is time to talk about August's read. For Lala's August buzzword pick (which was item or object) we decided to go with The Talisman.

Originally published in 1984 and co-authored by Peter Straub, The Talisman follows the story of twelve year old Jack Sawyer who tries to save his dying mother's life by travelling across the United States, and ultimately into another realm, in search of a Talisman that will do just that. He comes across many characters along his journey, whether they be friend or foe, that keep the trajectory going. This one has major Dark Tower influences and easter eggs if you're missing Roland and his Ka-Tet.

The idea for The Talisman came about in 1977 when King and Straub first met and became friends. They were both huge fans of each others' work and kept bouncing ideas between each other about collaborating on something but it took years for The Talisman to actually take shape and become their collective brain child. Due to their continued friendship throughout the years they did co-write a sequel to The Talisman entitled Black House in 2001 which deals with Jack Sawyer as an adult retired homicide detective. According to Wikipedia, a third book in the Talisman series is planned but no information is available as of yet.

The Talisman has been adapted into a 2008 short film and a graphic novel much like The Stand and The Dark Tower. The first issue was published in October 2009. Del Rey planned to run "at least 24 issues" however, only six issues were published.

A feature-length film version has been in planning for decades, and as of March 2019 was in development by Amblin Partners and The Kennedy/Marshall Company with a script by Chris Sparling. In 2021, it was revealed that Amblin would be developing the novel as a Netflix television series, with the Duffer Brothers helping with development. Which is why some of you eagle-eyed viewers probably noticed a character reading The Talisman in the last episode of season 4 of Stranger Things, the Duffer Brother's current television show. ;)

I'm honestly so excited to re-read this! I wasn't the biggest fan of it the first time around, but I also wasn't a massive fantasy reader back then and now that I have read more of the Dark Tower series I feel like I'll appreciate it more. Also I really want to read Black House and in order to do the series justice, I feel like I definitely need to give The Talisman another go. Who else is excited for the August pick?

I read the Black House back in high school and barely remember it now. I started the Talisman years back when I first started this King read-along and never finished it because it felt like it was dragging on and on. If you have reached the Bar in the book you'll know where I left off at. With this being said, I would definitely like to finish the book and reread Black House. Having read the sequel and not the first is like picking up Doctor Sleep, not having read The Shining. Despicable. LOL P.S. before school starts at the end of the month, I'm going to have to finally jump on the bandwagon and watch Stranger Things. I KNOW!!! I still haven't watched it yet. BIG SIGHS!

Omg! I finished all 4 seasons of stranger things a week ago. Loved it. I’m starting august read tomorrow:)