Pursuits in parallel worlds

Press, 1 June 1985, Page 20

Pursuits in parallel worlds

The Talisman. By Peter Straub and Stephen King. Viking, 1984. 644 pp. $26.95. This is a superb fantasy, co-written by two masters of the occult. Peter Straub and Stephen King, tell the tale of a fantastic world, parallel to Earth, called the “Territories.” It is inhabited by terrifying and wonderful beings, rather in the style of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.” The hero of the story, 12-year-old Jack Sawyer, lives alone with his mother, former Lily Cavanaugh Sawyer, queen of the B-movies for two decades. Since her husband’s untimely death, Lily has become increasingly unwell, possibly with terminal cancer. Jack’s evil uncle Morgan Sloat is the other partner in the late Phil Sawyer’s business, and follows Jack and his mother round the United States, cajoling them to sell their partnership to him. Jack befriends an old black man, Speedy Parker, who tells him of the

Territories and “Twinners,” odd reflections of people from this other world. Jack learns that his mother has a Twinner — Laura deLoessian, Queen of the Territories, who is also terminally ill. Jack is taught by Speedy how to “flip” from one world to the other and encouraged by him, sets off on a perilous journey, hitch-hiking and walking his way through the Territories, and across the breadth of the United States, westwards to California to retrieve the precious Talisman and to save the lives of his mother and her twinner.

People are aware of Jack’s mission: Morgan Sloat, his Twinner Morgan of Orris, and terrifying underlings pursue Jack across both worlds, wielding all their power to prevent him from reaching the Talisman. This novel is an example of the combined talents of two top authors. Straub and King produce some amazing imagery in their descriptions of their fantastic world. — R. L. Petre.