The Talisman...Probably his best...

[GLewman]

Something I've noticed about SK's books is that the fewer the characters, the better the story...He almost pulled it off in The Stand, but even that book went off the rails a few times and I found that I would skip some chapters out of lack of interest....The Talisman is my favorite because of its scale and the simplicity and depth of the characters...It was always Jack and someone else (Jack/Lily...Jack/Speedy...Jack/ Wolf...Jack/Richard). That simplicity, at least for me, connected me to these characters and this book, more so than any other...I did get a little misty eyed when Wolf died . I almost hesitate to recommend this book as a first SK read, because the depth of character is so much more than 90% of his other writing. I would hate for someone to read this and then Under the Dome. A person might think The Talisman was a fluke.

P.S.

[GNTLGNT]

It is set high in my pantheon...

[Felipe]

You said everything!! I adore The Talisman and that "depth" you talked about is really truth. I also don't think that this book is recommended for a first S.King read, there is so much written in the leadings.

[bobledrew]

I don't get your reasoning, GLew... Both the Talisman and the Stand are sprawling novels with huge casts. The Talisman page on the site here lists more than 100 characters; The Stand has more than 400 entries for characters. Do you mean main characters? I'm trying to get your point here, but I'm missing something.

[sam peebles]

I might have to disagree with this. The Talisman is awesome, one of my favorites, but King has proven he can write a gigantic cast of characters with deft and clarity. IT comes to my mind immediately, with the losers and the Henry Bowers gang and all the secondary characters. Salems Lot also--it's those minor characters that really bring the town to life, make it seem like a real community. The Stand. Needful Things. The Tommyknockers. I think they were all successful in their boast of a huge list of characters used to flush out the story.

I'll agree that Under the Dome was bloated with people that I found hard to keep track of, and I didn't love the book.

...You skipped entire chapters of the Stand?

[GLewman]

...You skipped entire chapters of the Stand?

I do this with lots of books when I re-read them...I skipped the chapters having to do with Frannie, mostly...Vapid comes to mind...I agree that SK is a master of bringing characters to life and he is one of the very few that can hold a large group together...Try reading Kevin J. Anderson sometime...He is absolutely horrible when it comes to keeping a story going with more than about 5 characters...He is also DESTROYING the Star Wars and Dune series...I have read the books you listed 10+ times each and always feel like I'm visiting old friends when I do...It is just my experience that when SK has fewer characters, I remember and relate to the story more deeply? I'm still thinking about this and might change my thinking or clarify it better for myself...You made a great point

[JellybeanJay]

I absolutely loved the Talisman. I had the book on my shelf for quite a few years before I read it, I would pick up read the first few chapters and then get bored and put it down. When I finally got through the first 50 pages, after many tries, I couldn't put it down.

I completely agree with what you said about the characters, even though there were quite a few of them, the story really on focused on two at a time, three at the most (Jack/Richard/Sunlight Gardener). The story was a lot easier to read and it was easier to understand the relationship between the characters than it is in a lot of the longer works (Under the Dome, The Stand ect).

I also skipped chapters in The Stand mainly when the focus was characters I didn't like. In the beginning of The Stand I found Larry to be really whiny so I skipped a lot of him but didn't feel that I missed out on any of the story.

I am not sure I would recommend The Talisman to a first time reader and I would defiinitely not recommend Black House to anyone that has not read the DT series.

[Connie Reader]

The girl who loved Tom Gordon, now THAT is a book with few characters! I get what you mean, Jack was the main character, and anyone who has read the book I would imagine would think of him first 90% of the time. I agree with Sam that its the minor characters that bring a story to life...the little descriptions of a smaller character; his or her feelings thoughts and actions, like tasty little omniscient nuggets.
I love The Talisman, but I love it for the scale and scope that I saw in it. The cross country/demension travel of a young boy...I felt like I went across the country right along with Jack. Before that book, IT was my favorite and what I liked in both of them was the depth of the characters. It's what kept me from reading my now favorite, DT, for so long. I didn't think it had that same depth. hooo boy was I wrong!

[GLewman]

The girl who loved Tom Gordon, now THAT is a book with few characters!

Don't forget Gerald's Game...hahaha...There is such a thing as too FEW characters...I was thinking about it a little more and I shouldn't have said the number of characters in his books, but the number of PLOT lines...Maintain one or two plot lines and it kind of forces the author to stay on course with the story...I find that if I am reading a book and get into a story line, and the characters involved, then go to another story line with different characters, I lose track of the original story line and have to get "re-invested" in what was going on to begin with. The Stand was different...It had several story lines, but there were really only two...Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg...Jellybean was right about the first 50-100 pages of The Stand...It was kind of like a slow moving jet...Taking its time on the taxi way, getting into position...then BOOM! into the sky

[JellybeanJay]

Don't forget Gerald's Game...hahaha...There is such a thing as too FEW characters...I was thinking about it a little more and I shouldn't have said the number of characters in his books, but the number of PLOT lines...Maintain one or two plot lines and it kind of forces the author to stay on course with the story...I find that if I am reading a book and get into a story line, and the characters involved, then go to another story line with different characters, I lose track of the original story line and have to get "re-invested" in what was going on to begin with. The Stand was different...It had several story lines, but there were really only two...Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg...Jellybean was right about the first 50-100 pages of The Stand...It was kind of like a slow moving jet...Taking its time on the taxi way, getting into position...then BOOM! into the sky

Perfect description! IMO that could also be said about the Talisman and Duma Key. It took me a long time to get into both but when I did, I couldn't put them down, they kind of sneak up on you!