I first read this book many years ago when I still lived at home, and even though I've only read it a couple of times since, this will always remain to be one of my most favourite books of all time.

A step back from Stephen King's usual reign of terror, he teams up with Peter Straub to bring us this epic fantasy opus featuring Jack Sawyer, or known as Travelling Jack.

As a first read, there are parts that are rough going, and sometimes you feel like you really don't want to keep going, but once you push through, you are rewarded time and time again with some of the most shockingly profound moments I've ever experienced in a book.

I'm unsure who exactly of the two authors is responsible for the brilliantly vivid descriptions, but I am thankful for them either way. It's been years since I've read this book through properly, yet I can still see the characters in my head as clear as the laptop I write this on.

Jack is able to flip between two worlds, our world, and the other world, 'The Territories'. He sets out to help save his mum who is an aging B-movie actor, dying from cancer. He discovers that for every person in the real world, there is a twin in The Territories, called a Twinner. They share their births and deaths and life events in synch. Twinners are able to 'flip' between worlds, but only into their counterparts bodies.
In The Territories, the Queen is dying - Jack's mother is the Territories Queen, and it is his job to find the cure, the Talisman, is the only thing that can help her.

The book is long, and it takes you on a pretty magnificent journey between two worlds, with characters as memorable as your first beloved pet.