Both the small press publication of Gwendy’s Magic Feather by Cemetery Dance Publications and the signed-limited edition by SST Publications are sharp! She still makes mistakes and others, as well as herself, suffer for them; she is human and this realness permeates the reader. Sadly more lecherous old Congressmen and a dangerously enraged President makes life as a US Representative challenging. Gwendy’s sharp intuition and skill makes her a successful writer and then, in a sudden fit of obligation to her country and her home state of Maine – and the encouragement of others begging her to run – she miraculously unseats a deplorable Congressman in her district.

The Button Box Series by Stephen King - Goodreads The Button Box Series by Stephen King - Goodreads

There are thousands of years of stories based around good and not-so-good people being given choices with consequences and rewards that weigh on the conscience, the humanity. This is a book that holds up really well to the start of the trilogy and offers a really nice middle chapter to the series. Chizmar has done a bang-up job of continuing Gwendy’s story and I’m so happy I decided to read this. I think it’s a book that’ll surprise those people who still haven’t made the effort to read it and I’m now, personally, excited to see how this series is closed out. The world created in the Gwendy-verse feels too real at times, bringing its own amount of horror with that realness. All of the4se qualities help to shape the Gwendy we meet in the second book of the series. Gwendy’s Magic Feather is a modern fairy tale fit for the Brothers Grimm updated to slice like a twentieth century switchblade! She does not lose her sense of self, even as she doubts her past, present, and future deeds, which is admirable.

The Button Box is its own character that crashes on the story and never lets up.

Gwendy speaks with a stranger, a man with a felt hat, at age 12 who asks her to guard a precious object. Congresswoman Gwendy Peterson is a beacon of kindness and candor in Congress where these traits light up amidst the ever-growing shadowy spaces besieging Washington. We can see the Washington meetings. We can smell the unknown plots lurking in some of the politicians’ shadows. The Cemetery Dance edition has a beautiful texture to the boards with gold foil stamping and awesome cover art by Ben Baldwin and interior art by Vincent Sammy.

Gwendy’s Final Task by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar - The Gwendy’s Final Task by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar - The

Think of the temptation for a young person, who is being bullied and has high aspirations (that the 1891 Morgan silver dollars help with) to not use the compelling buttons that call to her. It was more about the continuation of a story that was missing the other author. I know that sounds weird, but it was how I felt. The once kind and witty Gwendy of age 12 – the first time she held the Button Box – is still a kind and witty person, because that is her charm, even as she is beset by dangers to her home town, the Capitol, the world, and her family. We feel for Gwendy as guilt clouds her mind and her strong demureness is rattled by the uncertainty of what she has done in her life – did she act because she wanted to or what things did she do that may have just as a result of holding the talisman, the Button Box. Gwendy is like no character I know of and her stories are a great example of contemporary speculative fiction that delves its own niche far into the realms of fiction.

Steve Stred is the author of a number of novels, novellas and collections. He has appeared in anthologies with some of Horror’s heaviest hitters. Still, when Gwendy gets a kind of shine to her and she can read into the memories of someone she touches, the psychopath behind the missing girls is spotted, as is a crushed felt hat amidst the darkness in the Maine snow.

Gwendy Trilogy (Boxed Set) | Book by Stephen King The Gwendy Trilogy (Boxed Set) | Book by Stephen King

What can the Button Box do? The Button Box is its own character that crashes on the story and never lets up. Before the Button Box had with the pull of a lever delivered delicious chocolates that improved all of the senses and gifted, for a time some of the things the holder of the Box desired; for Gwendy, she initially wanted to lose weight and as she got older she kept the box dispatching mint condition 1891 Morgan silver dollars so she could afford to go to an Ivy League college. I really enjoyed Gwendy’s Button Box when it came out. Richard and Stephen did a wonderful job of creating a story together that had all of the elements that I look for when reading these days. If you have read Gwendy’s Button Box, but it was not one of your favorite books, or it did not really move you, I highly recommend a second read if you like the character of Gwendy. Richard Chizmar’s Gwendy’s Magic Feather forwards an odyssey undertaken by Gwendy who was just twelve when she was made caretaker of a device that impacted her world and ours: it was the rewarding, dangerous and beguiling Button Box.

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There is a great crime element in this book, a touch of macabre in both well-lit scenes and ones in the frozen darkness, and a lot of brooding suspense led by the intrinsic character of Gwendy. Richard Chizmar brilliantly grows Gwendy’s story arc. And come the end the reader is left wanting to follow along with her as her odyssey continues. Let’s examine the book’s editions! But he does finally assure Gwendy that she is special, a caretaker, but she has also made her life’s accomplishments on her own.

Gwendy’s Magic Feather Forwards An Odyssey Richard Chizmar’s Gwendy’s Magic Feather Forwards An Odyssey

The first book in the series is Gwendy’s Button Box, co-authored by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, and if you have NOT read Gwendy’s Button Box, STOP HERE and go read that novella now! Not later. I do not care what format, reading is reading with it be via hologram, audiobook, or good old-fashioned paper, made from trees, that smells nice. Here is a SPOILER WARNING** for the Preceding Book, Gwendy’s Button Box.

Richard Chizmar’s Gwendy’s Magic Feather Forwards An Odyssey

Now examine the character of a person who, despite being told her caretaking of the Button Box has rewards, is savvy enough to believe that there is a cost too and so she does not abuse the power she inherits. But the Button Box has a price behind each gift, and the lure of the buttons grows stronger and overriding with each use.