Gwendy’s Final Task (Gwendy’s Button Box Trilogy)
£5.20
When Gwendy Peterson was twelve, a stranger named Richard Farris gave her a mysterious box for safekeeping. It offered treats and vintage coins, but it was dangerous. Pushing any of its seven coloured buttons promised death and destruction.
Years later, the button box re-entered Gwendy’s life. A successful novelist and a rising political star, she was once more forced to deal with the temptations that the box represented – an amazing sense of wellbeing, balanced by a terrifyingly dark urge towards disaster.
With the passing of time, the box has grown ever stronger and evil forces are striving to possess it. Once again, it is up to Gwendy Peterson, now a United States Senator battling the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease, to keep it from them. At all costs. But where can you hide something from such powerful entities?
Gwendy’s Final Task is a wildly suspenseful and at the same time deeply moving novel in which ‘horror giants’ (Publishers Weekly) Stephen King and Richard Chizmar take us on a journey from Castle Rock to another famous cursed Maine city to the MF-1 space station, where Gwendy must execute a secret mission to save the world. And, maybe, all worlds.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton (15 Feb. 2022) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 14580 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 403 pages |
by Christopher Stokes
I think it’s safe to say that I enoyed this novel immensely. I hurtled through it at a speed of 2600mph, which just so happens to be how fast Gwendy Peterson hurtles into her final adventure in this ‘wild ride’ of a trilogy. Gwendy’s final outing is this time set in space, which sees the protagonist battling more than one demon along the way. The man in the black hat has given her one final task, and that is to make sure that the button box never again gets into the hands of anyone who can be tempted by its treats or its devastating ‘Cancer button’. This novel is fast paced and keeps you wanting more. Page after page I kept on reading, never once feeling like I wanted to put it down. Not only does this novel deal with Gwendy’s universe saving mission, it also deals with her mental state, which is slowly declining as she enters this last phase. The story deals with her condition well, and without giving too much away I think they gave the character the send off she deserves. Gwendy’s final task neatly ties everything in a bow and brings some unanswered questions to a close, while leaving some new ones open to exploration. This novel also touches upon some of King’s earlier works, which puts a smile on the faces of constant readers. I especially enjoyed the references to the dark tower, and as you will soon come to find out by reading this suspense driven journey through space… ‘there are other worlds than these’. 5*
by vectisfabber
It is 2026. Gwendy is 64, recently widowed, and a Senator who is one of two VIPs on a flight to the new Many Flags space station Despite being a VIP, she has work to do: weather observation, and something more serious, connected with the mysterious Top Secret case she carries. Her rapidly progressing Alzheimer’s – the Button Box demands payback in the long term – means she is in a race against time.
I loved this. The story became obvious, then floated a little uncertainty in, then dangled a bait and switch or maybe not, before racing to several resolutions, terrible but beautiful, two of which had me in tears.
I effing loved this. I loved it.
There are shoutouts to It, the Dark Tower, and other King stories, but you don’t need to be familiar with them.
Gwendy’s story stretches over more than 50 years in 2 novellas and one novel, 2 co-written by King, and it retains the coherence of a single narrative. Wonderful stuff.
by Meesha
My dad was always the Stephen King fan and I have only read a handful of his books (It, The Stand, 11.22.63, Under The Dome, Carrie) but Gwendy grabbed me from the get go and hasn’t let go.
There was a certain reluctance in me to read this book. I didn’t buy it as soon as it was released (it always seems slightly on the expensive side for what is essentially a hardback novella series) and then I had to wait for dad to finish reading it.
When I started reading this, I was really unsure. The Button Box was back in Gwendy’s life again and we seemed to be going up into space, for reasons unknown – but what you can start to guess at as the book continues. Gwendy is now suffering from early on-set Alzheimer’s, so some segments of the book read very much like Still Alice, with what Gwendy was experiencing. I almost wanted to be there, holding her hand and prompting her when she forgot or got things wrong.
The omnipotent presence of Richard Farris still doesn’t really shed any light on who he is, what his final goal is. He appears briefly in flashback chapters, and perhaps the Button Box growing stronger, is sapping some of his energy too, much like Gwendy’s memory worsens.
There are some aspects of the story that I felt dragged the story down slightly, but perhaps it is because I haven’t read The Dark Tower series (my dad’s least favourite King books), which I notice some other reviewers have referenced. The only references that stuck out to me were the glaringly obvious references to IT and Pennywise. Unfortunately, other King references will be lost if you haven’t read many of his books. As anxious as I was about Gwendy’s husband, I felt like I wanted to get back to Gwendy’s story and I didn’t really “get” the surrounding characters involved with her husband and Winston. Again, they may appear in other books.
From what little I have read of King, I do still feel like Richard Chizmar has done an excellent job recreating what started off as an unfinished King book and became a trilogy. He has very much immersed himself in the King universe – although I did bring up to my dad that it was convenient that Stephen’s old pen name was Richard Bachman, and now it’s Richard Chizmar … But I’m maybe seeing coincidences where there aren’t any!
I said to my dad that if this book ended on a sad note, then he was getting hit with it. And while the clue is in the title, I do feel that this could be (I hate to say it) an ongoing series. There’s so many more stories that could be told around the Button Box, but if it ends here, then I’ll be quite happy. Although I would have liked to have stayed more with Gwendy and found out more about her life (my complaint with Magic Feather), I will be content with the trilogy.
Now where did I put my chocolate?
by R.O. P
I found this conclusion of The King /Schizman trilogy of novellas imaginative, fresh and compulsive . Gwendys Final Task following, the other two books Button Box and Magic Feather, was a welcome inspiration for me at a troubling time in my life ! A light read based predominantly around Kings Castle Rock Maine. We follow heroin Gwendy from childhood through to nearly six decades of her life, from , when as a girl she meets a mysterious stranger, who gives her the button box, which is magical!
Political and world events of fiction and reality are included in the trilogy, from The Guyana Jonestown mass suicide, To Trumps rise to the Whitehouse.
I found the whole Button box experience catchy and could not stop reading, instantly on to the next book. completing all three in 3 weeks. For Final Task this is the conclusion of the journey of the successful East Coast Gwendyn , and the fate of the powerful Button box! For Final Task the career climbing Gwendy makes it as, a Democratic Senator, who takes to space exploration. For King master of horror there’s no horror , but a lot of psychological , and fantasy activities, and just a couple of bumps in the night. Read Gwendys Button Box and Gwendys Magic Feather , before Final Task. It will be hard to be disappointed with this book, however this is much of a lighter King read more associated to Dolores Clairborne than Pet Cemetery.
by June Dean
This book was so riveting. I had trouble putting it down. It was a fitting end for a great trilogy.
by john fellows
nnothing i didnt like. Maybe not his best. But anything he does is better than most.