Some may cry foul at this, pointing out that this project is supposed to be centered on the works of Stephen King. So why include a novel by Richard Chizmar?

 

If, “because I said so” won’t suffice, then allow me to elucidate.

 

It really shouldn’t be that much of a stretch. Gwendy’s Magic Feather is a direct sequel to Gwendy’s Button Box, a book co-written by Stephen King. And if you pick up the new book, you will be treated to an introduction from King in which he details the process of writing the book with Chizmar. This may not have been written by King but it’s a book authorized by him and it’s set in his universe.

 

Seriously, because I said so. Just go with that.

 

Before getting into the meat of the book, I wanted to compliment the physical formatting, which is not normally something I pay a lot of attention to but this really is a beautiful book, all starting with the lush and inviting colors of the cover. As with Button Box, the book seems to be designed to keep you reading, where you blink and fifty pages have gone by.

 

Say what you will, but I think there is emotional value to having pages with fewer words on them. Nothing bolsters your energy moving through a book like being able to flip pages, to prove to yourself that you can keep moving. That you can’t stop moving. As much as I have loved books like Red Storm Rising or Shogun or my beloved IT, it is definitely a momentum killer to be greeted with what seems like a thousand words on each page. With this, you feel like you’re on a slide that keeps getting steeper. And just like Gwendy’s box seems to whisper to her, this book does the same to you, entrusting and enticing you with her story.

 

To be honest, this wasn’t necessarily what I was expecting but I don’t mean that in a bad way. It brought to mind another recent Stephen King offering, that being Elevation. In that case as well I came wading in with my own preconceptions but in both cases, while I found those expectations confounded, it didn’t matter as much because of how much I was enjoying the story.

 

One thing which I have found Richard Chizmar to excel at, and something King seems to agree with in his opening remarks, is his ability to give stories a sense of nostalgia. And while this story might not take quite as much of the brutal, dark turn that others of Chizmar’s work have done, I think that for a book like this, that nostalgic drive is a crucial element.

 

Because, after all, this isn’t just a return to the character of Gwendy Peterson. It’s also a return to the fabled locale of Castle Rock, in a way, King’s Metropolis. And really, who better to curate that journey than Richard Chizmar? You get an immense feeling of the weight of Castle Rock as a place as well as all that has transpired here.

 

One installment in particular that seemed to rise to the forefront of my brain as I read was that of Johnny Smith in the Dead Zone. I think I made this connection due to the fact that Gwendy returns to Castle Rock against the background of disappearances that have happened in the town. What I think makes Dead Zone brilliant is how you have the tragedy of events that are largely happening offstage. Then you have the looming, dark dread of the main story and you spend much of the book bracing for the two to come together. I think this nicely sums up my feelings on Gwendy’s Magic Feather as well.

 

There’s an expression that is bandied around in terms of language we use to describe the plot of a book. We say that the story was a slow burn. And while at times it can feel somewhat like a catch phrase anymore, this book seems like the picture that should go alongside the dictionary definition. Different people are going to have different expectations regarding plot and how quickly the story moves. It isn’t possible for me to place any kind of quantifiable value on this aspect of the book.

 

I will say that while you could make the argument that nothing much is happening for a portion of the book, I would argue that regardless of the bells and whistles, Chizmar has constructed an eminently readable and entertaining book. I’m not normally as hooked into books that are so firmly plot driven. But Chizmar brilliantly balances the functional requirements of the story while at the same time insinuating some legitimately creepy and unsettling moments. You don’t know what the future holds for Gwendy but her path seems over-wrought with danger. Dark presences lurk around the fringes of her awareness, like the drifting snowflakes that come ahead of a brutal Maine snow storm.

 

One thing that concerned me was the potential shift in tone from one book to the next. It’s hard enough to write good sequels as it is. But add extra challenges by considering that your previous installment was at least partially written by one of the most successful authors of the modern era and also that you are being drawn right into the center of that massive fan base.

 

I can only imagine the kind of pressures one could feel trying to create art in the shadow of such a massive legacy. I have dealt at great lengths in this project with my thoughts on modern fan culture and how toxic it can be. It takes no small reserve of fortitude and backbone to step into the universe of Stephen King and offer up this story to a population of Constant Readers that spans the globe. Who knows how it will be accepted? After all, there is always going to be a mildly disturbed fan who wants nothing more than to beat you down with their extensive knowledge of the minutiae of Stephen King’s books. You just know there are readers lurking out there, ready to indignantly proclaim that Annie Wilkes had a fourth cousin who was in Desperation, not in Rage. So that means you can’t do this in chapter blah blah blah.

 

Exhausting.

 

Being an author is already fraught with the anxiety of trying to please everyone. Add to this the anticipation and expectations of a fully formed fan base and you have yourself a recipe for emotional doom. Everyone wants to be Joe Perry. No one wants to just be known as the guy Journey hired to sing for them.

 

Despite these challenges, Chizmar delivers in fine form, touching down into the town limits of the Rock and making it his own while somehow also honoring the history of the town. This is a love letter written for the constant reader, by the constant reader.

 

Reading Gwendys Magic Feather is like going to that family reunion that you actually look forward to each year. Somehow at the same time it manages to fill you with a warmth of familiarity for the character while at the same time feeling a creeping dread and foreboding for the direction her life could be taking. It’s a lot like seeing a close friend in peril and all you want to do is help.

 

If I had to pinpoint one thing that has consistently attracted me to Stephen King’s writing it would have to be his ability to craft complex and interesting characters. These aren’t dry narratives you are dissecting here, it feels like the all too real history of these people. Even with the books I didn’t like as much, I still felt drawn in by my interest in seeing how things would shake out for these people.

 

And this has what to do with the price of the tea in wherever?

 

Richard Chizmar was given the rare opportunity to get to play in the sandbox that Stephen King built. He got it first two years ago when they collaborated on Gwendy’s Button Box. And now with this, Chizmar has been given the keys to the kingdom and license to go where he deems fit. That’s a lot to live up to and what I think he executes so brilliantly is in re-establishing that King flair for character and brings that to bear for your full reading pleasure. It really was a great experience reading it and I wasn’t exaggerating up front, I easily could have taken this down in one sitting.

 

So is this better than King? Worse? Has the student ascended to the throne and unseated the master of horror? For me, lines of questioning like this are fairly dull intellectually, and largely seem to just be used as breeding tanks for arguments. I would rate this book as higher than many of King’s books and not as good as many others. The thing is though, and what should be considered an obvious statement is that Richard Chizmar is not Stephen King. And you shouldn’t be coming into this expecting him to do his best King impression, donning the coke bottle bottoms for glasses, grinning and shrugging as he offers up this book to you. This is a Richard Chizmar book that was given the honor of an invitation to be a part of the Stephen King universe. You should come to this because you love Chizmar’s writing, not because you want to see if he does Boston Cream Pie as good as the last guy.

 

Gwendy has a very special box. She also has a special feather. And like points on a compass, they all stand as reference points in a world of wonder and magic. I don’t know where all of this is going to lead Gwendy but I’m excited to be on these stairs with her, climbing ever and ever higher.

 

I think there’s someone waiting for me up there.

 

And he might want to have a palaver.