New novel: Gwendy's Final Task by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar (February 15, 2022)

[Brian861]

It seems B&N gave my book to the UPS who handed it off to the USPS who delivered it today, Sunday.
I theorize a conspiracy, and have duly notified Mel Gibson.

Should receive my B&N order on the 25th. Received my CD order on the official release day. Green boards and all.

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

I just noticed the texture of the dust jacket on my CD copy is glossy, while the dust jacket on the B&N book is of a different material.
I don't know if this has been pointed out before.

[Hunchback Jack]

I got mine from CD earlier this week (green) and one from Amazon today (grey).

The two variants are quite different. Same contents, of course.

The gray version has a matte dustjacket, gray boards, the authors’ names - no title! - stamped on the spine, a simple glued binding, and white endpapers. The green version has glossy dust jacket, green boards stamped on the spine and the front, a more sturdy stitched binding, and black endpapers.

The paper stock and print quality looks to be the same in both editions. The gray version’s page block looks slightly thinner, but that might just be a byproduct of the different binding.

HBJ

[Brian861]

Definitely should be added to the catalog for future collectors.

[Hunchback Jack]

Added photos to my comparison post.

[Randall Flagg]

I'll get the info and pics added to the Catalog.

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

After the 1st reading, I would say King never contributed to this.

[Brian861]

I'll get the info and pics added to the Catalog.

Thanks, Jerome.

[Brian861]

After the 1st reading, I would say King never contributed to this.

Having read some Chizmar in the past, I would agree wholeheartedly.

[Hunchback Jack]

I'll get the info and pics added to the Catalog.

Thanks, Jerome. Let me know if I can provide any more pics (copyright pages, etc).

HBJ

[Hunchback Jack]

Publishing info from Richard Chizmar:

• First hardcover printing: 100,000 copies
• Green binding: 80,000 copies
• Gray binding: 20,000 copies
• Flat signed copies: approx 5,000
• Signed Bookplates: 4,000

HBJ

[mae]

Even though I got the apparently "rarer" variant, I like the green more.

[Randall Flagg]

Not sure where the purported 80,000 green binding books are (CD's warehouse to be remaindered in 2 years?) as I'm still waiting on my order from CD.

[Brian861]

Even though I got the apparently "rarer" variant, I like the green more.

The green one is nice. Surprised it's not the rarer of the two. Ordered a couple of grays. Hopefully they'll be first.

[herbertwest]

Given the pictures, the grey version looks extremely basic and not nice

[Randall Flagg]

I'll get the info and pics added to the Catalog.

Thanks, Jerome.

Info and pics added. Thanks to Hunchback Jack for the info and pics.

[Brian861]

It seems H&S also printed the title. From what I've seen, green boards without the stamping.

[SystemCrashOverRide]

It seems H&S also printed the title. From what I've seen, green boards without the stamping.

A third printer of a 1st/1st? The plot thickens

[Hunchback Jack]

It seems H&S also printed the title. From what I've seen, green boards without the stamping.

Second printings of that edition exist already, too.

[Randall Flagg]

H&S is a UK publisher.

[Hunchback Jack]

After the 1st reading, I would say King never contributed to this.

Having read some Chizmar in the past, I would agree wholeheartedly.

I’ve just finished it, and I would say it’s a mix, but definitely more Chizmar than King. If I were guessing, I would say that Chizmar wrote the first draft, and King did an editorial pass to insert some story elements and changes of wording.

More comments and massive spoilers behind the spoiler tag.

Spoiler:

Generally, I thought the central story was fine, but not great. The story of Gwendy tasked with destroying the box, and evil powers trying to take it from her is a fine premise, and I think it was executed reasonably well.

However, the inclusion of references to Kings other work made it feel very fan-fictiony. Some of the references were fun, and had they been restricted to Kings Maine, I think they would’ve worked fine. But I felt like Chizmar introduced some of the more expansive elements to try to make Gwendy’s story bigger, and the result was to make King’s other work feel smaller.

For example, the button box was clearly designed to be used on earth – our earth, or an earth very similar to ours. So the idea that it would be a threat to the Tower, the linchpin of all existence, the enormous edifice that the Crimson King spent centuries trying to destroy Beam by Beam, just makes the Tower seem weaker.

I don’t consider this trilogy to be part of King’s canon.

It’s also interesting that King joked about Chizmar sending Gwendy into space in his preface to the second volume, so that raises questions in my mind about how seriously King takes this little tale set in his worlds.

HBJ

[nocny]

From Bev Vincent's interview:

As you worked on the novel, did you discuss where the book was going, or was it simply a process of passing the manuscript back and forth and giving the other author free rein to do as he liked with the story?

Chizmar: Pretty much total freedom, which made the process all the more challenging and exciting.

How did you decide when it was time to hand the manuscript off to your collaborator?

King: 50-page Rule.

Once you finished the first draft, how did you handle revising each other's sections?

Chizmar: We actually did a lot of minor revising and tweaking as we went along. Most of the time, when one of us received a new batch of pages, the first thing we did was read and revise. That helped to get us back into the flow of the narrative. Then, we picked up where the other had left off and ran with it.

[RichardX]

Nice to see the book dedicated to Marsha DeFilippo who was the moderator on the old SK forum.

[herbertwest]

More than the moderator, she was one of King's assistant for about 15-20 years

[RichardX]

The tiresome political commentary of the book is unfortunate, but predictable. King is like the old guy in the neighborhood whose favorite activity is yelling at the kids to keep off his lawn and he can't stop even after the kids have moved away. My favorite part has to be the lecture on global warming coming from the guy who takes a private jet on his book tours. It's sad to see an author like King go out like this. Writing mediocre books and being a hypocrite. I still read his books but the enjoyment is gone.