Finished 5 in February.
1. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank was published in the late 1950’s and offered a plausible scenario for a nuclear war between Russia and the US. I found it very interesting that a lot of the geopolitical rhetoric that Frank used in Alas Babylon in the late 1950’s was very similar to what’s being said today between Russia and the western world. While the novel is 65 years old, and parts of it haven’t aged well, I still thought it was an entertaining read, though it is certainly a book of its time. 4 / 5
2. Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar was a reread for me that I enjoyed as much the second time around as I did the first. A young girl is given a magic button box for safe keeping by the enigmatic Richard Farris. The box provides gifts (magical chocolates & rare silver dollars), but it can also cause great harm. 4 / 5
3. Gwendy’s Magic Feather was a standalone effort by Chizmar, and probably my favorite book of the trilogy. It’s the simplest story in the trilogy, a small town murder mystery that Chizmar has come to do so well. Gwendy, now in her late 30’s and a junior federal representative for the state of Maine, is once again given the task to safe guard the button box. Meanwhile, young girls are disappearing in her home town. 5 / 5
4. The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers contains the four story King in Yellow cycle, along with a pair of more traditional ghost stories, and four straight dramatic pieces. Overall I found TKIY to be a mixed bag. I enjoyed all 4 of the stories in TKIY story cycle (especially ‘The Yellow Sign’, the best story in the collection IMO). I also enjoyed the two ghost stories (‘The Demoiselle D’Ys’ and ‘The Street of the Four Winds’). Of the four dramatic stories, I only liked one (‘The Street of the First Shell’, a war drama ). The other stories were more slice of life stories about the love lives of Parisian art students, which I had no interest in. 3.3 / 5
5. Gwendy’s Final Task was a first time read. King & Chizmar collaborated again on the final book in the Gwendy trilogy. I was a little hesitant early on in GFT as the storyline quickly makes it clear that GFT is firmly treading in Dark Tower territory, and I’m not the biggest DT fan. There is also a major shift in tone from the first two books. In Final Task, we find a now mid-60’s Senator Gwendy suffering from onset Alzheimer’s on a space shuttle heading to the ISS. However, I thought that King & Chizmar nailed the story, especially the ending. I thought that GFT provided a fitting conclusion to the trilogy and the character. 4.5 / 5
B
1. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank was published in the late 1950’s and offered a plausible scenario for a nuclear war between Russia and the US. I found it very interesting that a lot of the geopolitical rhetoric that Frank used in Alas Babylon in the late 1950’s was very similar to what’s being said today between Russia and the western world. While the novel is 65 years old, and parts of it haven’t aged well, I still thought it was an entertaining read, though it is certainly a book of its time. 4 / 5
2. Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar was a reread for me that I enjoyed as much the second time around as I did the first. A young girl is given a magic button box for safe keeping by the enigmatic Richard Farris. The box provides gifts (magical chocolates & rare silver dollars), but it can also cause great harm. 4 / 5
3. Gwendy’s Magic Feather was a standalone effort by Chizmar, and probably my favorite book of the trilogy. It’s the simplest story in the trilogy, a small town murder mystery that Chizmar has come to do so well. Gwendy, now in her late 30’s and a junior federal representative for the state of Maine, is once again given the task to safe guard the button box. Meanwhile, young girls are disappearing in her home town. 5 / 5
4. The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers contains the four story King in Yellow cycle, along with a pair of more traditional ghost stories, and four straight dramatic pieces. Overall I found TKIY to be a mixed bag. I enjoyed all 4 of the stories in TKIY story cycle (especially ‘The Yellow Sign’, the best story in the collection IMO). I also enjoyed the two ghost stories (‘The Demoiselle D’Ys’ and ‘The Street of the Four Winds’). Of the four dramatic stories, I only liked one (‘The Street of the First Shell’, a war drama ). The other stories were more slice of life stories about the love lives of Parisian art students, which I had no interest in. 3.3 / 5
5. Gwendy’s Final Task was a first time read. King & Chizmar collaborated again on the final book in the Gwendy trilogy. I was a little hesitant early on in GFT as the storyline quickly makes it clear that GFT is firmly treading in Dark Tower territory, and I’m not the biggest DT fan. There is also a major shift in tone from the first two books. In Final Task, we find a now mid-60’s Senator Gwendy suffering from onset Alzheimer’s on a space shuttle heading to the ISS. However, I thought that King & Chizmar nailed the story, especially the ending. I thought that GFT provided a fitting conclusion to the trilogy and the character. 4.5 / 5
B