Stephen King Fans discussion

Due for release on May 30, 2017 by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. New novella set in Castle Rock. It's a Cemetery Dance exclusive hardcover, but I do see on there that there will be a ebook release too.

Gwendy's Button Box

http://ew.com/books/2017/02/28/stephe...

Here's the blurb:

The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told... until now.

There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.

At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game.

One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: "Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me."

On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat...

Ordered my copy today! I'm looking forward to going back to Castle Rock.

Lonely Road Books is also going to release a Stephen King signed edition but they haven't announced when it will be released.

Ordered mine and can't wait!

I ordered mine too. It's a beautiful cover.

..very disappointed..22.50$ for a "book" of 180 pages??..

Hey Sabina. That is a lot, but standard practice for Cemetery Dance.

They'll be offering it in ebook format too, and I'm sure it will be much more reasonable.

It will sell regardless of the price, because there are those of us who collect King. Like Chris said, it will eventually be available for much less in other forms, but I don't have a problem with what Cemetery Dance, and even Dark Regions Press does. They cater to collectors. Amazon and B&N cater to the general public.

..I will surely buy the Kindle version..I mean..come on!!..it is still a King's writing..cannot miss it!!.. ;)
..but I'm so very looking forward to a new novel..a huge..colossal..new novel.. :(

Sabina wrote: "..I will surely buy the Kindle version..I mean..come on!!..it is still a King's writing..cannot miss it!!.. ;)
..but I'm so very looking forward to a new novel..a huge..colossal..new novel.. :("

Me too! I love his long, long ramblings. My husband always says King has diarrhea of the pen and I always think (internally) I hope that never goes away because I am always happy with more from him. More, more, more will never be enough.

Sabina wrote: "..I will surely buy the Kindle version..I mean..come on!!..it is still a King's writing..cannot miss it!!.. ;)
..but I'm so very looking forward to a new novel..a huge..colossal..new novel.. :("

He's releasing a novel that he's written with his son, Owen, in October: Sleeping Beauties

704 pages. yes!

Can't wait for the release!

I ordered my copy, and am so excited!!

It has been a long time since I paid full price for a book; so I guess I deserve this newbie and anything with The Man In Black, will be awesome. :)

Matthewcross87 wrote: "man in black ?"

The Walkin' Dude
The Dark Man
The Hardcase
Ageless Stranger
The Man In Black

The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.... dark tower and I'm almost done with the second book

Kenneth wrote: "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.... dark tower and I'm almost done with the second book"

Best opening line to a book... EVER! Woot

Matthewcross87 wrote: "man in black ?"

What Kandice said.

He appears in so many books in the Stephen King Universe... so, be very careful where you tread.

Just finished this lovely novella last night. It was awesome.

If you are looking for creepiness and being scared; then this is not the book for you.

Randall Flagg aka Richard Farris aka The Walkin' Dude; is off-putting, but nothing to freak you out.

If you loved Joyland, then you will love this. It is not noir, but coming of age as Stephen King does it.

I just finished it. Here's an interpretation. (view spoiler)[The book is really a political allegory... a warning actually about responsibility and the dangers of nuclear war. (hide spoiler)]

My overlong review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Nick wrote: "I just finished it. Here's an interpretation. [spoilers removed]

My overlong review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Great review, Nick.

I absolutely loved this story.

Alondra wrote: "Nick wrote: "I just finished it. Here's an interpretation. [spoilers removed]

My overlong review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show......"

Thanks, Alondra, I loved it too.

For such a short book, is it worth the price?

And hey, I know everyone deserves a break, especially King, but has King stopped writing all his own work now?

Andrew wrote: "For such a short book, is it worth the price?

And hey, I know everyone deserves a break, especially King, but has King stopped writing all his own work now?"

I think he wrote this to help out a friend, Chizmar and I think Sleeping Beauties is to help out his son. I don't think it has anything to do with him not wanting or being able to write alone.

Andrew wrote: "For such a short book, is it worth the price?

And hey, I know everyone deserves a break, especially King, but has King stopped writing all his own work now?"

It was really great to me. This was worth the price, to me. You can always wait, and get it cheap at a local Used Book Store; which is what I normally do.

This just happened to be the one time out of a year that I really wanted to buy something brand spanking new. Besides, he is my favorite.

He writes his own stuff; but he collaborates often with other authors.

I didn't answer your question, but yes, I think it's worth the price. It really is a pretty book, it's Castle Rock, has RF, all the high points!

Matthewcross87 wrote: "considering that king had to cut more then 500 pages from the original stand novel because the publishers thought people wouldn't buy it . some thing seem very wrong here with the size of the novel..."

well, don't buy it. just wait a full year, until the paperback comes out or borrow from the library. problem solved... unless, you know of a great UBS that gets newer copies

BTW, I snagged a copy of that uncut version of The Stand and loved it still. LOL

I understand your issue with the cost, and also know that's no problem, because like Alondra says, you don't need to buy it, I think you're mistaken with your logic, though.

Books are pretty expensive. I think the actual number of pages are the least of it. Getting the book to press, the illustrations, binding and jacket are about the same regardless of length. That's why a 150 page paperback is almost the same price as a 700 pager.

Buy the ebook mayhap? It's only a couple of bucks and has all the text without the pretty extras you aren't worried about having.

Oh, it might have pictures - I don't know. I actually bought the audiobook with an audible credit and listened to that. Excellent reading, btw. Maggie Siff from Sons of Anarchy narrated, and there was a bonus short story and a short interview with the authors.

Chris wrote: "Buy the ebook mayhap? It's only a couple of bucks and has all the text without the pretty extras you aren't worried about having."

Another good option. -_-

I bought the hardback and the ebook, but I think I will probably also buy the audio. I especially enjoy shorter audios.

So this is a discussion about the cost? Not the story? Oh...

Todd wrote: "So this is a discussion about the cost? Not the story? Oh..."

The story is completely worth buying.

Todd wrote: "So this is a discussion about the cost? Not the story? Oh..."

no; not sure how it turned into a hunt for a cheap copy...

The book was really good. I liked it. Making a choice to not make a choice. What do you do, when you have an actual Pandora's box in your possession???? Do you hit a button?? Do you eat the chocolate??? decisions, decisions

Matthewcross87 wrote: "considering that king had to cut more then 500 pages from the original stand novel because the publishers thought people wouldn't buy it . some thing seem very wrong here with the size of the novel..."
You would think so but imagine how difficult it is to cut from what you consider a completed work. Now imagine cutting almost 30% of your work out of your completed work. Who or what do you cut to maintain the integrity of the story and meet the publishers demands. The fact that he did it and it is a fantastic story speaks volumes for his abilities as a writer. if he had more published works under his belt they probably wouldn't have insisted or he could have blown them off and saying it is to be published as is.

Matthew I understand where you are coming from and I commiserate with you I know how hard it is to get what you want when the funds are lacking. Have you looked into a book swap scheme where you swap books with fellow readers and the only cost is the shipping of the book ? It's something you can think about, just a suggestion.

Matthewcross87 wrote: "hey :) that sounds like a good idea ive never heard of people doing that"

They used to have a program for that here on GR. If you sent others three books, you could receive a book for no shipping. I loved it. I don't know why they discontinued it.

Why don't you look into how you can get it reinstated

Matthewcross87 wrote: "hey :) that sounds like a good idea ive never heard of people doing that"

Here are a couple!

http://www.booksfreeswap.com/
http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php
http://bookmooch.com/
http://www.swaptrees.com/swap_books.php

Okay, I just finished the story and it was good but for me it wasn't exactly earth shattering. One thing bothers me (view spoiler)[Richard Farris has almost no resemblance to Randall Flagg. I mean, way out of character and I don't know how or what to make of it without some sort of context. I might have liked it more if it would have been a different man in black. (hide spoiler)]

ElleEm wrote: "Okay, I just finished the story and it was good but for me it wasn't exactly earth shattering. One thing bothers me [spoilers removed]"

Regarding your spoiler (view spoiler)[ I agree, but I wondered if perhaps King was showing us that not every time RF appears is he evil or awful. Also, what if in this case RF was hoping whoever got the box would do evil things with it, but other than choosing the recipient he was unwilling to influence them. (hide spoiler)]

Its....It's very mediocre. I love the premise and the potential what if's that come up throughout the story. My issue was that all of the what ifs and Gwendy getting corrupted by the box just basically turn into a rehash of Richard Matheson's story, "the button." It's definitely worth a read, but nothing I would ever go out of my way for

Of course got this the day it cam out and read it in two days. Wasn't mind blowing, but I did enjoy it. Happy reading all!!!

Read it and liked it, although it was more of a novella and the character development (except for Gwendy) was minimal. I have a special place in my heart for this story, though, as the cover was done by Ben Baldwin who also did the cover for my upcoming novel SINKHOLE from Bloodshot Books due August.

I'll join a in!

I have mine on hold on Overdrive. There are several ahead of me so I might not make it :-/

It is short but so wonderful!

Thank u

Kandice wrote: "ElleEm wrote: "Okay, I just finished the story and it was good but for me it wasn't exactly earth shattering. One thing bothers me [spoilers removed]"

Regarding your spoiler [spoilers removed]"


Yes! I thought it this way too. I enjoyed it very much, and even though it is a small story I fell in love with (some) characters. Also, I wanted to know why the chocolates were extremely detailed. I had a theory but I'm not sure anymore....