Stephen King – Under the Dome
Posted in Reviews on February 20th, 2010 by General Blaspheme
This here is my first book review. I’ve always wanted to post them, but for whatever reason just never had. I don’t think I’m that good at them, truth told. But you never know until you really do one up. So here goes.
The basic premise (as taken from Stephen King’s site itself):
“On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when—or if—it will go away.
Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens—town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing—even murder—to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.”
I got the book on Christmas day, but due to the fact that I was in the middle of a series already (Star Trek: Vanguard for those that want to know), I wasn’t able to start it until the 31st, maybe even January 2nd. And I knew, roughly only three pages in or so, that this was going to change everything I thought and knew about Stephen King. I’ve been reading the man’s work for fifteen years now (yes, since I was nine), and he has always been my favorite author since then, and I knew I was about to read one of his crowning achievements. The other is The Dark Tower series, as far as I’m concerned.
Under the Dome is full of characters that are rich and full with real life, real breath going in and out of their bodies. From the least observed characters to the most seen, like Dale Barbara, Julia Shumway, Jim Rennie (who is up there with Darth Vader as far as evil villains go), and Junior Rennie and more, every person in the novel is very real.
And that’s what makes this novel very different from a lot of Stephen King’s past work. Generally, the man goes so deep into detail that you can hear what they hear and feel what they feel. But with Under the Dome you can go even deeper. It’s almost like you can meet these people on the street and converse with them yourself. It’s amazing how deeply immersive the storytelling is with this book, and that’s one of my favorite things about the story.
The story itself, however, is gorgeously done, and it moves along at a fast pace. Barely a week goes by with the novel’s timeframe, but yet there is also so many sides to the story that it takes 1070 (and change) pages to tell. So not only is there tons of action, tons of intrigue, and tons of gritty, dark reality happening, there’s tons of pages to read it happening in. Which is another point in Mr. King’s favor. I love long novels.
At the same time, this novel is still like classic Stephen King. You know who the author is just by the style of writing, the way the words flow. No stopping and starting, no jerking around. It’s like putting your eyes onto a greased slide – they just move of their own accord, your mind showing you the story more than reading it.
Plus, for the Constant Reader, the collective that is Stephen King’s true fanbase, there are some nice surprises too. I won’t spill the beans, but I will tell you that this story, whether you’re a member of the Constant Reader collective or even someone who has never experienced a Steve King novel firsthand, you will probably love this story. I sure did, and I kept wanting to go back to it every time I had to put it down. But today I finally got to finish it, and it blew my socks off with the ending.
10 out of 10.
