Under the Dome by Stephen King
Published Today by Hodder
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. Dale Barbara, Iraq vet, teams up with a few intrepid citizens against the town’s corrupt politician. But time, under the dome, is running out….
One of the great things about book reviewing is that you get to read books early and I’ve been desperately trying to read this one in time for today. But as I’ve said before that I don’t read like a maniac just for a review. I wish I could read like a maniac and as an aside I’ve just downloaded and QuickReader to try and do just that. I read for enjoyment but I’ll try not to leave it too long before getting a review up.
So I’ve been lucky enough to be reading Under the Dome early. I’m definitely a King fan though there are probably more than a few gaps in my reading. One of my all-time favourite books is Dolores Claiborne, though no horror, shows King at what he does best, creating amazing realistic characters.
And that’s what I’m finding with Under the Dome, and probably why it’s going to take me a while (not to mention the 900 pages), is that he’s spending time building up the town, concentrating on the townsfolk and their relationships and building lots and lots of tension.
I was surprised by the nature of the dome but that realisation is going to open up more possibilities than the other sort of origin I was imagining though it’s all speculation at this point. There are dribs and drabs of clues but that’s probably misinformation.
The thing that is going to disturb me most while reading it is wondering how far are we away from turning from civilised to Lord of the Flies and how Mr King is going to make that feel as realistic and as uncomfortable as possible, whilst scary me half to death.
Finally, there is a new trend or book trailers. This is the US trailer but it’s pretty cool I think:
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