Author: Stephen King
In my world, a new Stephen King book release is tantamount to a new Star Wars or Dark Knight (by Christopher Nolan only) movie being released. In other words, my anticipation level is very high and it brings those excited feelings back from my younger days. I grew up reading every Stephen King novel that I could my hands on and loved everyone of them. Stephen King has rarely let me down.
Before the release of Under the Dome there was a lot of press that this was Mr. King’s most ambitious novel since The Stand. Most of the chatter had to do with its length, over a 1,000 pages, but also because it involved a somewhat end of the world scenario. Personally, I believe it was unfair to compare Under the Dome to The Stand, my all time favorite King novel, as they are very different novels. A closer comparison would his novella The Mist. In fact, many of the same themes raised in The Mist are very prevalent Under the Dome but on much grander scale.
Summary
Under the Dome starts very quickly as Mr. King wastes no time in getting into the action. Within 30 pages or so the dome drops causing traffic accidents and people getting killed. The dome consists of an invisible force field that perfectly follows the property lines of Chester Mill. Nothing and I mean nothing but small amounts of air can pass through the dome. Trust me, the Army tries everything to break it and nothing works. So the residents of Chester Mill are stuck inside the fishbowl with very limited resources. As so begins the mystery of why the dome suddenly appeared and who put it there.
Review
To me, Stephen King is the master of character development. No writer has come close in consistently creating characters that the reader is able identify with and form a relationship with, whether good or evil, in each and every novel that he has written. Essentially, they are the backbone to what makes his writing so great. Under the Dome is no exception. The character I most identified is Dale Barbara, Barbie, throughout the novel. Barbie is ex-army officer drifter who ends up in the town of Chester Mill, Maine (shocker, I know) as a short order cook in the Sweetbriar Rose restaurant. Through a misunderstanding, Barbie gets into a fight with several local punks and is forced to leave the small town. Unfortunately, Barbie only makes so far down the road before the dome comes down and he is stick inside. In typical King fashion Barbie is a somewhat of a tortured soul. He did some bad things while stationed in Iraq that still prays on his mind. Barbie represents the good and intelligent side of the story and the reader will really care what happens to Barbie and his cohorts.
The dark side of the novel is presented in the form of Jim Rennie, Sr. or Big Jim. Big Jim is a city counsel of Chester Mill and has controlled the small town through his politics and money. He was not necessarily an evil man before the dome came down but once it does, Big Jim seizes the opportunity to gain control through any means necessary. How he goes about slowly taking control is one of the most entertaining aspects of the story. For example, he begins to replace the veteran police force with people who are loyal to him only. But Big Jim also has many sins in his past that will come light and he will have pay for throughout this novel. Eventually, the novel settles down as a battle between Big Jim and Barbie for control of Chester Mill.
The novel also follows numerous other characters that are sometimes difficult to remember who they are. Luckily there is a list of characters and a short description as the beginning to help keep every one straight. But much of the focus is on Barbie and Big Jim.
The environment inside the dome quickly dissolves with pollution building up and people start to accept the situation that they are placed into. The story does not quite devolve into Lord of the Flies but is headed in that direction. This is one of my quibbles with the story as it takes over a very short time frame, only a couple of weeks. I was hoping it would have taken place over months or years to show how society would dissolve to the lowest form of humanity with person fighting for survival.
The other issue I had was with the ending. I did not buy the reason behind the dome and why it was put in place. It was really kinda silly and somewhat of a let down. Luckily the story does not thrive on the discovery of the reason behind the dome or this novel would have been a disappointment.
Last Word
This is easily Stephen King’s best novel in years and harkens back to some his better works. It is a page turner that will keep you absorbed from the first page until the shocking conclusion. While not all parts worked for me, I am glad to see that Stephen King goes back to his strengths and reestablish himself as a master storyteller.
My Rating
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