Author: Stephen King
Title: Under the Dome
Place Published: New York, USA
Publisher: Gallery Books, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Year Published: 2009
No. of Pages: 1072
Price: Php 546
Place Bought: Fully Booked Rockwell
Synopsis
Never before reading Under the Dome by Stephen King would I have believed that a used car salesman named Big Jim Rennie would make a good antagonist for a science-fiction, horror novel. He wasn't selling supernaturally monstrous vehicles or anything like that. He was just a terrifying human being with extraordinary ambitions for power and affluence.
It's just another day in a small American town called Chester's Mill in Maine when an invisible barrier descended and separated the town from the rest of the world. The dome's appearance caused several death's in Chester's Mill, driving the remaining inhabitants into fear and chaos.
Claudette Sanders, wife of the town's first selectman Andy Sanders, was the first to die. She was practice-flying a Seneca plane, which slammed onto the invisible barrier and exploded. Distraught by his wife's death, Andy couldn't focus on his duties as the town's leader. Meanwhile, chief of police Duke Perkins died when, upon getting to close to the dome, his pacemaker exploded.
This left the door open for second selectman Big Jim Rennie, who took advantage of the situation and seized power. Big Jim was more than just an ambitious politician and greedy businessman. He had deeper, darker secrets as well.
Fortunately, former Iraq-veteran now short-order cook Dale Barbara failed to exit Chester's Mill before the dome appeared. The US military gave Dale a mission to discover the root of the dome's power somewhere in town, and shut it down, if possible. Unfortunately, this pit him directly against Big Jim and his plans of taking over the town.
Joining forces with journalist and newspaper owner Julia Shumway, the former police chief's wife Brenda Perkins, and a number of other allies along the way, Dale searched for a way to shut down the dome, while dealing with Big Jim at the same time.
Book Review
A massive undertaking by Stephen King Under the Dome is over 1,000 pages long and the paperback version I read was unwieldy as a brick. As the master of psychological horror, King took the time to develop his dozens of characters without making the story too slow or redundant. In fact, the whole novel progressed at a fast, almost frantic pace.
King used the third person omniscient point of view in this novel, so I had a bird's eye view of what was happening and going to happen to everyone before they actually happened. This made parts where the bad guys like Big Jim were getting the upper hand more infuriating. The bad guys got victory after victory so often, that even a small victory for the good guys made me jump for joy.
The more serious reader will enjoy the fact that King tackles various issues like American politics and environmental protection in this novel. You can read more about his political and environmental stands in the various interviews he gave regarding the book.
There was only one problem I had with the novel--its ending. After the enormous 1,000-plus-page build-up I was expecting an ending of epic proportions, or at least an ending that was satisfying. Unfortunately, the ending was neither of these. The ending of Under the Dome was far-fetched (though it was "possible," if you thought about it hard enough) and unsatisfying, but not enough to ruin the book, which was overall a great read for me.
My Rating
4 out of 5
Title: Under the Dome
Place Published: New York, USA
Publisher: Gallery Books, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Year Published: 2009
No. of Pages: 1072
Price: Php 546
Place Bought: Fully Booked Rockwell
Synopsis
Never before reading Under the Dome by Stephen King would I have believed that a used car salesman named Big Jim Rennie would make a good antagonist for a science-fiction, horror novel. He wasn't selling supernaturally monstrous vehicles or anything like that. He was just a terrifying human being with extraordinary ambitions for power and affluence.
It's just another day in a small American town called Chester's Mill in Maine when an invisible barrier descended and separated the town from the rest of the world. The dome's appearance caused several death's in Chester's Mill, driving the remaining inhabitants into fear and chaos.
Claudette Sanders, wife of the town's first selectman Andy Sanders, was the first to die. She was practice-flying a Seneca plane, which slammed onto the invisible barrier and exploded. Distraught by his wife's death, Andy couldn't focus on his duties as the town's leader. Meanwhile, chief of police Duke Perkins died when, upon getting to close to the dome, his pacemaker exploded.
This left the door open for second selectman Big Jim Rennie, who took advantage of the situation and seized power. Big Jim was more than just an ambitious politician and greedy businessman. He had deeper, darker secrets as well.
Fortunately, former Iraq-veteran now short-order cook Dale Barbara failed to exit Chester's Mill before the dome appeared. The US military gave Dale a mission to discover the root of the dome's power somewhere in town, and shut it down, if possible. Unfortunately, this pit him directly against Big Jim and his plans of taking over the town.
Joining forces with journalist and newspaper owner Julia Shumway, the former police chief's wife Brenda Perkins, and a number of other allies along the way, Dale searched for a way to shut down the dome, while dealing with Big Jim at the same time.
Book Review
A massive undertaking by Stephen King Under the Dome is over 1,000 pages long and the paperback version I read was unwieldy as a brick. As the master of psychological horror, King took the time to develop his dozens of characters without making the story too slow or redundant. In fact, the whole novel progressed at a fast, almost frantic pace.
King used the third person omniscient point of view in this novel, so I had a bird's eye view of what was happening and going to happen to everyone before they actually happened. This made parts where the bad guys like Big Jim were getting the upper hand more infuriating. The bad guys got victory after victory so often, that even a small victory for the good guys made me jump for joy.
The more serious reader will enjoy the fact that King tackles various issues like American politics and environmental protection in this novel. You can read more about his political and environmental stands in the various interviews he gave regarding the book.
There was only one problem I had with the novel--its ending. After the enormous 1,000-plus-page build-up I was expecting an ending of epic proportions, or at least an ending that was satisfying. Unfortunately, the ending was neither of these. The ending of Under the Dome was far-fetched (though it was "possible," if you thought about it hard enough) and unsatisfying, but not enough to ruin the book, which was overall a great read for me.
My Rating
4 out of 5
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