Stephen King completes "Under the Dome"

missingtime

Stephen King completes epic novel after 25 years

Under the Dome, which King began writing in the 1980s, runs to more than 1,000 pages and will be published in November

It's been incubating for 25 years but Stephen King is finally ready to show the world the 1,000-plus page epic he first attempted writing in the 1980s. Under the Dome, in which an invisible force field seals off a Maine town from the world, is due to be published this November, his publishers have said.

Weighing in at a whopping 1,120 pages, Under the Dome is a return for the bestselling author to the arm-breaking heft of his classic novels The Stand and It. King told an audience at the Library of Congress in Washington DC last year that he'd first had the idea for the book 25 years ago, and made a stab at writing it. "I tried this once before when I was a lot younger, but the project was just too big for me and I let it go, I let it slide," he said. "But it was a terrific idea and it never entirely left my mind. It just kinda stayed there and hung out, and every now and then it would say write me, and eventually I did."

Set in the town of Chester's Mills, Maine, "on an entirely normal, beautiful fall day", inhabitants suddenly find that the town has been sealed off 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 neighbouring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact," King revealed on his website. "No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when – or if – it will go away."

Characters in the cast of more than 100 include Dale Barbara, a Gulf veteran and now a cook, the town's newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital and three children. They're up against an evil politician, Big Jim Rennie – who's desperate to hold onto power and will stop at nothing, even murder – and his son, who in classic King style, "is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry". Meanwhile, time under the Dome is running out.

King, the author of more than 50 books, has said that the new novel "deals with some of the same issues that The Stand does, but in a more allegorical way".

"Since it's over a thousand pages long, I sure hope people like it," he said earlier this year in his regular column for Entertainment Weekly.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/03/stephen-king-under-dome

me_right_one

Brilliant, cant wait to have a read. Sounds all Stephen King-ish already!:)

zipped

wow I never heard this- am re-reading insomnia at the moment- love that book!

Manach

The plot seems to be similar to Patrica Anthony's 'The Happy Policeman'. Still, it would have the Stephen King touch.

Ann22

Reminds me quite a bit of The Simpsons movie:). Should be good though.

D-FENS

This sounds very promising and hopefully a return to form for King, who's offerings in the last ten years or so pale in comparison to his earlier works. Love the fact that it sounds like classic King i.e. normal people in a normal town experiencing something extraordinary / supernatural.
Everyone, including the man himself, seems to class The Dark Tower as his masterpiece but for me that title goes to something like the Stand or IT when he's writing to his strengths and not trying to be too clever and this seems more up that street than the Gunslinger & co.

Dades

Would love to read something new along the classic lines of The Stand from King!

Think I'll wait for the paperback though. :pac:

I'm looking forward to this.

oxygen_old

I remember when I was young reading It, the stand and insomnia, and thinking nothing of the length. Since then, everytime I pick up a paper back Im like "Only 300 pages, its long enough... I guess". Pushed me onto those sparling sci fi books.

Plot sounds a little like the stand doesnt it? lawlessness ensuing after local townspeople have to set up their own justice, some larger supernatural force behind it all etc...

Still tho, looking forward to 1000+ pages of King

CatFromHue

has anyone read "the dome" ?

if so what so what did you think?

picked it up myself today and it is a big book!

Heckler

Finished 'under the dome' a few days ago. Always been a King fan. Thought it was a very good book but nowhere near as epic as something like The Stand, IT or The Talisman. (Not epic in the "wow man that song was effin' epic" sense. Epic in the more traditional sense.)

The ending I felt was very Dean R. Koontz-ish. If you've read DRK you'll get what I mean. Then again i don't think the ending was the point, it was what happens along the way, which is fine too because he did a good job at that.

Just my 2 cents.

Ann22

I've just finished it. It was quite good tho' I struggled to get through parts of it. I doubt I'll read it again. I don't think the ending was explained properly either.

BossArky

Ann22 wrote: »

Reminds me quite a bit of The Simpsons movie:). Should be good though.

+1.

Homer in the Simpsons movie wrote:

Dooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhh

---

mmmeeeeee

:pac:

Macsimus

D-FENS wrote: »

This sounds very promising and hopefully a return to form for King, who's offerings in the last ten years or so pale in comparison to his earlier works. Love the fact that it sounds like classic King i.e. normal people in a normal town experiencing something extraordinary / supernatural.
Everyone, including the man himself, seems to class The Dark Tower as his masterpiece but for me that title goes to something like the Stand or IT when he's writing to his strengths and not trying to be too clever and this seems more up that street than the Gunslinger & co.

Aye, I enjoyed The Dark Tower as I was reading it - but without putting up any spoilers, I found the ending incredibly unsatisfying - especially as it took so long to get there - at least I was reading them all in one go and hadn't had to wait 20 odd years from first book to last. I had the same feeling after The Dark Tower as while trying to watch the last episode of lost i.e. that the story teller was a bluffer who was making it up as he went along with no grand plan for where it was going.

Anyway the new book does sound like vintage King so looking forward to it.

youcancallmeal

I have avoided King since I read Duma Key, reckon I might give this a go as the concept sounds interesting. The Stand is up there with my top 10 books, I must of read 4 times already!

thebiglad

youcancallme>al wrote: »

I have avoided King since I read Duma Key, reckon I might give this a go as the concept sounds interesting. The Stand is up there with my top 10 books, I must of read 4 times already!

I would agree, SK has gone down a bit in recent books (Cell, Liseys Story, Duma Key) but I have persevered and Just After Sunset is definitely worth getting.

Anyhow back to The Dome - great writing and blazed through the book but very dissapointed with the end - despite that it was an enjoyable book but as already posted not in the same league as IT or The Stand.

TheEscapist

Just started reading it and I'm struggling to get into it which is worrying as people have been saying that they enjoyed until the end. I've only read the Stand, IT and the Shining by King so maybe my standards are a little to high. But I'll persevere and read on and see how it pans out.

Dades

Finished it last night. Really enjoyed it, tbh. Again, nowhere near The Stand or IT in terms of scope - but almost 'vintage' King nonetheless.

He thrusts his fists against the post and still insists he sees the ghosts...

tHE vAGGABOND

150 pages in - Im quite close to a 'meh' and casting it aside

Ann22

thebiglad wrote: »

I would agree, SK has gone down a bit in recent books (Cell, Liseys Story, Duma Key) but I have persevered and Just After Sunset is definitely worth getting.

Anyhow back to The Dome - great writing and blazed through the book but very dissapointed with the end - despite that it was an enjoyable book but as already posted not in the same league as IT or The Stand.

Yeah, Cell was just ok, gave up on Lisey's story, it was too much of an effort to make sense of it, I'd like to read a general description of the story. Duma Key was just ok...After Sunset though was very good especially 'N' (the one with the standing stones in the circle).
I find some of his books can be a struggle at the beginning to get into but the 'getting into' bit in The Dome seemed to take forever. It was really well written alright but like I said, I wouldn't be in a hurry to read it again.

KRIS VL

I'm looking forward to this.

the iceman come

I entoyed it,took my time about it though so had to keep re-capping to get back into it, the ending was sad to say a bit predictable,but all in all a good read,be intersting to see if a movie ever comes out of this,a lot of visuals flying around which just could come up trumps.

Red Hand

Read it late last year...enjoyable, but not King's best.

youcancallmeal

Anyone know if you can get this in Paperback, Amazon say the paperback edition its not being released till July 2010. Maybe the first edition is out of print and they are releasing another one?

CatFromHue

I got a paperback copy in my local bookshop in Decemeber.

Maybe try your local book shop.

I enjoyed the book alot.

Did anyone else feel Jim Rennie would look like the rich eccentric cowboy from Texas from the simpsons in real life?

Flash86

CatFromHue wrote: »

Did anyone else feel Jim Rennie would look like the rich eccentric cowboy from Texas from the simpsons in real life?

That is exactly how I pictured him too. Despite the lack of any mention of a cowboy hat, I knew it was there.

Also Dale Barbera looks like Jake Green from the show Jericho in my head

Junco Partner

he'll never top the stand or the dark tower books

mrgardener

thebiglad wrote: »

Anyhow back to The Dome - great writing and blazed through the book but very dissapointed with the end - despite that it was an enjoyable book but as already posted not in the same league as IT or The Stand.

Don't most Stephen King Books have disappointing endings?
I loved IT, The Stand and most of his earlier works, but inevitably, I am nearly always left p**sed off with the ending.

niallon

+1 On the Simpsons cowboy. Rennie was nearly ruined as a result! I stopped reading King after The Dark Tower, Cell, The Stand, Dreamcatcher and Nightmares & Dreamscapes. I figured I covered plenty of timeframes (The Dark Tower does that on its own I guess!) but I have to say Under The Dome has reignited my interest.

Yeah, the ending wasn't the best. To be honest, I was happy with the resolution/explanaition, I just would have preferred more chatter about it, seemed like King was avoiding digging any deeper. From a character point of view however I think he definitely touched upon the sort of folk he had back in The Stand -

Rennie was a Flagg of sorts, Randolph his Lloyd, Barbie was a more than capable Stu and damned if Junior wasn't Harold Lauder.

But yep, this was another problem I had I suppose. I do think King succeeded in recreating the type of characters that one can easily connect to á la The Stand but on the other hand, maybe he was trying too much to emulate The Stand as well.

Oh and

Come on, Chef WAS Trashcan Man!

NewFrockTuesday

Im halfway through it now and am really enjoying it. I don’t think theres ever going to be another Stand – you just don’t get that gold twice in a lifetime. The first Stephen King book I read was Christine when I was about 9. I stole it from my cousins SK collection and read it through – I remember being so frightened I used to have to leave it down and come back when I was braver or it was daylight again (under the covers with a torch! ) – it scared the absolute bejaysus out of me as it was my first experience with horror of any sort on a literary level.

Hell of an introduction! The only time Ive been as scared since is when someone bought me House of Leaves about 3 years ago. Ive given it to a friend to read as I got too freaked. My Dad gets the same way about some books. He had to get Mum to finish Sophies Choice for him. :pac:

Paddy Samurai

Dades wrote: »

Would love to read something new along the classic lines of The Stand from King

Try Swan Song by Robert McCammon , it's better imo.