Fiction Review: Under The Dome

Before I get into the swing of this review I should point out that I’m a big Stephen King fan. I find his characters are incredibly well-developed, his plots are well thought out in the majority of his works, with some exceptions (Geralds Game springs to mind) and he has that unique knack of drawing you into a situation with ease. Bearing that in mind, I can still put together a review without bias.

If you set aside the reasons for existence of the dome itself, Under The Dome is actually more about the reaction of the characters trapped inside. As with other SK books the plot is often just a backdrop around which events take place. Understandably the fact that a huge dome has dropped onto the town of Chester’s Mill does cause panic amongst the residents. And whilst some strive to uncover its purpose it is the way the residents interact with each other that makes this a compelling read.

When I saw the cover for Under The Dome I wondered if SK was cashing in on a recently used theme. The Simpons Movie was based on a giant dome covering the town of Springfield and Gone by Michael Grant followed a similar storyline – an excellent book by the way. However, when I found out that SK had been working on Under The Dome since 1976 I was further intrigued to see what slant he had to offer on the dome/town/trapped idea.