PB $35
The best kind of science fiction is where just one impossible or inexplicable situation is presented and everything else is normal. This exactly what happens in Under the Dome.
Well not exactly ‘normal’ but within the bounds of possibility. Suddenly, one day, an apparently sleepy town in New England, USA is surrounded by a mysterious and frightening ‘Dome’ – an invisible fence all round, over and under the town, cuts it off from the rest of the world!
The authorities are dumbfounded, the inhabitants alarmed and many people are thinking ” what’s in it for me?” The Dome causes some pain and suffering as it appears with animals and people coming to grief on this invisible but unyeilding barrier that extends more than 10,000 metres into the air. That is nothing compared to what happens later.
The resulting confusion brings the local Townsman, bully, thief and criminal, Big Jim Rennie, in conflict with more law-abiding elements and an unlikely hero in the cook at the local diner. The local police figure strongly as do the clerics but it’s the ordinary people that come centre stage.
The story is compelling, with a huge cast of characters, and shows the best and the worst in people as the strange reality sets in. The source of the Dome is the main question but what it makes people do is even more amazing. The ending is dramatic, a bit weird as the origin of the dome is revealed and not entirely happy. It works well as a fitting climax to an excellent thriller.
Under The Dome is Stephen King at his epic best and will capture a brand new readership as well as thrilling his existing fans.
