Under the Dome

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Raul Esparza

Length: 34 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world 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 neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when - or if - it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens - town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing - even murder - to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.

©2009 Stephen King (P)2009 Simon & Schuster

Very long, very slow, but good

Even though the book is good, it becomes slow and very heavy for my taste.

I enjoyed it

What did you love best about Under the Dome?

The Characters

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I could have done without the reader imitating the generator Alarm Sounds, over and over... I listen at night, in bed and watched my room mate jump each time...

Any additional comments?

I'm sure glad that Prius didn't have Nitrogen filled tires. Many Prius cars are sold new with Nitrogen filled tires. Barbie took a big chance choosing a Prius :-)

Wish I could rate the book and narrator separately

My biggest issue with the reading was one that I hadn't seen mentioned, so I wanted to toss it out there. There are quite a few characters who are children, and every one of them are read like they're morons with head colds.

Also, someone mentioned the political commentary... that person missed the irony, I think. Yes, there are several "types" portrayed in the book, and two of the characters are an aged, liberal, pot smoking professor and his much younger squeeze. They're pretty pompous, and yes, a comment is made about it not being Bush's police state any more...but they're portrayed as annoying, preaching, laughable characters. It's certainly not an endorsement.

If King inserted his own political views in the book, "Under the Dome" would indicate that he's a moderate, irritated by those at the far ends of the spectrum who are sure they know best for everyone else. Besides, the good guys aren't political, and the bad guys aren't driven by politics or ideology- they're only interested in power.

Engrossing story

This is not a horror story. I normally avoid Stephen King books but this is a great sci-fi story about what happens when a small Maine town is encapsulated. The corrupt first selectman (it helps, but is not essential, to have grown up in a small Maine town) attempts to use the dome to his advantage. The ex-Army Captain, with the help of some very smart kids and the editor of the town's newspaper, manage work to thwart him. All told, a very engaging tale.

one of Kings best

i loved this book so much. i crave stories with large casts of characters and lots of interconnecting stories and this is exactly that. Stephen King is the master plain and simple. the narrator is fine. he starts off a little shakey but does a good job.

Not his best work, but still good

This wasn't one of my favorite King novels but was a good listen and worth getting. Started off good but felt like it fell off the tracks at the end

wonderful story

this was wonderful. pulled at heartstrings. and sometimes the bad guys made me want to throw my phone because they infuriated me and I just wanted the good guys to finish then off. the only thing negative, and it's not the authors fault, is I couldn't keep up with all the chatacters. I listen to books at wrk so my brain isn't 100% tuned in and I'd get confused alot. but other than that, I definitely recommend this book and I will more than likely listen to it again.

A must listen

This is at least my fourth time listening to this book. I have yet to be bored with it.

Love it

could not find enough time to read it fast enough. I enjoyed the TV shows but loved the book more.

Terrible Narration.

I read the story shortly after it cane out and decided I would listen to it again. Of the dozen or so King books that I've listened to, and the dozens of others for that matter, this one had the worst narrator of all. I'm struggling to even finish it. He's too monotone and his voices are bad to the point that it's irritating hearing him talk.