Under the Dome

A Novel

De: Stephen King

Narrado por: Raul Esparza

The “propulsively intriguing, staggeringly addictive” (USA TODAY) novel from master storyteller Stephen King—a #1 New York Times bestseller.

It is a typical October morning in Chester’s Mill, Maine: glorious weather, a perfectly blue sky, and quiet. Then, all hell breaks loose. Inexplicably, and simultaneously, a plane falls from the sky in flames; a woman’s hand is severed; and a farmer’s John Deere explores (with him on it). A few moments later, a pulp-truck crashes spectacularly. Somehow, an invisible and impermeable barrier—exactly following the town’s perimeter—has descended upon the town.

Life under the dome quickly becomes a hothouse—with the best in some people and the worst in others flourishing. There are unambiguous heroes and villains, from a supremely corrupt local politician to a very enterprising newspaper reporter. The situation under the dome deteriorates by the minute: supplies of everything are diminishing quickly, the citizens are panicking, and the police force, under the control of the diabolically devious alderman Jim Rennie, implement their own version of martial law. Meanwhile, Barbie, brave Iraq war vet and short order cook, and a band of intrepid pals engage in a race against time to find the source of the dome and raise it before there’s nobody left alive in Chester’s Mill.

Under the Dome is filled with a marvelous and enormous cast of over 100 characters. King’s trademark idiomatic language is pure pleasure to experience. “Nowhere in Mr. King’s immense body of work have his real and fantasy world collided with such head-on force” (The New York Times Book Review).

©2009 Stephen King (P)2009 Simon & Schuster

It was great until...

What did you love best about Under the Dome?

The characters and entire town were rich with stories, The many stories felt very believabl.e

What did you like best about this story?

Junior's revalations.

Which character – as performed by Raul Esparza – was your favorite?

Junior

If you could rename Under the Dome, what would you call it?

That which remained

Any additional comments?

I felt the ending was almost written as an afterthought. It was a hail-mary pass to get them out of the situation.

Under Suspense

Kept me on the edge of my seat. Goes to show you what would really happen if you were under the dome and what politicians are capable of when there's no one to lead.

Klassic King Tale!

What made the experience of listening to Under the Dome the most enjoyable?

Raul Esparza did a great job of translating the feel of the book.

What other book might you compare Under the Dome to and why?

King is often accused of being "that" horror writer but in my opinion his character development and their interaction with each other transcends any other author I've ever read.

Which character – as performed by Raul Esparza – was your favorite?

Definitely his portrayal of father and son, James and Junior Rennie.

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

King always illicits emotions with his characters and stories.

Interesting, but not my favorite.

Where does Under the Dome rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Under the Dome was not my favorite book. The opening was a little too gristly. The first 90 min or so was excessively graphic. I'm not squeamish... this was just too much, with no point. So much so that I almost abandoned the book. But I didn't, and made it to the end. However, the ending left me feeling incomplete. Like I wanted something else... something more to happen.

If you’ve listened to books by Stephen King before, how does this one compare?

Of all the King books, this is possibly my least favorite so far. The opening was too full of blood and excessive urine, and the ending felt cheap, like it made the rest of the story irrelevant. We could have just cut from chapter 2 to the end.

What about Raul Esparza’s performance did you like?

Raul Esparaza's performance was great. He had an excellent grip on all the voices, keeping them distinct, but not campy. I would gladly listen to his work again.

A Must for Constant Readers

I kept this title in my wish list for about six months, debating if the comments about the narration would put me off enough to not enjoy the book. If you're in a similar boat, ignore those reviews and get this book now!! It's worth a credit, it's worth full price and more. I've listened to/read about all that King has to offer and this is my favorite by far. Without giving anything away, King does what he does best by not scaring with monsters or demons but with the sheer terror of what people can do to each other.

Raul Esparza does a great job reading this book and making the multitude of characters come alive. The story is gripping, a must-listen and so thought-provoking that I can't wait to listen to it again in a year or so.

Good catching story. But...

I enjoyed the story, a bit predictable near the end but good. As much as I understand that it has bearing on the story to vilify certain characters, I could deal without reading rape "scenes".

GREAT STEPHEN KING!

This book is as good as all the rest. I really enjoyed it, I've listened to it twice now. If you love Stephen King, you'll love this one. Really makes you wonder, as all his books do! :) Highly recommended.

underrated

one of the most underrated Stephen king novels. not sure how so many people look past this one.

Couldn't stop reading!

If you could sum up Under the Dome in three words, what would they be?

Relatable, Intriguing, Not-like-the-show

What other book might you compare Under the Dome to and why?

I just finished reading A Song of Ice and Fire and am a tad obsessed with it... while waiting for the sixth book to be written and released I picked up Under the Dome. In a way, this book had many aspects that I love about ASOIAF, the characters are complex, you genuinely care about them and have hope that they will triumph, on the other hand there are also the characters that are so horrible that you love to hate them and hope that they slip up and no longer triumph. Another reason that I love ASOIAF is that the story keeps going, even after the main characters die or leave the story. I almost didn't get involved in a non-series book, but this story interested me. I personally do not like the ending to this book... There was so much build up and it was almost like it was ended because he didn't want to make conspiracy theories and went with something relatively safe, also the characters seemed relatively unaffected - years of counseling would be the reality if this actually happened. I wonder how the show will explain the dome.... since they are not doing anything else as the book....

Have you listened to any of Raul Esparza’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any other of Raul's books, and many reviewers complained about him... I have no idea why. I thought he did a great job at giving the individual characters their own voice and personality. I also read most books at 1.5 speed, and maybe that is why I didn't find it slow as others reported.

Who was the most memorable character of Under the Dome and why?

Unfortunately, Big Jim Rennie - he is a man you LOVE TO HATE... I want the most memorable to be Barbie as he is honorable and someone to look up to, but too many times Big Jim stole the show with his audacity and deception.

Good Read

Very Unique story really enjoyed it. Presents a scenario that I never would have thought of.