What did you think of it

[Roberta]

I loved it, it's been a while since I enjoyed one of his books so much. I didn't like the end too much, though

[Daniel]

(It was my first Stephen King novel)

I thought it was fantastic and didn't find the length an issue at all. Although I did find the explanation for the dome kind of weak. Otherwise the story and the character study was AMAZING!

[Judy]

This was a great book. I like the way King thinks. the ending was great-didn't anyone ever play make believe!

[Amanda]

Oh I simply adored this book! I'm a massive King fan anyway but this one had me engrossed from the start. The characters were so intriging. It's definitely worth a read. I highly recommend it.
http://divaliciouzbookreviews.blogspo...

[Gary]

What did you think of the ending? It just didn`t do it for me, it just lost me.

[Renee]

Roderick wrote: "Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will make a start with some of the ones I see repeated here...

Cheers,

Roderick"<
Try Duma Key... and The Stand. Loved the Dark Tower Series, but that calls for some real time investment!

[Tara]

I didn't like the ending either.. I was petty excited when I first bought the book especially after reading the Dark Tower Series (which I love and still have the last book to read) I thought it would be something that I couldn't let down.. It was the opposite.. too long and then the ending was not worth reading that many pages..

[M Todd]

I am huge fan of The Dark Tower series and some of King's other works. I was so disappointed in this book. It started strong. Very strong. Then the end just left me flat. I listened to it on audio, and as it came toward the climax, all I could do was think, "Really? Really? No, there has to be more than that, but no; that's what happened. Really?"

[[deleted user]]

Having been a fan of SK since reading Carrie when it was first published, I enjoyed reading The Dome. It was typical King fare from the latter half of his career. I believe had he written this earlier the ending would have been much different. As it was, to me, the story was more about the abuse of power than the dome itself, which only served as a catalyst to set up the story.

[C]

When I finished this book I realized just how much I don't like Stephen King's books. He is good at set up and has some good characters but in the end he fails to really deliver a powerful conclusion. The bad guy in this book is pretty horrible - you really want him to get it. Instead of really getting his just deserts, he gets scared of ghosts for a minutes and has a heart attack. REALLY??? Come on!
What makes this so painful is how much time I put into reading the book. I like some of his short stories and even a couple of his novels but after the big letdown here, I realized that I have generally been disappointed by his books and really it's not worth it to me to read them anymore.

[Susie]

I really enjoyed Under the Dome (although I thought the ending was a bit weird--luckily it didn't ruin the rest of the book for me). King did what he does best in Dome--burrowed right down into the minds of his characters. I wish 11/22/63 had been as good.

[Ava]

I love Stephen King, but this was actually one of my least favorite books by him. It was too long, but more than that, it was written like he still thinks in the 1980's, and the villains all have that 1980's to 1990's bad guy thing going on. You know what I mean, their way of saying things, stance and attitude just don't fit the modern age. It felt outdated when it was brand new and I was bored with it very quickly because it had a similar feel to 15 other books I read by Stephen King when I was growing up. They were good then, but that was nearly 20 years ago, and I outgrew the style, whereas in this book, apparently his writing didn't. I love his work, truly I do, many of them are classics, but this book was a let-down for me. I was relieved to read other books by him after it, such as the one about JFK and time travel, 11/23/63 (I think it was called), and others, because they showed a more modern mind-set, and that he IS keeping up with the times. I can't imagine how hard it is to change your character base after 40 years of writing; I think it's common to get stuck in one mind-set and be unable to get out of it or to grow. I am glad he was able to, but this book seems to have been written before that happened, lol. My personal opinion..

[Ava]

Roderick wrote: "This was actually my very first Stephen King book. My wife had been after me for some time to read something of his and I was intrigued by the premise of Under the Dome. I must say, I love the way ..."

Dear Roderick:

My top three recommended Stephen King books, not in the horror style are:

Insomnia (I absolutely love this book and is my all time favorite of King's)

The Green Mile (excellent and also not horror)

The Shawshank Redemption (very good, also not horror)



Others you might find to be good reads:

Dolores Claiborn (drama), The book set of The Talisman and The Black House (written with Peter Straub and not horror either, more fantasy), The Eyes of the Dragon (also fantasy), and believe it or not, The Dark Tower series is excellent, not really horror, more Sci-fi/ fantasy, and ties all other Stephen King books together, as you will find out if you read them.The Dark Tower series is almost like an explanation for all of his other books, what they mean, why they were written, what they stand for. King is deeper than most people see on the surface, even people whom have read his books. But anyone who has read The Dark Tower series knows what I am talking about: In those books, he reveals a deeper self and a deeper meaning, and an intense belief in Science Fiction with a concept all his own :)

[Ava]

All Stephen King books are small incidences within a bigger story, each story one minute part of the larger picture. The Dark Tower series tells the bigger story of which all other stories by King are merely a part of. He has even said this before, but you get it as you go along even without knowing he said it. :)

[Ava]

I forgot to mention, his book 11/22/63 was most excellent, as well.. (Sci-fi, not horror, again, with time travel being the main theme, and what would happen if the assassination of JFK were able to be prevented by a time traveler)

[Tracy]

I think this book was good but far from great. I kind of figured out the ending/what the dome was well before I finished the book. To me the ending was lacking something but I'm just not sure what he could have done to improve it without adding a couple more chapters. I also think it was a little too long and am glad that I got it in e-book so I wouldn't have to carry the HB version around with me (I actually started in the HB version then when I got an e-reader I immediately bought it in e-book so I wouldn't have to lug the DTB version around anymore - it was killing my back).

[TJ]

Tammy wrote: "What I love about Stephen King is his characters, I finish his books sad to leave these fictional people that I've come to grow so fond of. But with "Dome", I didn't feel that. It was an ok read bu..."

I would agree with Tammy. I liked "Dome", but didn't "connect" with the characters like I did in The Stand, Salem's Lot & some of the other books I read by King.
I am looking forward to reading 11/22/63 based on the recommendations I've seen from other King fans.

[Darren]

For me it was typical fare from Stephen King. Absolutely compelling reading. However, like any good steak dinner there are always the greens to be dealt with. Any writer who can take a frankly crazy idea and turn it into novel of such length and magnitude is beyond my talents that is for sure. As a social experiment I think that is what made it so compelling and worryingly realistic I suspect. If any other writer pitched the idea of the dome to a publisher they would have been laughed at. Thank god for King and his consistent talent and innovation. Loved it.

[Dyan]

At first it was good, then he started throwing in too many characters and too much crap. If only he would've quit while he was ahead--felt like he was trying too hard. Why don't editors do a better job of sifting? Am I the only one who thought it turned into an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink kind of train wreck?

[Sara]

I call the book "Under the Tome". 'Nuff said.

[Youtoo1955]

I was very disappointed with the ending of "The Dome" actually felt somewhat cheated. His newest book "11/22/63" almost as long but it's bittersweet ending makes it worth the read.

[Sarah]

So this was my first King novel. I actually didn't finish it. I stopped at I think page 120ish simply because I had a bad feeling about how this was going to play out and after reading spoiler descriptions/articles/wiki I realized, "yeah, this really isn't for me." Mostly because I see this kind of corruption on a smaller scale in my daily life at work. I read to transport me to another place not magnify the worst of my life for entertainment. The biggest reason for me initially picking it up was the dome itself (hows,whys,etc.) not the effects on the people trapped in the dome. And that evidently was what King wanted to focus on instead. Did this happen to anyone else while reading or am I alone in my opinion?

The other King books I really do want to read is the Dark Tower series. I've heard a lot of good things about it. It's definitely in my TBR mountain.

[Andrew]

Having been a Stephen King reader for at least thirty years and having read everything by him (even the fabled shopping list he keeps going on about) I find his later work disappointing. He has stated that the journey is more important than the destination and up to a point I agree with him but oftentimes I find that I really wasn't that bothered about the place I ended up anyway. He can no longer write a satisfying ending. Starting with The Colorado Kid I don't think I've enjoyed an ending to any of his books since. He used to be a superb writer and I would recommend any of his earlier work but lately he just doesn't push my buttons anymore. It seems like he's shooting for being literary when he should be shooting for being fantastic.

[TJ]

Josh wrote: "I read the book on audio - which had a fantastic narration by Raul Esparza. Stephen King is a master of taking a small idea ("What if alien children trapped and tortured us like ants?") and bloomin..."

Josh,
Try 11/22/63. It's long, but worth the effort.
I think you'll like it. It's more like the old King.

[Josh]

TJ wrote: "Josh wrote: "I read the book on audio - which had a fantastic narration by Raul Esparza. Stephen King is a master of taking a small idea ("What if alien children trapped and tortured us like ants?"..."

Thanks TJ - I'm actually 12 discs into the audiobook of 11/22/63, enjoying it so far. I didn't like the narrator at first, but he's beginning to grow on me. The only problem is with the audiobook is that I'm on summer vacation, so I don't have the commute time to listen to it as much as I'd like! When I do manage to finish it, I'm planning on moving right on to The Wind Through the Keyhole, as I'm a huge Dark Tower fan.