That reviewer wouldn’t be Dean Koontz at his day job, would it? 
I do like Koontz a lot. I’ve really enjoyed his “Odd” stories".
On to the subject;
My copy of King’s book is waiting for me at B&N.
My wife and I joke that there is a secret program run by the dictionary industry that pays writers to throw in pointlessly obscure words; the “Five Dollar Words” program. I’ll be reading something out loud to her, run across one of them, and one or the other of us will say “$5!”.
Unfortunately, I do not have money to buy books right now, but I did reserve it at my local library. “Only” 44th in line! But it’s a 7-day “Bestseller’s Express” and there are a good dozen copies in the system, so… maybe a month? Maybe sooner, you never know.
I just finished; the 1000+ pages really flew by. Very entertaining. I was first motivated to read on to find out why the dome was there and all the mysteries behind that, then somewhere in the middle I didn’t care so much about that anymore as much as what would happen to the characters. That’s always a good sign.
The cast of characters reminded me a lot of those in The Stand and Cell; every dystopia or post-apocalyptic band of good guys needs a tech-savvy 13-year-old to come up with bright ideas and get a pat on the head from the less technical middle-aged everyman lead characters.
I didn’t like the ending and it’s abrupt, but I didn’t really mind at that point as the characters have gone through their arcs and I enjoyed the ride.
It’s aliens. Lame.
I was a little disappointed by the ending as well, but for another reason.
A huge explosion and damn near everyone dies? All the plotting, and scheming and intrigue was for nothing? It just felt like I came all this way and was dragged into all these plot threads, and for what? None of them amounted to anything because everyone got cooked.
I’m halfway through - and I’m not clicking those spoilers.
:: wiillll not cliiick ::
I didn’t get a damn thing done this weekend, either. It’s almost lunchtime, and I can read for another hour. Yay!
There’s a Stephen King Library?
What happens if you allow a book to become overdue?
“Oh, there are late fees,” the Librarian murmured, her eyes flinty and focused slightly to one side of where Ivylass stood. “Yes, there are…fees. And they definitely involve your being…late.”
:: shiver::
I kinda thought that it worked out perfectly since everyone in the town were simply ants under a magnifying glass, literally, to the aliens and that none of the plotting, planning or intrigue mattered at all. The fact that the violence and death was so random, regardless of characters being good or bad (Libby’s dog, Andi being shot after getting clean, Aiadin, Caro, etc) added to the fact that everything was meaningless.
I thought it worked out well in the end and I’m usually disappointed with King’s book endings for some reason.
I’ll probably finish tonight. I’m not happy. Haven’t been happy for a few hundred pages. I think it’s the characterization (shallow) coupled with the expository, unnatural dialogue.
And after the revelation that (apparently) the aliens who are responsible for the dome are children just playing around? (Star Trek (TOS) did it better). I’m really not happy.
Sigh.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give this book a “meh”. I didn’t dislike it, I mean it was no Dreamcatcher, but I never really got into it. I can’t even really put my finger on why.
They send the Library Police after you of course!!!
PROTEST!!!
Primary flight training in a Seneca? A twin-engine?
WHY do authors/writers do this? Yes, yes, it’s technically legal to have one’s initial training in a twin but it’s so damn expensive!
Haven’t these guys heard of the venerable Cessna 172? The Piper Cherokee line? Even a Beechcraft Sundowner?
But other than that I’m having a very good time (so far).
That’s a good one. Also, King frequently mentions one of the cops carrying a Beretta Taurus. A gun-oriented friend of mine assures me that’s like claiming that you drive a Ford Pontiac.
I have heard of happily spoiled wives with happily rich husbands, which is how she’s described. Isn’t it?
Given the choice, what would you go for?
Anyway, I don’t look for common sense in King’s stories.
Now that I’ve opened my big mouth, I gotta go back and re-read that part.
I’m about 3/4 through, and the only complaint I have (as usual) is the dialogue. What 13 yr old uses “foxy” to describe a hot babe?
Other than that kind of thing, the story is moving along nicely, and is intriguing!
I got it…I haven’t read the thread. It really sucks you in from the get-go, doesn’t it? I’m also glad for the cast of characters at the beginning, because things are going so fast I’m losing track of who is who.
I kind of like the map, too.
I wouldn’t call it his worst, but it wasn’t good, was it?
[spoiler]
I’m not a fan of (for lack of a better word) “weirdness”, and I knew as soon as someone said “leatherheads” we were heading for Weirdland. Of course, once you’ve posited that an impermeable dome has imprisoned a small town, you’ve written yourself into a hell of a corner already.
Also, as Auntie Pam said, there were too many characters, not enough characterization. I read most of it in one sitting, then had to put it aside for a day or two before the final push, and when I came back, I barely remembered some of the people. And it didn’t matter, because they were toast anyway.
I was glad he finally wrote a good character with my name (Julia). Before this, I think the only Julie in his work was Julie Lawry from The Stand, the crazy bitch Nick Andros ran across in that drugstore.
So, last week I was really happy to have a new King book, and I spent some enjoyable hours reading it. Now, I can put it on the shelf with the others and probably never touch it again. For the love of his early work, I will buy everything the man publishes until the day he dies, but I don’t think he’s written anything really great since…The Green Mile?[/spoiler]
No, mostly because of the poor characterization. Even when a plot is cockamamie (Dreamcatchers) the characters are usually enough to carry the story and I’ll be satisfied.
No one really knows what’s in King’s head, but I think that he just wanted to get this book out of his head and onto paper. Like when you put everything else aside to chase a pesky fly. Sometimes you should just get dinner on the table and forget the stupid fly. It’ll die, sooner or later.
The only thing he got right was the pacing – the story never flagged. I wish he would have put more thought into it though.