Ur by Stephen King is a short novella, released in 2009 and coming in at just over 20,000 words. Dealing with a very interesting concept – an e-reader capable of multi-dimensional and precognitive searching – King not only manages to give you a plot device you’d (probably) kill for, but does so in such a way that will leave you breathless and very much wanting more.
When old-school English teacher Wesley Smith decides to finally get with the times and orders a kindle, little does he know that what he receives is not just your run-of-the-mill handy device to read his favourite books on, but one that can search across dimensions for novels that authors haven’t written in ours. It’s a staggering discovery, and one that he quickly investigates. Add in the ability to search news stories in the millions of other realities, with some differing greatly from ours, he starts to think himself crazy…
It’s a simple premise, but one that instantly hooked me and dragged me in. It’s not difficult for any bibliophile to tell you that they wished their favourite author had written another novel with certain characters, or re-used a setting for a different story. Hell, that their favourite author had written something that they hadn’t read. Like I said, simple – but very effective.
Of course, King doesn’t stop at this, and as is his M.O., he has very well defined and realised characters telling us this story. Wesley has more to him than just a teacher stuck in his ways with very specific ideas of how the world should work in dealing with reading. There is the broken relationship that drives him, the friendly conversations that come naturally, and his desire to do what is right. It all adds up to a story that passes by way too quickly than should be allowed.
Written before 11/22/63 (perhaps my favourite King novel), Ur clearly shows some of the early ideas put forth in that novel, and this is perhaps one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. Definitely recommended for a quick and enjoyable read.
On a final note – fans of King’s Dark Tower books will find a few small aspects of Ur rather familiar…
Publisher: www.amazon.com
Author: www.stephenking.com
July 2014, 416 Pages
Kindle Edition, ASIN: B001RF3U9K
Review from a purchased copy
© 2014 Mark Chitty
