Review: Stephen King’s The Institute
Stephen King loves to give kids a lot of power in his novels. The Institute is no exception. Much like It, there’s an ensemble of kids who are outsiders. They have unique abilities and the main character, Luke Ellis, is the one that is smart enough to unravel everything being done to them.
If you haven’t read the general synopsis of the book just yet, since it did just hit shelves today, here’s a quick breakdown:
Luke Ellis and other kids are being taken to a facility where tests are being run on them to enhance their telekinetic and telepathic abilities. What’s happening to them is so implausible that the general public would be hard pressed to believe any kid who tells the story. However, The Institute isn’t as clever as they think. King takes you on quite a wild ride as the kids have to figure out how to outsmart the adults running the show.
So much more than that happens, obviously, but I’d like to give anyone who wants to read it a chance to do so before spoiling everything that happens. What amazes me with King’s writing is how he takes his time developing the characters. We know enough details about the kids and teens to get a feel for what they were like before being taken. Even if the story largely surrounds Luke and his abilities, there are still plenty of other characters like Avery, Nicky, and Kalisha who we spend time with and get to know.
In King’s novels, the kids tend to have the hard job of trying to convince adults that what they’re telling them is the truth. Just like in It, where the kids battle Pennywise on their own, the kids at The Institute are left to figure out how to thwart the powers that be at The Institute. It also harkens back to Firestarter where tests were being run on Charlie McGee to see what her limits were with pyrokinesis. Just replace The Shop with The Institute and you have a similar base story, which I don’t mind because the kids are so different that even the same kind of premise ends up weaving into a different, interesting story.
While The Institute isn’t the shortest (or longest) of King’s books, it felt like a book that was dense, yet easy to read. There’s a lot going on at The Institute to keep straight and at the beginning of the book, we spend time with Tim Jamieson for a bit as he gets settled with his new life. In fact, you almost forget about Tim because the story at The Institute is so engrossing. However, he makes a return later on that instantly brings the beginning of the book back to life and you understand why King included that information early on.
If you’ve like any of King’s books that I already mentioned, or even his novella The Body, you’ll find something to enjoy in The Institute. He doesn’t need his horror stories to take place in dark settings in order for the scenario to frighten you. The Institute caused harm, but did so in a way that had the workers convinced they were doing something for the greater good. People who believe that harming others is justified in any way is immensely more terrifying than any haunted house could ever be.
Stephen King’s THE INSTITUTE Will Become A Limited Series
Just before I sat down to write the above review, I saw this news come across my Twitter feed. Scott Wampler aptly compares the book to The New Mutants and I love that comparison. The same team from Mr. Mercedes is working on this, but I’m hoping it doesn’t also become a DirecTV/AT&T show (although, that seems likely). I bought Mr. Mercedes season 1 on DVD a while ago, but due to being mostly tied up with King’s older works for Chat Sematary, I haven’t watched it just yet. Either way, I know I’ll be checking this out eventually even if I don’t wind up keeping up with it week-to-week. I think an adaptation of this book could be very well done, especially as a limited series.