John Wyndham

36 replies

TheHound86 · 18/02/2021 19:48

I just finished The Chrysalids by John Wyndham and loved it. He seems to have written quite a lot of books. Which should I try next?
I was looking at The Midwich Cuckoos and possibly The Day of the Triffids.

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SnowyBranches · 07/03/2021 23:31

I loved John Wyndham as a teenager, and read them all, but the only ones I owned were The Chrysalids and The Trouble with Lichen, so those are the two I know best. My favourite was always The Chrysalids, which I think has a very different tone from the rest of his books, followed by Day of the Triffids and then The Kraken Wakes.
I found Nicholas Fisk (Grinny, Trillions) had a similar vibe but he was more of a children/ young adult author, and also On The Beach had a similar feel to me.
I read the short stories but the only one I can really remember is Pawleys Peepholes, about a plague of future time travellers coming back to the present day to gawp at people. It was pretty funny.

bruffin · 07/03/2021 23:37

Chrysalids is one of my favorite books, read it so many times in my teens
There is also a short stories which is about a time traveller in a policebox

Like previous poster I would also recommend John Christopher

RoyalCorgi · 09/03/2021 09:21

I read (and re-read) almost all of them as a teenager in the 70s and loved them. Favourites were The Day of the Triffids and The Trouble with Lichen. I also remember the short stories being brilliant - there was one in fact where a man wakes up in the future to a world where there are only women, no men. I know a PP said there was a lot of sexism, and there probably was, but I remember really enjoying that story, and in fact he had quite a few strong women characters in the novels.

Original poster

TheHound86 · 09/03/2021 13:32

I think I’m going to try The Trouble with Lichen. That sounds pretty good. Thanks for all the replies.

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starfishmummy · 09/03/2021 13:53

So now you have made me want to re-read them and I have spotted a couple I didnt read previously!!

SisyphusDad · 09/03/2021 14:18

Another fan of 'The Trouble with Lichen'. And damn, I've missed the first episode .

Needhelp101 · 09/03/2021 14:18

The Kraken Wakes is almost eerily prescient about global warming.

I must re-read them now!

Sugarandteaandmum · 10/03/2021 17:49

I love John Wyndham. All his books basically stocked my brain with post apocalypse imagery - roads overgrown with trees, that sort of thing. Triffids great, Chrysalis, Lichen. Was Consider Her Ways a sort of Handmaid's Tale thing about women being used for breeding??

And the Nicholas Fisk book about the tiny sparkly things that built themselves and had consciousness- thanks for reminding me of that one @SnowyBranches!

LApprentiSorcier · 10/03/2021 17:55

I love John Wyndham and second all the above recommendations. Can I just put in a word for his short stories. 'Consider her ways' and others is a particularly good collection - it includes 'Random Quest' which was made into a film and an updated TV series.

LApprentiSorcier · 10/03/2021 17:57

one in fact where a man wakes up in the future to a world where there are only women, no men

That's 'Consider Her Ways' and totally agree, it's brilliant.

Branleuse · 10/03/2021 17:58

The chrysalids is one of my favourite books.
Triffids was good too but not as good

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