The Chrysalids

John Wyndhami «Krüüsalised» on «Trifiidide päeva» (ek 1990, 2015) kõrval vaieldamatult autori olulisim romaan, mis räägib haarava loo postapokalüptilisest tuumakatastroofi järgsest maailmast, kus on levinud kõiksugused mutatsioonid, millesse aga suhtutakse äärmiselt negatiivselt: mutandid kuuluvad kas hävitamisele või agraarsest vaesuse piiril virelevast katastroofijärgsest ühiskonnast väljaheitmisele ning viljatule kõnnumaale saatmisele. Romaani peategelasteks on grupp lapsi, kes on varjatud...

John Wyndham, „Trifiidide päeva“ ja „Krüüsaliste“ autor, on tuntud oma apokalüptiliste romaanide poolest, mille hulka kuulub ka see teos. Inimkonda ähvardab tulnukate invasioon, kes on maandunud maailmamerre ja sealt sissetungi kavandavad. Esialgu röövivad tulnukad rannikulinnadest inimesi ja uputavad laevu, millele inimesed vastavad aatompommide heitmisega meresügavustesse. Seejärel sulatavad tulnukad üles Maa pooluste jäämütsid, mis tõstab katastroofiliselt merevee taset, nii et kõik...

When Bill Masen wakes up blindfolded in hospital there is a bitter irony in his situation. Carefully removing his bandages, he realizes that he is the only person who can see: everyone else, doctors and patients alike, have been blinded by a meteor shower. Now, with civilization in chaos, the triffids - huge, venomous, large-rooted plants able to 'walk', feeding on human flesh - can have their day. The Day of the Triffids, published in 1951, expresses many of the political concerns of its time:...

The disturbing post-apocalyptic novel The Chrysalids by John Wyndham, author of The Day of the Triffids and The Kraken Wakes and dramatised on BBC Radio 4. David Strorm's father doesn't approve of Angus Morton's unusually large horses, calling them blasphemies against nature. Little does he realise that his own son, and his son's cousin Rosalind and their friends, have their own secret abberation which would label them as mutants. But as David and Rosalind grow older it...

Francis Saxover and Diana Brackley, two scientists investigating a rare lichen, discover it has a remarkable property: it retards the aging process. Francis, realising the implications for the world of an ever-youthful, wealthy elite, wants to keep it secret, but Diana sees an opportunity to overturn the male status quo by using the lichen to inspire a feminist revolution. As each scientist wrestles with the implications and practicalities of exploiting the discovery, the world comes ever...

A powerful post-apocalyptic allegory of persecution and intolerance, the Penguin Modern Classics edition of John Wyndham's science fiction masterpiece The Day of the Triffids contains an introduction by M. John Harrison. Nuclear war has devastated the world, bringing with it a host of genetic mutations. In the bleak, primitive society that has emerged from its ruins, any sign of deviation, no matter how small, is ruthlessly rooted out and destroyed. David lives in fear of discovery, for he...