Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Everything
2
John Wyndham (person)
See all of John Wyndham
, there is 1 more in this node.
(
person
)
by
Sir Norris
Tue Mar 01 2005 at 23:31:43
Bibliography
Novels
1935
The Secret People
(published as
John Beynon
)
Published in serialised form for
Passing Show
magazine and later published in novel form. Tells the story of a man and woman who discover, and are imprisoned by, a race of
gnome
s living under the (now flooded)
Sahara Desert
.
1936
Planet Plane
Concerning a space flight to
Mars
and encountering on an ancient
Martian
race, now dying out.
1951
The Day of the Triffids
Probably Wyndham's most famous work. A
meteor shower
blinds most of the population allowing the mysterious
triffid
s (mobile carnivorous plants with dangerous stings) to become a dangerous predator of man. Although the triffids seem to be the main focus for many, it is really a book about how mankind can survive horrific disaster and rebuild for the future.
1953
The Kraken Wakes
Similar in theme to
triffid
, but this time mankind is threatened by an alien invasion. The twist being that the aliens live under the
sea
.
1955
The Chrysalids (aka Re-Birth)
Set in a
post-apocolyptic
future where mutants are seen as against
God
and murdered by the over-religious population. The main character has a strange sort of
telpathy
which would be seen as a mutation. In a common theme, he joins with other telepaths who start a new civilisation.
1957
The Midwich Cuckoos
Another book in which the theme is disaster and threats to humankind. This time the threat comes from within; the women in the sleepy
middle-England
village of
Midwich
are impregnated by aliens which then grow to become a collection of creepy telepaths who can control others with the power of thought. Wyndham's take on the main theme of the book seems particularly poigniant during the current '
war on terror
': The powers that be find it necessary to slaughter the children because they are a threat but "
it is our
culture
that gives us
scruples
about the ruthless liquidation of unarmed minorities
". Made into a film:
The Village of the Damned
.
1960
Trouble with Lichen
The plot concerns a young woman
biochemist
who discovers that a chemical extracted from an unusual strain of
lichen
can be used to retard the ageing process, enabling people to live to around 200-300 years. Wyndham speculates how
society
would deal with this prospect.
1968
Chocky
Told from his father's viewpoint a child's
imaginary friend
is not actually imaginary, but is a non-physical visitor from another planet. Made into an
ITC
series in 1984.
In which, IIRC,
chocky
manifestied itself as a weird light on the wall. Scared the crap out of my six-year-old self!
1978
Web
(published
posthumous
ly)
A plan to build a
utopia
on a jungle island is upset by attacks from mutant
spiders
.
Collections of short stories
1954
Jizzle
1956
The Seeds of Time
1959
The Outward Urge
(with
Lucas Parkes
)
This is sometimes thought of as a novel, sometimes as a collection of linked short stories. It is actually the only book here I've not read, so I can't really comment any further. Lucas Parkes is actually another psuedonym of Wyndham's (using yet more of his numerous middle names).
1961
Consider Her Ways and Others
Consider Her Ways
is a long short story, if such a thing can exist. It is presented here with other actually short stories.
1973
Sleepers of Mars
1973
The Best of John Wyndham
A collection of short stories. Also available as two books covering 1932-1949 and 1951-1960
1973
Wanderers of Time
A collection of short stories written for american
pulp
magazines in the 1930s
1979
Exiles on Asperus
The Chrysalids
The Kraken Wakes
The Midwich Cuckoos
Chocky
The Day of the Triffids
Trouble with Lichen
web
Chrysalid
The Outward Urge
I'm a bloke. Shoot me.
The Great Grand E2 Book Search
barrister
The Night of the Triffids
Kurt Vonnegut
Arthur C. Clarke
IMO
Simon Clark
Parade rest
rolling hitch
Keeping your data from the FBI
For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.
Rus
Olaf Stapledon
Gyrodyne