The Chrysalids - John Wyndham > Reviews

Advantages: Great story telling, not over padded, likeable characters...
Disadvantages: Could have gone further at the end?

...not know, Mr Wyndham is the British author of several Sci-Fi classics such as The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed as Village of the Damned), Chocky and the book I am about to discuss… The Chrysalids. He is now dead, but his memory lives on and will do so for many a year. Our hero of the Chrysalids is David. David lives in a world set in the future where everyone has gone back to basics following the ‘Tribulation.’ In this God-fearing ... Read review

Advantages: Classic sf
Disadvantages: A bit tame

"The Chrysalids" was the third novel that John Wyndham wrote under that name; he had previously written numerous, relatively uninteresting science fiction potboilers until shortly after the war he decided to use the forms of sf to produce more thoughtful and intelligent social novels. "The Chrysalids" is probably best read when you are an adolescent, as it deals with a number of young people who are persecuted in their post-apocalyptic society for ... Read review

Advantages: Thought provoking, engrossing and focussed
Disadvantages: The ending is probably less powerful in the modern day

...without people throwing things around the classroom while I was trying to read. I was not disappointed. It was only as an adult with more knowledge of the world that I could fully appreciate the background and atmosphere in the book. The story is basically a child's view of a strange, restrictive world with punishing laws determining the difference between 'Norms' and 'Mutants'. The main character - David - grows up through the course of the book ... Read review

Advantages: Good, solid sci-fi
Disadvantages: Takes a little getting into

...territory. In a post-apocalyptic society, the remaining humans fight against a common enemy - deviation from The Norm. In a land ravaged by Tribulation and ruled by religious fervour, mutation is rife and all who are physically different or are perceived to be different are cast out into the barren wastes to fend for themselves. This is an interesting study of bigotry and and intolerance fuelled by religious zealotry. When John, (the son of ... Read review