The Chrysalids - John Wyndham

Advantages: Thoughtful, intelligent sci-fi...
Disadvantages: ... some occasionally long-winded speeches

The Chsysalids by John Wyndham is a post-apolaclyptic vision of a world where people are obsessed with conformity to the norm, or in their words, "the image of God". Anyone who does not conform to this image becomes an outcast, and the women who are categorised as Deviants are sterilised before being sent off. The "image of God" has 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 eyes, 1 nose, 5 digits at the end of eat hand and foot… etc. You get the idea. The narrator of this ...
...is, so is safe from the religious-minded people around him, chief of whom is his father. Not so lucky is a girl he meets who has a physical deviation, and this causes him to wonder whether it really is the will of God being done by the zealots here… As David realises the danger his special talents wrought from his differences could cause, and becomes aware of others with the same talents, he is drawn instinctively away from his family. He knows that ... Read review

Advantages: Well written, good characters
Disadvantages: no sequel

This is my favourite of the books written by John Wyndham. I first read it when I was about 11 and it was my very first adult sci-fi book. I believe that it is the book that started my passion for sci-fi, and that in itself is very high praise. I remember my friend, who had told me about this book, and I sitting on her bed while we tried to think “thought shapes” to each other. I was very disappointed when it didn’t work. The book is set in a future ...
...caused a large wasteland, called the Badlands, which is uninhabitable. Around the Badlands is an area called the Fringes, this area suffers badly from mutations and many of the people who live here have bizarre, even nightmarish deformations. Over time the Fringes give way to frontier country, which is settled upon and cultivated. Such a community was founded by the grandfather of out narrator, David Storm. David lives in the “orderly, law abiding, ... Read review

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 ...
...Because this is out of the norm, he and his telepathic friends have to keep this secret, lest they be cast out for this ‘defect’ and abomination before God. After his sister Petra is born it becomes apparent that she, too, is like David – however her powers are much stronger. The area in which they live is habitable, but there are many areas around known as the Fringes. In these Badlands many deviants and mutants live. When David and his friends ... 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 ...
...in order to survive (it is easy to see this novel being popular with young gay readers). It probably owes its success to this theme - many young readers of science fiction probably feel as if they don't fit into society (I did) so a book that claims that these differences aren't just natural but may even be superior can only help. However Wyndham also provides a well-written, highly readable and absorbing novel, and I would recommend it to anyone, ... 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 ...
...David has the power of telepathy and struggles to simultaneously hide and accept his gift when the messages he gets from his law-abiding, landowner father and submissive mother are that any kind of difference is punisable by death. He shares his gift with his sister Petra, cousin Rosalind and seven other children. We are shown how each deals with his or her secret skill and the consequences of their actions. Although we see glimpses of the truth ... Read review