John Wyndham

... Odnazhdy v jasnuju sentjabrskuju noch obitatelej tipichnoj anglijskoj tikhoj derevushki Midvich nakryla strannaja polusfera, kotoraja proderzhalas nad neju okolo sutok. Ptitsy padali s neba zamertvo, a ljudi pogruzilis v sonnoe zabyte. A spustja paru mesjatsev, kogda vse uzhe nachali zabyvat o zagadochnom proisshestvii, vdrug vyjasnilos, chto vse zhenschiny detorodnogo vozrasta v derevne beremenny. Dazhe nezamuzhnie, vdovy i devstvennitsy. I v polozhennyj srok rodilis strannye zolotoglazye deti, udivitelno pokhozhie drug na druga... Deti, sposobnye siloj vzgljada podchinjat svoej vole...

Roman, kotoryj bolshinstvo kritikov spravedlivo nazyvajut luchshim proizvedeniem Dzhona Uindema. Kniga, kotoraja proizvela na ljubitelej fantastiki SSSR oglushitelnoe vpechatlenie; mnogie vserez schitali, chto roman napisali bratja Strugatskie. Bolee togo - po rukam khodil ljubopytnyj samizdatovskij "perevod" pod nazvaniem "Khristoljudi", v kotorom v tekst Uindema byli vstavleny tsitaty, zaimstvovanija i otsylki k proizvedenijam Strugatskikh. Odno iz luchshikh antiutopicheskiikh proizvedenij NF XX veka!" Otklonenijam ot normy" net mesta v selenijakh novykh puritan - potomkov nemnogikh, kto vyzhil v jadernoj katastrofe, postigshej chelovechestvo. Detenyshej zhivotnykh, obnaruzhivshikh malejshie priznaki mutatsii, unichtozhajut. S chelovecheskimi mladentsami obkhodjatsja "miloserdnee" - ikh prosto sterilizujut i vyshvyrivajut v dikie dzhungli, na milost prochikh prozjabajuschikh tam odichavshikh mutantov. No vse li "otklonenija" mogut raspoznat besposchadnye sudi-propovedniki i ikh fanatichnaja pastva? Nezametno dlja nikh podrastajut deti, obladajuschie moschnym paranormalnym darom...

"Esli den nachinaetsja voskresnoj tishinoj, a vy tochno znaete, chto segodnja sreda, znachit, chto-to neladno". Odnazhdy, vechernej poroj, zhiteli Londona s interesom nabljudali neobychnoe javlenie - zelenyj zvezdnyj dozhd, ozarivshij vse nebo. Nautro svideteli zagadochnogo javlenija prosnulis slepymi, a vskore stalo jasno, chto zrenija lishilos pochti vse naselenie Zemli. V mire grjadut bolshie peremeny. Te nemnogie, kto sumel sokhranit zrenie, poluchajut pochti bezgranichnuju vlast i dostup k nakoplennym chelovechestvom resursam. No beda, kak izvestno, ne prikhodit odna - i v dejstvie vstupaet tretja sila: triffidy, razumnye khischnye rastenija, sposobnye peredvigatsja i okhotitsja na ljudej. Slozhnaja sistema bezopasnosti, sozdannaja dlja sderzhivanija ochen tsennykh, no chrezvychajno opasnykh rastenij, daet sboj, i triffidy vyryvajutsja na svobodu...

A stunning new clothbound edition of one of the most famous science-fiction novels of the twentieth century, designed by the acclaimed Coralie-Bickford Smith. 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 Sun Bird was beginning to travel fast, close to the edge of the whirlpool. They could look right down into the hollow of spinning water'While flying over Africa's New Sea, a water project in the heart of the Sahara desert, Mark Sunnet's rocket plane crashes and is sucked through a hole in the desert floor into a strange, cavernous new world. There, he and his partner Margaret encounter the survivors of an ancient race of underground dwellers whose whole existence is now threatened. Captured and forced to live with other prisoners taken from the surface, the pair know that they must escape before the waters above drown them all . . . The Secret People, published in 1935, is John Wyndham's first novel.'Perhaps the best writer of science fiction England has ever produced' Stephen King

'It was a desert. A vista of reddish rocks and drifted sand, arid and hot, extending to the limits of their view. A dreary waste upon which nothing moved or grew . . .'For British pilot Dale Curtance the Keuntz Prize - to be awarded to the first person to take a spaceship to another planet and back - is the ultimate challenge. Not only has he to build a ship to survive the journey, assemble a top-notch crew and choose a destination, he's also got to beat the Russians and Americans. Soon the GLORIA MUNDI blasts off from Salisbury Plain, bound for Mars. There's only one problem - a stowaway called Joan. Not only does her presence wreck calculations and threaten the mission, but her tale suggests that Mars may be a more dangerous destination than they ever expected. 'Perhaps the best writer of science fiction England has ever produced' Stephen King

The disturbing post-apocalyptic masterpiece from the author of THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS.

The six stories in Consider Her Ways: And Others, the second collecton of John Wyndham's short tales, continue his exploration of the science fiction staple - what if? In the title story we are introduced to a world where all the men have been killed by a virus and women continue to survive in a strict caste system - bottom of the heap are the mothers. In others we meet the man who accidentally summons a devil and then has to find a way of getting rid of him without losing his immortal soul, as well as the woman who, thanks to an experiment in time, discovers why her lover abandoned her.'Wyndham writes strongly and has a gift for bizarre plots' Guardian'One of the few authors whose compulsive readability is a compliment to the intelligence' SpectatorJohn Wyndham Parkes Lucas Benyon Harris was born in 1903, the son of a barrister. He tried a number of careers including farming, law, commercial art and advertising, and started writing short stories, intended for sale, in 1925. From 1930 to 1939 he wrote short stories of various kinds under different names, almost exclusively for American publications, while also writing detective novels. During the war he was in the Civil Service and then the Army. In 1946 he went back to writing stories for publication in the USA and decided to try a modified form of science fiction, a form he called 'logical fantasy'. As John Wyndham he wrote The Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes, The Chrysalids, The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed as Village of the Damned), The Seeds of Time, Trouble with Lichen, The Outward Urge, Consider Her Ways and Others, Web and Chocky. John Wyndham died in March 1969.

In this thrilling collection of stories, John Wyndham, author of the acclaimed classics The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos, conducts ten experiments along the theme of 'I wonder what might happen if . . .'There's the story of the meteor, which holds much more than meets the eye. In Chronoclasm a man is pursued by his own future. We meet a robot with an overactive compassion circuit. And what happens when the citizens of the future turn the past into a giant theme park?'One of the few authors whose compulsive readability is a compliment to the intelligence' Spectator

The most famous catastrophe novel of the twentieth century, John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.'When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.'When a freak cosmic event renders most of the Earth's population blind, Bill Masen - one of the lucky few to keep his sight - finds himself trapped in a London jammed with sightless mobs who prey on those who can still see. But another menace stalks blind and sighted alike. With nobody to stop them the Triffids - walking carnivorous plants with lethal stingers - rise up as humanity stumbles and falls . . .

Matthew's parents are worried. At eleven, he's much too old to have an imaginary friend, yet they find him talking to and arguing with a presence that even he admits is not physically there. This presence - Chocky - causes Matthew to ask difficult questions and say startling things: he speaks of complex mathematics and mocks human progress. Then, when Matthew does something incredible, it seems there is more than the imaginary about Chocky. Which is when others become interested and ask questions of their own: who is Chocky? And what could it want with an eleven-year-old boy?

In a city that could well be New York, a series of identical women are found dead in suspicious circumstances. Magazine photographer Johnny Farthing, who is reporting on the suspected murders, is chilled to discover that his fiancée looks identical to the victims too - and then she disappears. As his investigations spiral beyond his control, he finds himself at the heart of a sinister plot that uses cloning to revive the Nazi vision of a world-powerful master race... Part detective noir, part dystopic thriller, Plan for Chaos reveals the legendary science fiction novelist grappling with some of his most urgent and personal themes.

Matthew's parents are worried. At eleven, he's much too old to have an imaginary friend, yet they find him talking to and arguing with a presence that even he admits is not physically there. This presence - Chocky - causes Matthew to ask difficult questions and say startling things: he speaks of complex mathematics and mocks human progress. Then, when Matthew does something incredible, it seems there is more than the imaginary about Chocky. Which is when others become interested and ask questions of their own: who is Chocky? And what could it want with an eleven-year-old boy? A story of innocence and alien contact, Chocky is a sinister tale of manipulation and experimentation from afar.

The Chrysalids is set in the future after a devastating global nuclear war. David, the young hero of the novel, lives in a tight-knit community of religious and genetic fundamentalists, who exist in a state of constant alert for any deviation from what they perceive as the norm of God's creation, deviations broadly classified as "offenses" and "blasphemies." Offenses consist of plants and animals that are in any way unusual, and these are publicly burned to the accompaniment of the singing of hymns. Blasphemies are human beings--ones who show any sign of abnormality, however trivial. They are banished from human society, cast out to live in the wild country where, as the authorities say, nothing is reliable and the devil does his work. David grows up surrounded by admonitions: KEEP PURE THE STOCK OF THE LORD; WATCH THOU FOR THE MUTANT. At first he hardly questions them, though he is shocked when his sternly pious father and rigidly compliant mother force his aunt to forsake her baby. It is a while before he realizes that he too is out of the ordinary, in possession of a power that could doom him to death or introduce him to a new, hitherto-unimagined world of freedom. The Chrysalids is a perfectly conceived and constructed work from the classic era of science fiction. It is a Voltairean philosophical tale that has as much resonance in our own day, when genetic and religious fundamentalism are both on the march, as when it was written during the Cold War.

FROM THE RENOWNED CLASSIC SCI-FI WRITER AND AUTHOR OF THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS AND THE CHRYSTALIDS'Ingenious' Evening StandardFrancis 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 closer to learning the truth . . . Trouble With Lichen is a scintillating story of the power wielded by science in our lives and asks how much trust should we place in those we appoint to be its guardians?

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 becomes more difficult to conceal their differences from the village elders. Soon they face a choice: wait for eventual discovery, or flee to the terrifying and mutable Badlands. . . The Chrysalids is a post-nuclear apocalypse story of genetic mutation in a devastated world and explores the lengths the intolerant will go to keep themselves pure.'Perfect timing, astringent humour. . . one of the few authors whose compulsive readability is a compliment to the intelligence' Spectator'Remains fresh and disturbing in an entirely unexpected way' GuardianJohn Wyndham Parkes Lucas Benyon Harris was born in 1903, the son of a barrister. He tried a number of careers including farming, law, commercial art and advertising, and started writing short stories, intended for sale, in 1925. From 1930 to 1939 he wrote short stories of various kinds under different names, almost exclusively for American publications, while also writing detective novels. During the war he was in the Civil Service and then the Army. In 1946 he went back to writing stories for publication in the USA and decided to try a modified form of science fiction, a form he called 'logical fantasy'. As John Wyndham he wrote The Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes, The Chrysalids, The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed as Village of the Damned), The Seeds of Time, Trouble with Lichen, The Outward Urge, Consider Her Ways and Others, Web and Chocky. John Wyndham died in March 1969.

2021 MARKS THE 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, THE MOST FAMOUS CATASTROPHE NOVEL OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 'When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.' When a freak cosmic event renders most of the Earth's population blind, Bill Masen - one of the lucky few to keep his sight - finds himself trapped in a London jammed with sightless mobs who prey on those who can still see. But another menace stalks blind and sighted alike. With nobody to stop them the Triffids - walking carnivorous plants with lethal stingers - rise up as humanity stumbles and falls . . . With its startling imagery of desolate streets and lurching, The Day of the Triffid's lethal plant life retains its power to haunt today.'One of those books that haunts you for the rest of your life' Sunday Times'Has captivated readers for over half a century' Guardian

'Ingenious, horrifying' - GuardianIt started with fireballs raining down from the sky and crashing into the oceans' deeps. Then ships began sinking mysteriously and later 'sea tanks' emerged from the deeps to claim people . . . For journalists Mike and Phyllis Watson, what at first appears to be a curiosity becomes a global calamity. Helpless, they watch as humanity struggles to survive now that water - one of the compounds upon which life depends - is turned against them. Finally, sea levels begin their inexorable rise . . . The Kraken Wakes is a brilliant novel of how humankind responds to the threat of its own extinction and, ultimately, asks what we are prepared to do in order to survive.

FROM THE CLASSIC SCI-FI WRITER AND AUTHOR OF THE CHRYSTALIDS AND THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDSNow a modern reimagining starring Keeley Hawes and Max Beesley available to watch on Sky.'Exciting, unsettling and technically brilliant' SpectatorIn the sleepy English village of Midwich, a mysterious silver object appears and all the inhabitants fall unconscious. A day later the object is gone and everyone awakens unharmed - except that all the women in the village are discovered to be pregnant. The resultant children of Midwich do not belong to their parents: all are blonde, all are golden eyed. They grow up too fast and their minds exhibit frightening abilities that give them control over others and brings them into conflict with the villagers just as a chilling realisation dawns on the world outside . . . The Midwich Cuckoos is the classic tale of aliens in our midst, exploring how we respond when confronted by those who are innately superior to us in every conceivable way.

David Strorm's father doesn't approve of Angus Morton's unusually large horses, calling them blasphemies against nature. Little does he realize that his own son, his niece Rosalind and their friends, have their own secret aberration which would label them as mutants. But as David and Rosalind grow older it becomes more difficult to conceal their differences from the village elders. Soon they face a choice: wait for eventual discovery or flee to the terrifying and mutable Badlands ... The Chrysalids is a post-nuclear story of genetic mutation in a devastated world, which tells of the lengths the intolerant will go to to keep themselves pure.