John Wyndham

[AlexF]

Just finished reading the Chryslaids with my 10 year-olds. Quite hard work but they liked it, found the evil future society deeply upsetting, as they should!
Now, Wyndham was def. a big deal in UK sci-fi, certainly for children, but it's only now that I noticed quite how much an influence this specific story may have had on Pat Mills re Nemesis the Warlock (it's all about religious zealots rooting out 'deviations') and on John Wagner re Strontium Dog (the mutants in this story all have minor but obvious physical deformities and are shunned by norms, and the odd few have mental powers...)

I kind of assume the book was so well-known in the late 70s that people just took these connections for granted but this specific book seems to have fallen out of fashion nowadays, it's all Triffids and Cuckoos.

[Dark Jimbo]

Oh man, I loooove a bit of Wyndham! Devoured my mum's old 70's paperbacks as a 12-year old, and Chrysalids (tied with Triffids) was my favourite.

The mutants are very Strontium Dog, as you say - I still remember a gangly-limbed spider-person that fascinated me.

[Pyroxian]

Chrysalids is my favourite Wyndham as well.

Heinlein's "Orphans of the Sky" treats mutants in a similar way - not sure if it influenced Wyndham or not

[von Boom]

Love Wyndham. I was very fortunate at school that one of my teachers was also a fan and worked Chrysalids and The Day of the Triffids into our course work.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Chrsalyids good, Kraken Wakes better.

Chocky better too.

Midwich Cuckoos best.

[Dandontdare]

I remember Chocky being hugely popular at school - it wasn't a set text, but was just about the only sci-fi book in the tiny class library and there was a queue of people waiting to take it out. Chrysalids, Triffids and Midwich Cuckoos are all bloody fantastic, but I don't think I've ever read Kraken Wakes - must rectify!

The 1981 Triffids TV series freaked me out (that knocking sound - brrrrr) and I loved the 1960 movie Village of the Damned (midwich cuckoos) although my big brother had to explain the ending because I didn't understand  the briefcase thing at the time.

[AlexF]

I have very dim memories of the Triffids TV show (I would have been 3 or 4 when watching it) and finding it proper scary, fake plastic plants and all.
Is Chocky the one with the spooky Grandma?

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Chocky is the one with the alien who people think is an imaginary friend. He isn't imaginary. But is he friendly...?

[Colin YNWA]

This will add nothing to the discussion but the telly show of 'Chocky' starred someone who was the spit of Paul Webster my friend from school who got me into American comics... for some reason he got right grief about that!?!

[Pyroxian]

Is Chocky the one with the spooky Grandma?

No, that's Grinny.

[Proudhuff]

I re-read a whole load of Wyndham recently and found them all fascinating getting stuff from them that I never got as a kid. Intrigued by how their world is different to ours: the class differences then, cigarettes! chunky landline phones, manners etc. The return to a decaying London was captivating.