One of the most intriguing and influential science fiction writers of the 20th century gets The Folio Society treatment with The Wyndham Collection, which pulls together three of John Wyndham’s most famous works, including…
The Day Of The Triffids
When a strange green meteor shower renders most of the Earth’s population blind, Bill Masen is one of the lucky few to retain his sight. With a deserted London in chaos, the Triffids (mobile plants with lethal stingers and an appetite for human flesh), are able to prey on the blind and sighted alike. With nobody to stop their spread, they seem set to take control…
Adapted for both the big screen in 1962 and more faithfully for the small screen by the BBC in 1981, The Day Of The Triffids remains a compelling and understated work of science fiction. It’s a bleak and brutal depiction of a post-apocalyptic world, an undeniable inspiration for the deserted London shots we saw in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later.
The Midwich Cuckoos
The Midwich Cuckoos is set in the sleepy village of Midwich where, following one strange evening, every woman of childbearing age suddenly finds herself pregnant. When the women give birth, it is to a breed of blond-haired, golden-eyed children who grow up too fast and seem to exhibit sinister powers of telepathy.
Adapted, twice as Village Of The Damned in 1960 and 1995, and now set for an eight-part modern-day reimagining on Sky, starring Keeley Hawes and Max Beesley, The Midwich Cuckoos remains an unsettling invasion story, a timeless examination of how society responds when confronted by a superior force.
The Chrysalids
The least well-known, but considered by many to be the best of Wyndham’s work, The Chrysalids is a story of tolerance and genetic mutation in a post-apocalyptic world.
The book is set in the rural village of Waknuk which is populated with puritan fundamentalists, whose fear of a second ‘Tribulation’ drive them to view any mutation as the work of the devil. Desperate to hide their own personal ‘abomination’ from society, David and Rosalind must consider whether it is better to stay within an intolerant society that would shun them or risk it all in terrifying, mutant inhabited Badlands…
Quarter-bound in blocked cloth and a blocked cloth slipcase, this latest release from The Folio Society collects The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos and The Chrysalids all in one box-set. Packed with 21 full-page illustrations from celebrated narrative illustrator Patrick Leger and prefaced by vice-president of the H. G. Wells Society, and Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee Adam Roberts.
Each book’s bold use of shocking colour on the front and inside covers belies the hauntingly retro illustrations within. Leger captures the horror and the humanity of Wyndham’s writing, highlighting the light and shade of our protagonists’ motivations, and much like Wyndham, guiding you to arrive at your own personal interpretation.
Check out our gallery of images from the collection…
Wyndham’s stories have, like The Midwich Cuckoos, invaded and influenced society since the Fifties. Although relatively unknown as a household name, his ability to examine humanity’s past, present and future through the lens of science fiction has inspired many, and the restraint of his writing style has created timeless horrors that continue to be adapted to this day…
The Folio Society’s three-volume set of John Wyndham’s novels, The Wyndham Collection, introduced by Adam Roberts and illustrated by Patrick Leger is available exclusively from www.foliosociety.com