John Wyndham S/D

The resurgence of the Day of the Triffids/Tripods thread reminded me that I'd never knowingly read any John Wyndham, although he sounds cool. What should I go for/avoid?

Baaah, meant for this to be on ILE - can some kind mod move it over please?

Go for Triffids first.

Triffids is great.

S: The Midwich Cuckoos, The Chrysalids

Read "Chrysalids" waaaay back in tenth grade and liked it, tho I can't remember anything about it aside from the premise. Likewise an anthology of short pieces. Dunno if I ever got around to reading "Triffids".

I was hoping some band had called themselves John Wyndham actually.

I didn't really like The Midwich Cuckoos, found it somewhat tedious, really, though the general idea is cool. The Wyndham I by far enjoyed the most was the also-ran "The Kraken Wakes", about aliens(or something) attaxxing from the seas. Loved how it went through several phases of attack, rather than just showing off all the good stuff right away. Memorable ending too.

Kraken Wakes, along with The Triffids my favourite as well. I remember Brian Aldiss being somewhat scathing about John Wyndham's prediliction for having his tales of global domination ending with characters ending up in some sort of middle-class rural Utopia, but as Oystein says, the build up is always good.