2014 books: 40-43

[the_siobhan]

Working my way through a stack of paperbacks.


    

The Day of The Triffids by John Wyndham This was written at the height of the Cold War and it really shows. The Triffids of the title are mobile, poisonous, carniverous plants that were accidentally released from behind the iron curtain and have since become a major crop world-wide as they produce an especially high quality oil. Another accidental release - this time involving satellites armed with biological weapons - results in 95% of the world's population going blind overnight. The main character escapes being blinded, of course. If you've ever seen 28 Days Later the opening hospital scene is lifted straight from the book. The sighted people who remain respond to the situation in various ways - by trying to help the newly blind forage for food until help comes, by abandoning them or by enslaving them. Survival for everybody - blind and sighted - becomes a bit of a problem as the triffids escape and start hunting humans for food.

    

The Chrysalids by John Wyndham Nuclear war has left most of North America a sheet of radioactive glass. A few survivors in Labrador and Newfoundland have created a rural culture where genetic stability is the mark of God's favour and all mutations are abominations to be destroyed, or in the case of humans, to be driven out of society. Not all mutations are easily detectable, however, and some of the children start to develop telepathy. I like the world Wyndham has created here, although the ending was a little unsatisfying. It didn't help that there was a lengthy speech in the last couple of pages that made my eyes glaze over. I think he did a good job of showing what people will do when driven by fear and the need for security.

    

Redworld by Charles L Harness This book was published in 1986. Apparently I got it off the Guelph Public Library discard table in '88. The setting is a semi-medeval society on a planet with a red sun. I say "semi" because a few battery-operated machines are available to the very rich, but the majority of tasks are accomplished via human or animal labour. Their lives are ruled by an uneasy treaty between the scientists and the church that dictate what machinary is allowed and what is "heretical". For example, reading glasses are ok, telescopes are not. The finding of new "facts" is banned by the treaty so it seems to me like the priesthood got the better part of the deal. The story is told from the perspective of one of the inhabitants, a young man who is trying to make money to support his mother, avoid running afoul of the church, and occasionally get laid. It's made very clear that the story is not about a human habitation - there are frequent mentions of having six fingers and two hearts. He falls for an older woman who runs a bar/restaurant/whorehouse and things start to get weird after that.

It's an odd little story. I definitely liked the setting and the concepts he was playing with were kind of interesting. I found the writing overly breathless, but it was a quick read - two bus trips and and was able to tossed it into the "completed" pile.

    

The Morphodite: The Genetic Time-Bomb Person by M.A. Foster Apprarently I bought this in 1987 for $1.50. Man, I have needed to do this book purge for a very very long time. A distant planet settled by people who think all progress is Going Too Far and who want to be left alone to molder quietly in peace. Their descendants don't necessarily agree with this objective, but a tyranical government has already been established with a strong tradition of keeping the current order going. Various underground societies start up. The Morphodite of the title is an assassin created by the secret police in order to throw a wrench into the underground. Things do not go as planned. I stumbled a bit getting into this story because the cast of characters is introduced very quickly and there doesn't seem to be much to help the reader delineate between the various personalities. The writing style didn't really get me invested in any of them at all. At first I thought this might be because I had just put down Redworld which is written in a much more down-homey style and the contrast between the two took a couple of chapters to adjust to. But the speech patterns are also a lot more formal in this book and there is absolutely no individual variation is style of speech, no matter the status or background of the person talking.

The story wasn't bad, it just didn't really draw me in. Also it seems to just stop abruptly. Apparently there are a couple of sequels but I probably won't bother. Give-away pile.