Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1646 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Review
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 (Guardian )

From the Publisher
Connection Series
‘Connections will leave a legacy for youth theatre groups everywhere. The collections should be enthusiastically received in the classroom.’ Times Educational Supplement

Connections is a new series of challenging and entertaining playscripts for 11-19s, commissioned by the Royal National Theatre and written by professional playwrights. Each books contains reference details for online educational resources for teachers and youth group leaders, as well as Royal National Theatre website information where details of past productions and interviews with authors can be accessed.

If we hope to have discerning practitioners and audiences tomorrow we must ensure that work of quality is available to young people now. Connections provides that quality.

About the Author
John 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.

Customer Reviews

Post-Apocalyptic Genius
The Chrysalids tells the story of an isolated remnant of human civilisation struggling to rebuild in a world that was devastated (by thermonuclear war - although he never says this directly it is clear from the effects he describes).

The story works superbly by not providing too much detail - it invites the reader to fill in the blanks and is a much more intelligent take on the post apocalyptic genre. The 'how it happened' aspect of the story is secondary to dealing with the human issues.

In particular Wyndham's vision of a society that has reverted to an extreme paranoid interpretation of the bible is superb - the paranoia over checking for mutants amongst them has strong overtones of the Salem witch trials etc.

I am a relative newcomer to John Wyndham and read The Day of the Triffids before moving on to his other work. Having now read most of his novels I would rate The Chrysalids as his best.

Imaginative and Brilliant
A truly fantastic book, and incredibly appropriate in today's society, especially if you believe that the book is an apocalyptic tale. It also makes you think about how society may feel towards people that do not look like the 'norm' It causes you to have a good hard think about your own issues, and if you would be outcast to the 'Fringes'.

The book is beautifully written and wonderfully vivid. It often tugs at you heart strings and leaves you wondering what might be.

There were parts that reminded me of 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell, neither of which tell a happy tale about a post-apocalypse.

There is a lot to think about with this book, but ultimately it is a great tale, extremely well written.

The world is upside down and it's about to get worse
The world is plagued by genetic mutations, people are reduced to primitive, Dark-Age styled living and the past is a blank with strange hints of a nuclear war. Amongst this a small group of humans find out that they possess a power unlike any other, they can read each others' minds. Constant fear and awful watching day and night go along with their power,one day, someone is bound to let something slip. Eventually, they see a way out but they need to find out how to get halfway round the world and people are on to them. A masterpiece of post-apocalyptic style writing, conflicting morals and persecution to the highest degree culminating in an escape attempt that brings an army after them. Brilliant writng exposing the best and worst in human nature