The Day of The Triffids

At 65% I was ready to give this book five stars but afterwards - I'll try and explain why - it started to fizzle out.

It's written in first-person perspective, which takes some getting used to, and then from a reflective third-person viewpoint, which is better.

It sometimes formal and stifled, but luckily, John Wyndham can also be light and comical, describing groups of triffids going on vacation before becoming a threat, like intelligent potatoes "walking right into the pot".

More importantly, this book is retrospective and philosophical as it delves into a future dystopian society with little prospect of recovery.

There are strong parallels with War of The Worlds by H.G. Wells (great book) and the devastation and destruction of mankind, including extensive exploration of London and its surrounds. Aliens (plants) invade, take us by surprise and conquer the planet.

This is explained well through the dispersal of seeds and by mankind going collectively blind after a targeted lightshow from a comet.

The Day of the Triffids is a great sci-fi scenario, but not so much horror or thriller. Mankind is vulnerable as triffids gradually take control and there's nothing we can do about it. Society grinds to a halt! People panic, start going mad, get angry and all the triffids have to do is WAIT! Wait for our inevitable death and then feast on out decomposing and decayed corpses like venus fly traps. A plant-based praying mantis gorging on a never-ending supply of human flesh. No need to hunt for survivors, just tuck in when we stumble and die.

Based in 195Os England, it gets a bit quaint, but not as silly as you might expect when man-eating plants attack survivor encampments. It's a well-thought-out book from an ethical perspective. It carefully places the moral survival card on the table. How do you play that card? Look after No. 1, or sacrifice yourself for the greater good and look after the blind, even though it's probably pointless?

Although there's a lot to like about this literature, there are a few flaws.

There's not much action and triffids are mostly left in the background as a menace to be dealt with later. There are few sieges, major battles or horror scenes in which people get maimed and mutilated.

It's polite, considerate and reflective. Some people call this cozy horror.

The plot fizzles out as the immediate threat of death diminishes, as characters look to survive over the long term.

The lack of crescendo or mass confrontation is also disappointing.

This is a a good book if you like dystopian sci-fi rather than horror, with its overly philosophical outlook and lack of man-vs-triffid battles.

Then again, if you sometimes watch movies before reading books, you may be expecting earth-moving action instead of philosophical reflection.