Today was a pretty miserable day. Although to be fair it stopped raining when Jo and I went out to get a few groceries. Quality Foods had lovely fruit and veggies and Thrifty Foods had muscat grapes.. Yum! Clyde was very stressed out that we were out for a couple of hours. Bonnie was only stressed out because supper was late for them. Clyde is now sprawled exhausted beside me on the sofa. Pool little man.
No books finished since my last reading update, although I think I will finish at least one this weekend. I did receive 3 books in the mail Thurs and Fri. I'll provide the synopses for them; two old SciFi and one mystery. I'll also look at my final author in my ongoing Favorite Authors thread. I've got my next thread ready. I changed my mind from my original idea. I'll keep that one ready for the next one.. 😎
New Books
"They were disappearing,
one at a time, in spite of the fact that in the crowded, hungry world of
2490 there was really nowhere worth going. Then they began to reappear,
not in Moscow or Nairobi or LA--but in 1970, 1981, even the nostalgic
days of the roaring 2100's. A way to the past had been found &
people were flocking thru it for a better life--no matter what peril
they might pose to the threatened present.
Earth in the late 25th
Century is an unpleasant place for many. People are crowded into most
available areas. Unemployment is rampant. A highly stratified society
provides luxury & space for a few, while lower levels live crowded
in tiny apartments. Into this situation comes a hope of escape–-escape
into the past, before the world was crowded.
The story follows several characters. 1st is Joe Quellen, a mid-level Secretariat of Crime bureaucrat with a secret African residence, reached by a private teleportation booth. He heads the investigation into unauthorized time travel. Another is Norman Pomrath, Joe's brother-in-law, an unemployed low-level worker. He swears he wouldn't abandon his wife & children if presented with a chance to become a hopper."
"Why was the redoubtable King Henry, an aborigine from Western Australia, killed during a thunderstorm in New South Wales? — What was the feud that led to murder after nineteen long years had passed? — Who was the woman who saw the murder and kept silent? — This first story of Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, the half-aborigine detective, takes him to a sheep station in the Darling River bush country where he encounters those problems he understands so well -- mixed blood and divided loyalties."
"Wanted: terrrestroid planets, habitable but uninhabited, clean of major sicknesses rich enough to support colonists without outside help.
Found: in almost a generation, nothing.
Than a shipful of astronomers chanced on the Troas-Illium system. The Da Gama had set out, but never come home. Now, seven years later, the Henry Hudson is due to leave on the same mission..."
My Favorite Authors - John Wyndham
John Wydham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an science fiction writer. He was born in 1903 in Warwickshire, England and died in Hampshire in 1969. He has written some of my favorite early Sci-Fi novels. I'm not sure when I discovered his stories. 
John Wyndham
Over the years I've read and reread many of his books. I've also discovered some of his earlier books recently. Let's look at 5 of my favorites.
"Ships are sinking for no apparent reason, carrying hundreds to a dark underwater grave. Strange fireballs race through the sky above the deepest trenches of the oceans. Something is about to show itself, something terrible and alien, a force capable of causing global catastrophe." (4 stars)
"This was probably the third time I've read this book and it once again proved how much I enjoy John Wyndham's SciFi stories. The Chrysalids is set in a dystopic future, presumably years after some disaster; I think a nuclear war but it isn't clearly stated. The story is set in Labrador, a country desperately trying to recover some sort of normalcy. This is a very religious society, with a focus on destroying any type of mutation, animal or vegetable. The story focuses on David, his cousin/ girlfriend, Rosalind and David's young sister, Petra. They are part of a group of young people who are mutants in their own right, but not with visible mutations. They communicate mentally and must try to keep it hidden from their parents and friends. A number of incidents occur that put them in more and more jeopardy. That's the gist of the story, although it is so much more. Much tension and emotion. It is written very simply but at times very poignantly. Reading it once again brought back the same emotions I felt the other times I read it. Excellent, timeless story, with lovely characters; Rosalind being my favourite. I do wish that Wyndham had been able to write a sequel to this. I desperately want to discover what ultimately happens to David and Rosalind's compatriots, Michael and Rachel. (5 stars)"
"Cuckoos lay eggs in other birds' nests. The clutch that was fathered on the quiet little village of Midwich, one night in September, proved to possess a monstrous will of its own. It promised to make the human race look as dated as the dinosaur." (4 stars)
"Bill Masen, bandages
over his wounded eyes, misses the most spectacular meteorite shower
England has ever seen. Removing his bandages the next morning, he finds
masses of sightless people wandering the city. He soon meets Josella,
another lucky person who has retained her sight, and together they leave
the city, aware that the safe, familiar world they knew a mere
twenty-four hours before is gone forever.
But to survive in this
post-apocalyptic world, one must survive the Triffids, strange plants
that years before began appearing all over the world. The Triffids can
grow to over seven feet tall, pull their roots from the ground to walk,
and kill a man with one quick lash of their poisonous stingers. With
society in shambles, they are now poised to prey on humankind. Wyndham
chillingly anticipates bio-warfare and mass destruction, fifty years
before their realization, in this prescient account of Cold War
paranoia." (5 stars)
"Short stories aren't usually my favourite genre as I find in most books I've read, that they are hit and miss at the best of times. However, on the whole, I must say that I enjoyed every story in this collection by John Wyndham. Not only can he write an excellent story, like in The Day of the Triffids, The Chrysalids and others, he has also displayed the knack of telling as interesting a story when using the short story format. The stories are mixed nicely; there is humour, drama and down right creepiness in some. They range from space travel, time travel, mind transference to robot stories. Every one was interesting, to the point, well-written and enjoyable to read. Highly recommend The Seeds of Time to anybody. (4 stars)"
I've got one more of his books on my shelf to read; Chocky (1968). The complete listing of Wyndham's works can be found at this link. Enjoy your weekend.
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