The Shape of Today

On the Nightstand, part the second

It's always nice to be able to share my enthusiasm for whatever I'm reading. Sometimes I'll choose an unknown (to me) author and be pleasantly surprised. Sometimes I do this and am surprised for entirely different reasons. And sometimes I'll come across a classic that I've somehow missed.

So it is with Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. This is an apocalyptic tale of entirely different sort...the end is brought on not by mushroom clouds or inbound space rocks, but by plants. Plants! Walking plants that sting you to death! I am only a fraction of the way into the novel, but I can tell it's a keeper by the way I keep glancing up and suddenly realizing it's midnight and it's time to put the book down and get some sleep.

It's important that I slow down enough to note what makes the book work for me, so I can apply this to my own writing. First of all, it's strictly science fiction...the protagonist spent some time describing the origins and nature of these vicious plants before the main narrative started. However, the science is not so hard that the reader cannot grasp it. This, as much as the warm British rhythm of the prose keeps the story flowing nicely and lends power to the thread of horror that flows through it.

And while it's tempting to suspect that the Triffids are escapees from the first Guild Wars 2 expansion, that's not the case. This book was written in the 1950's, when the Red Menace and the menace of nuclear annihilation were still very much a thing. Must have been a shock to the readers of the day to have the end of all things originating in a greenhouse rather than a missile silo!

I am looking forward to seeing where Mr. Wyndham's tale takes me next. When I finish it I've got World War Z on hold coming in from another library. A zombie apocalypse tale seems appropriate with "Black Friday" coming up next week...