The Chrysalids

By: John Wyndham

Narrated by: Noah Reid

Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

David Strorm's father doesn't approve of Angus Morton's unusually large horses, calling them blasphemies against nature. Little does he realise that his own son, his niece Rosalind and their friends have their own secret aberration that 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 Badland....

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 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'.

©1955 John Wyndham (P)2021 Audible, Ltd

Amazing

I loved it I recommend to everyone it is a very good book I really liked it

One of the classics and a must for any Sci-fi Fan

This is the classic story of David Strom, a young boy who grows up in a post-apocalyptic world that has grown fearful of ‘Deviations’. There is a religious fervor that follows deviations in anything, animals, crops, and people. Everything must follow a strict set of rules and guidelines laid down by a council and as decreed by the Church and God – for it is in God’s image that man and woman are created and there shall be no deviation from it.
The world has been set back due to whatever has happened, this small community is surrounded by several areas of land that has been reduced to ‘badlands’, impassable wastelands. Other areas are barely livable. Those left have returned to an age that is more like something out of the pre-industrial days, very limited technology and a reliance on religion to bring them hope.
David’s Father is a leader in the small town in which they live, and leads the crusade against deviations and deviants, things that he considers to be the devils work.
Whilst David has been brought up in this home of discrimination, with parents more interested in their chores, running the homestead (they have crops, livestock and other things), and a Father that is obsessed with the ‘Lords’ work of finding and removing deviants, he has more of an open mind.
So when he finds a young girl that does not meet the ‘image’ of man, he doesn’t think a thing of it and befriends her.
The story continues and we learn that David himself has something different about him, he has a version of telepathy, along with a couple of others within the village that he lives in. One of them is a ‘Cousin’ through marriage, Rosalind, and there are multiple others spaced around.
I don’t want to give too much away, but events unfold that leave David and Rosalind with little choice but to go on the run, and the story moves from one in which we are learning about David, and the small pocket of telepaths, to a fast-paced action story in which these two kids are on the run from a terrifying collection of religious fanatics, (including their family!!), so that they can capture and torture them so learn more about their abilities.
Wyndham’s story was written in 1955, and whilst it has aged a bit, it is still a classic Sci-Fi story and well worth the read (or listen). It is actually rather interesting looking at how someone wrote back then, to how they write now, and the significant difference even just with male and female characters and their roles. Wyndham’s descriptions of the female characters is so different to how a modern Author would describe them.
Additionally his character work is a little weak in places, but overall it does not detract from the story. David’s character is the main character and we see the story only from his perspective. There are some really interesting characters in the story, David’s Father is the stereotypical religious fanatic bigoted racist, who spends more time hunting deviants than he ever does with his family. On the flip side is his Uncle Axel, a relative through marriage, and an ex-sailor, he has seen more of the world, is more open to things, and becomes a confident and friend to your David.
I won’t discuss the other characters as I don’t want to give anything away, whilst some of the characters are a little two-dimensional and really reflect the writing style of the age, some of the other characters are fascinating and show a much greater depth and understanding of human psychology, persecution and just how far people are willing to go when they believe they have a justified cause. Wyndham’s discussion of David and his ilk being a ‘next’ evolution of humanity makes for an interesting concept, and the overall story is one that is full of intriguing and rather captivating concepts, if at times rather terrifying given the fanaticism to which the others come after David and Rosalind.
This is one of those books that is a must in the ‘Sci-Fi’ collection, one of those classics along with ‘Day of the Triffids’ and along with Asimov and Clark. It is a good read and won’t disappoint.
Noah Reid is a new Narrator for me, but I was happily surprised by just how good he was. He had a very clear and concise voice that made it easy to listen to, and he has a nice and very peaceful voice that is very relaxing. I found that he was great to listen to, he has a fantastic range of voices, both male and female and he was able to provide the emotional range of each of the characters as well, so that you really understood how the characters are feeling.
Noah did a really brilliant job with the Narration and it is definitely worth listening to.