The Day of the Triffids

By: John Wyndham

Narrated by: Kingsley Ben-Adir

In 1951 John Wyndham published his novel The Day of the Triffids to moderate acclaim. Fifty-two years later, this horrifying story is a science-fiction classic, touted by The Times (London) as having 'all the reality of a vividly realised nightmare'.

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 24 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, 50 years before their realisation, in this prescient account of Cold War paranoia.

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'.

©1951 John Wyndham (P)2021 Audible, Ltd

Still excellent after 75 years-a classic

The people, the story structure, and how the author took a sci-fi book into an accurate story across the decades.

Surprisingly relevant

Creepy story about societal collapse. I think it hits different post COVID and I mean that in a good way.

Classic Excellent

It has been decades since I’ve found such a fine example of my old, favorite sub-genre of apocalypse fiction. It ranks with Alas, Babylon and Earth Abides, Lucifer’s Hammer, Canticle for Leibowitz, and other classics. I wonder if much of this zombie nonsense was ripped off from this excellent source. I suppose it is all Greener than You Think, Albert Wiener! ;-)

Captivating

I truly and deeply enjoyed this listen, looking forward to more from the author. Narrator did a wonderful job on voicing all the characters in the story

For a 75 yr old book (or so) it’s pretty good.

Fast pace, few plot holes, and some very well thought arguments about society that are relevant today