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bloomsburybaker's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Fantastic - a collection of Wyndham at his best. Some lighthearted, some spooky, all an incredible commentary on society.
tobyj416's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
milesjmoran's review against another edition
4.0
Wyndham is such a creative, genius mind that I am left in awe of his limitless ideas. Not his greatest piece but still thoroughly enjoyable and immensely clever.
missmelia's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
Sci-fi as it used to be...
Though always categorised as sci-fi, John Wyndham was probably one of the least science-based writers of the genre. There are very few gadgets in his stories and even when technology is being used – in order to time-travel for example – he doesn’t usually bother to give any kind of made-up science to explain the working; he simply expects his reader to accept it as possible and real. His stories might take the reader towards the fantasy side of sci-fi on occasion, but at heart they’re about humanity and Wyndham’s contemporary society even if they may be set on Mars in some distant future.
This collection, originally published in 1956, brings together ten stories, ranging from comedy to horror, with touches of romance and occasionally social commentary built in. There’s no real common theme – this is a collection where each story is individual rather than being part of a greater whole. But most of the stories are more than strong enough to stand alone and even the weaker ones are well worth reading. Wyndham is a great storyteller and the variety in this book allows him to show off his impressive versatility.
The stories are:-
Chronoclasm – a story that addresses the paradoxes inherent in time travel and throws in a nice little romantic comedy along the way.
Time to Rest – the tale of a human stranded on Mars after the destruction of Earth, and how his perceptions of the indigenous Martians gradually change as he struggles to accept his situation.
Meteor – a threatened species sends explorers out into space to find a new home, and the planet they find is Earth. Comedy and tragedy all rolled into one – a beautifully imaginative story, this one.
Survival – when a systems failure leaves a spacecraft drifting in space, the passengers and crew must find a way to eke out their food supplies till help arrives. There’s only one woman aboard and she is desperate to find a way to ensure her unborn child survives. Gruesome, horrific and yet kinda fun too…
Pawley's Peepholes – the people of the future find a way to visit the present and treat it like a peepshow, popping up in the most unexpected and unwelcome places. How will the people of the present respond? A comedy with a satirical edge.
Opposite Number – now we move into the realm of parallel universes, though Wyndham’s reasoning for their existence is...er…somewhat unique! This is Wyndham at his most romantic, and more than any other I found this story felt very dated. Still enjoyable though.
Pillar to Post – time travel again, but this time by body swapping with people from the past. But what if the person you’ve swapped with doesn’t want to swap back? Imaginative and with a lot of humour, but this story also takes a rather grim look at the horrific injuries some soldiers were left with after the Second World War.
Dumb Martian – our nasty narrator buys a Martian woman to take with him on his solitary five-year posting to an uninhabited moon orbiting Jupiter. Fooled by the shape of her face into thinking Lellie is stupid, the narrator is soon to discover he has under-estimated her. This is a thinly disguised attack on racism, but despite the fairly overt message, it’s still a good story.
Compassion Circuit – a future when robots have been designed to take care of all our needs, including health-care. But what happens when the robot decides that it knows what’s best for us – without asking our permission? A theme that has recurred many times in sci-fi over the last half-century, and handled with a lovely touch of horror here.
Wild Flower – a strange little story foreshadowing the whole nature/technology debate that is still going on today. Not the most successful of the stories in terms of entertainment but still interesting.
It’s hard to pick favourites when the overall standard is so high, but I particularly like Meteor, Survival and Pillar to Post. But there’s so much variety in the stories that each reader would probably end up with a completely different top three. Great as an addition for anyone who’s read Wyndham’s major novels, and would be equally great as an introduction to his writing for anyone who hasn’t. Highly recommended.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Though always categorised as sci-fi, John Wyndham was probably one of the least science-based writers of the genre. There are very few gadgets in his stories and even when technology is being used – in order to time-travel for example – he doesn’t usually bother to give any kind of made-up science to explain the working; he simply expects his reader to accept it as possible and real. His stories might take the reader towards the fantasy side of sci-fi on occasion, but at heart they’re about humanity and Wyndham’s contemporary society even if they may be set on Mars in some distant future.
This collection, originally published in 1956, brings together ten stories, ranging from comedy to horror, with touches of romance and occasionally social commentary built in. There’s no real common theme – this is a collection where each story is individual rather than being part of a greater whole. But most of the stories are more than strong enough to stand alone and even the weaker ones are well worth reading. Wyndham is a great storyteller and the variety in this book allows him to show off his impressive versatility.
The stories are:-
Chronoclasm – a story that addresses the paradoxes inherent in time travel and throws in a nice little romantic comedy along the way.
Time to Rest – the tale of a human stranded on Mars after the destruction of Earth, and how his perceptions of the indigenous Martians gradually change as he struggles to accept his situation.
Meteor – a threatened species sends explorers out into space to find a new home, and the planet they find is Earth. Comedy and tragedy all rolled into one – a beautifully imaginative story, this one.
Survival – when a systems failure leaves a spacecraft drifting in space, the passengers and crew must find a way to eke out their food supplies till help arrives. There’s only one woman aboard and she is desperate to find a way to ensure her unborn child survives. Gruesome, horrific and yet kinda fun too…
Pawley's Peepholes – the people of the future find a way to visit the present and treat it like a peepshow, popping up in the most unexpected and unwelcome places. How will the people of the present respond? A comedy with a satirical edge.
Opposite Number – now we move into the realm of parallel universes, though Wyndham’s reasoning for their existence is...er…somewhat unique! This is Wyndham at his most romantic, and more than any other I found this story felt very dated. Still enjoyable though.
Pillar to Post – time travel again, but this time by body swapping with people from the past. But what if the person you’ve swapped with doesn’t want to swap back? Imaginative and with a lot of humour, but this story also takes a rather grim look at the horrific injuries some soldiers were left with after the Second World War.
Dumb Martian – our nasty narrator buys a Martian woman to take with him on his solitary five-year posting to an uninhabited moon orbiting Jupiter. Fooled by the shape of her face into thinking Lellie is stupid, the narrator is soon to discover he has under-estimated her. This is a thinly disguised attack on racism, but despite the fairly overt message, it’s still a good story.
Compassion Circuit – a future when robots have been designed to take care of all our needs, including health-care. But what happens when the robot decides that it knows what’s best for us – without asking our permission? A theme that has recurred many times in sci-fi over the last half-century, and handled with a lovely touch of horror here.
Wild Flower – a strange little story foreshadowing the whole nature/technology debate that is still going on today. Not the most successful of the stories in terms of entertainment but still interesting.
It’s hard to pick favourites when the overall standard is so high, but I particularly like Meteor, Survival and Pillar to Post. But there’s so much variety in the stories that each reader would probably end up with a completely different top three. Great as an addition for anyone who’s read Wyndham’s major novels, and would be equally great as an introduction to his writing for anyone who hasn’t. Highly recommended.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
midwichtriffid's review against another edition
4.0
Another lovey collection of short stories by John Wyndham. I found overall that this collection had more memorable stories overall.
Survival left me absolutely reeling for several days. Not because it was a new concept but that it was expertly executed and unexpected from Wyndham.
I liked that quite a few of the stories concentrated on Mars and its inhabitants. Wyndham wrote it with a very old West feeling that I enjoyed. I particularly liked Time to Rest and Dumb Martian which really allowed for us to appreciate that different isn't bad, and sometimes different can be better.
Survival left me absolutely reeling for several days. Not because it was a new concept but that it was expertly executed and unexpected from Wyndham.
I liked that quite a few of the stories concentrated on Mars and its inhabitants. Wyndham wrote it with a very old West feeling that I enjoyed. I particularly liked Time to Rest and Dumb Martian which really allowed for us to appreciate that different isn't bad, and sometimes different can be better.
toloveabook's review against another edition
5.0
I was looking forward to reading this short story collection of Wyndham's because of how much I enjoyed his novel, [b:The Chrysalids|826845|The Chrysalids|John Wyndham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1271095852l/826845._SY75_.jpg|910927]. This collection did not disappoint: it was fun, meaningful, and unique, and got me interested in reading more science fiction. I especially enjoyed "Pawley's Peepholes" because it was surprising and fun, but also terrifying, and "Pillar to Post" because of poor Terry Morton's very... unconventional struggles, and because of this quote: “In the end, defeat and the cold must come… Not to admit that is a foolish vanity. Yet one grows flowers because they are lovely – not because one wishes them to live forever.”
schoolofholly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
In 2021 I read my first John Wyndham and that was The Day of The Triffids by by golly did I love it. I had an inkling that he was going to become a new favourite author and have got The Chrysalids, The Trouble with Lichen and The Midwich Cuckoos on my TBR. I found this collection of short stories at a second hand book shop and I have a goal of reading 1 short story a day for the rest of the year so this was perfect.
I liked the brief introduction to this collection that explains how Wyndham was trying out variations on Sci-fi such a romance focused one, a horror, a poetic one, etc... and so this is a very varied collection of stories. It's good that this intro was there because I have to say that I didn't enjoy the first story, it felt lack lustre and weak but I carried on knowing that they would all be quite different.
I would say that I disliked about 2 out of 10 of these stories - the rest I adored and I adored them for different reasons.
Whilst I'm still relatively new to the short story, this is up there as one of the best I've read!
I liked the brief introduction to this collection that explains how Wyndham was trying out variations on Sci-fi such a romance focused one, a horror, a poetic one, etc... and so this is a very varied collection of stories. It's good that this intro was there because I have to say that I didn't enjoy the first story, it felt lack lustre and weak but I carried on knowing that they would all be quite different.
I would say that I disliked about 2 out of 10 of these stories - the rest I adored and I adored them for different reasons.
Whilst I'm still relatively new to the short story, this is up there as one of the best I've read!