- Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd; New edition edition (1 Sep 1981)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340158344
- ISBN-13: 978-0340158340
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 10.8 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 371,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Early John Wyndham, before his famous novels. This is very Jules Verne-ish, both in its general feel and in its physical setting. A fairly standard plot with run of the mill and uninteresting characters, though the situation of the prisoners is genuinely chilling.
One minor interesting point: it was written in 1935, i.e. before the accession and subsequent Abdication of Edward VIII, but is set in 1964, when Elizabeth the Second, daughter of Edward's younger brother the future George VI, is Queen.
One minor interesting point: it was written in 1935, i.e. before the accession and subsequent Abdication of Edward VIII, but is set in 1964, when Elizabeth the Second, daughter of Edward's younger brother the future George VI, is Queen.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Kept in the Dark
20 Nov 2002
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I'm always finding a John Wyndham novel I haven't read before. And yes, I did find this in a used book store. This was John Wyndham's first novel, originally serialized in a magazine, written when he went by the name John Beynon.
Published in 1935 but set in 1964, "The Secret People" takes us to a place intruders never leave. After Mark Sunnet's rocket plane crashes in the Sahara Desert, which is being turned into a "New Sea" by France and Italy in a monumental feat of engineering, he and his girlfriend Margaret find themselves prisoners of a people determined to keep their existence secret. Hence the title of this book.
These short-statured people (who resemble white pygmies) dwell in an underground network of vast caves and are, on the face of it, mired in primitivism. The caves are lit by luminous globes of unknown power, suggesting that this civilization was once highly developed technologically but is now long past its time of glory. While Margaret and her cat become a focus of worship, Mark is thrown in with the other prisoners. These are people of various nationalities who were unfortunate enough to stray into the pygmie's domain over the years - destined to live out their lives subsisting on the fungus of giant mushrooms which grow in the caves. While many are slumped in apathy, some of the captives have preserved their sanity by working on an escape tunnel. The rising water levels have heightened the sense of urgency.
Because Wyndham was a fan of H.G. Wells, it is reasonable to guess he had read "In the Abyss", a story with a similar theme. The characters are an ever-resourceful set, which, apart from Mark and Margaret, include a couple of can-do Americans to boost morale, an English academic speculating on the history of the pygmies, a slimy villain, a good-natured African giant, and, to represent the pygmies, a philosophical priest. Wyndham's style in the 1930s is different to his more acclaimed style of the 1950s, but it remains readable today, even if it is a little dated.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
a very early science fiction piece entertains..
26 Oct 2004
Format:Mass Market Paperback
'The Secret People' was written in the 1930s, back in the days of Buck Rogers stories. It has a certain charm and innocence compared to the more complex (and lengthy) modern science fiction novels. Its author, John Wyndham, had written some wonderful pieces some twenty years later. However 'The Secret People', while entertaining, is not of the same calibre.
In our story we have the Earth some 30 years in the future. The French and British governments decide to harvest the Sahara desert by flooding it, creating "the New Sea". Yet we discover that underneath the desert floor exists a huge colony of 'secret people', ... actually ancient pygmies. A dashing British couple unfortunately find themselves underground and held as prisoners by these people, in addition to hundreds of other prisoners. Of course the flooding of the desert and the yearning to escape unsettles matters....
Bottom line: a simple, naive and fun little book. John Wyndham fans will enjoy it.
In our story we have the Earth some 30 years in the future. The French and British governments decide to harvest the Sahara desert by flooding it, creating "the New Sea". Yet we discover that underneath the desert floor exists a huge colony of 'secret people', ... actually ancient pygmies. A dashing British couple unfortunately find themselves underground and held as prisoners by these people, in addition to hundreds of other prisoners. Of course the flooding of the desert and the yearning to escape unsettles matters....
Bottom line: a simple, naive and fun little book. John Wyndham fans will enjoy it.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Not Free SF Reader
3 Sep 2007
Format:Mass Market Paperback
A lost race type novel. A large reclamation project to turn desert to
arable land will have a large effect on the people that live under that
desert. A couple of surface dwellers get caught up with these people.
You'd have to really, really like mushrooms to stay.
arable land will have a large effect on the people that live under that
desert. A couple of surface dwellers get caught up with these people.
You'd have to really, really like mushrooms to stay.
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