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Amazon.co.uk Review
Simon Clark's The Night of the Triffids is the authorised 50th-anniversary sequel to The Day of the Triffids (1951) by John Wyndham, that classic SF nightmare which gave our language the word "triffid".
Clark's opening consciously echoes Wyndham's. In Day, narrator Bill Masen woke to a world blinded by strange radiations. Twenty five years later, his son David wakes to a different mysterious darkness. When people can't see, those deadly walking GM vegetables the triffids have the advantage. They got out of hand in Day and now not only dominate the continents but are learning how to invade human refuges like the Masens' Isle of Wight.
Air pilot David's high-altitude investigation of what's hiding the sun leads to unexpected dangers and contact with explorers from triffid-besieged Manhattan Island. A wonderful place but with something rotten underneath--and its leader's plans for reclaiming the Earth verge on the insane.
Simon Clark, a devoted fan of The Day of the Triffids, is best known for horror fiction. Although he does a fair pastiche of Wyndham's very British understated narrative style, this often escalates into darker imagery and moments of memorable nastiness. The triffids have evolved new, lethal tricks but these pale into insignificance besides the unspeakable things that obsessed humans can do to one another. In the long run, coping with triffids may well be easier.
The Night of the Triffids builds to a slam-bang action climax, not terribly Wyndhamesque but still gripping. A good old-fashioned read with slick modern trimmings and hints of another sequel. --David Langford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
CNN.com
Clark has the ability to keep the reader looking over his shoulder to make sure that sudden noise you hear is just the summer night breeze rattling the window.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The novel, as an homage within an homage, begins as the original does with the disorientation of both the reader and the narrator as they awake and try to work out why their world has changed.
Twenty-nine years on from John Wyndham's classic, the original narrator's son David takes up the tale. Those unfamiliar with 'Day of...' (shame on you!) will be neatly brought up to date by his reminiscences in which he gives an overview of post-apocalyptic life among the Triffids, which the population now harvest to provide the raw materials of daily existence.
Clark is true to the spirit of the original - managing to capture Wyndham's style - and cleverly creates a society which, because of the lack of scientific and social development, has changed little from Wyndham's England of the Nineteen Fifties.
Due to a combination of unfortunate events David is taken to New York which is being ruthlessly controlled as an apartheid slave society where blind and black people are excluded from 'whites only' areas.
In a sense this can be seen as a continuation of social values which were acceptable, if not widespread, in Nineteen Fifties America, and may indeed be prevalent in today's USA in many areas.
My gripes are minor. The Triffids themselves are lessened by new and improbable mutant forms. An aquatic species emerges in the USA where, ironically, all the Triffids are bigger and nastier than their European counterparts. This might have been expected in warmer parts of the US (The original talks of ten-foot specimens found growing in Africa) but not in the more temperate New York. Some sixty-foot specimens appear near the end of the novel which stretches credulity to breaking point for me, given that at least three independent communities have been studying the Triffids for the last thirty years and have presumably seen no major changes in the creatures' physiology.
Also, one might have expected some kind of climatic change with the loss of humanity's mechanised fuel-driven civilisation and the re-encroachment of vegetation in large areas around the world.
The ending, although exciting, seems somewhat rushed and contrived, but this didn't mar what I found to be an un-put-downable thriller, which hopefully will bring many new readers to the original novel to find out where it all started.
Twenty-nine years on from John Wyndham's classic, the original narrator's son David takes up the tale. Those unfamiliar with 'Day of...' (shame on you!) will be neatly brought up to date by his reminiscences in which he gives an overview of post-apocalyptic life among the Triffids, which the population now harvest to provide the raw materials of daily existence.
Clark is true to the spirit of the original - managing to capture Wyndham's style - and cleverly creates a society which, because of the lack of scientific and social development, has changed little from Wyndham's England of the Nineteen Fifties.
Due to a combination of unfortunate events David is taken to New York which is being ruthlessly controlled as an apartheid slave society where blind and black people are excluded from 'whites only' areas.
In a sense this can be seen as a continuation of social values which were acceptable, if not widespread, in Nineteen Fifties America, and may indeed be prevalent in today's USA in many areas.
My gripes are minor. The Triffids themselves are lessened by new and improbable mutant forms. An aquatic species emerges in the USA where, ironically, all the Triffids are bigger and nastier than their European counterparts. This might have been expected in warmer parts of the US (The original talks of ten-foot specimens found growing in Africa) but not in the more temperate New York. Some sixty-foot specimens appear near the end of the novel which stretches credulity to breaking point for me, given that at least three independent communities have been studying the Triffids for the last thirty years and have presumably seen no major changes in the creatures' physiology.
Also, one might have expected some kind of climatic change with the loss of humanity's mechanised fuel-driven civilisation and the re-encroachment of vegetation in large areas around the world.
The ending, although exciting, seems somewhat rushed and contrived, but this didn't mar what I found to be an un-put-downable thriller, which hopefully will bring many new readers to the original novel to find out where it all started.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having been a great fan of 'The Day of the Triffids' for many years I was interested to see what this one was like. Although the start seems to follow a similar style to John Wyndham's, it follows an altogether different style as the story heads for the climax. The triffids have mutated/are mutating so fast it's unbelievable. In one scene there are triffids 60 ft tall lumbering through new Manhatten, and in another the protaganist takes charge of the battle, dispite a senior officer being present - which is highly unlikely.
Although Simon Clark is obviously proficient at writing, (the story reads well and flows great) there are too many, if small, holes and queries regarding the plot that Wyndham would not have left. (e.g. the old man at the start who'd been stung by a triffid and who'd not yet keeled over. Why, and why did he think he'd just had a bump? And then why did he suddenly die?)
For those who like action/military books this might appeal, but as a sequel to 'Day' it leaves a lot to be desired. My oppinion is that Simon Clark should have changed a few of the similarities and overlaps, and created a new story line - that is, not a sequal.
Overall, reasonably well written as a story, lousy as a sequel.
Although Simon Clark is obviously proficient at writing, (the story reads well and flows great) there are too many, if small, holes and queries regarding the plot that Wyndham would not have left. (e.g. the old man at the start who'd been stung by a triffid and who'd not yet keeled over. Why, and why did he think he'd just had a bump? And then why did he suddenly die?)
For those who like action/military books this might appeal, but as a sequel to 'Day' it leaves a lot to be desired. My oppinion is that Simon Clark should have changed a few of the similarities and overlaps, and created a new story line - that is, not a sequal.
Overall, reasonably well written as a story, lousy as a sequel.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an excellent follow up to John Wyndhams classic - it moves along at a good pace to a terrific ending.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Potentially a great sequel, but loses sight of Wyndham's original
I read it and mostly enjoyed it - but I'd categorise it as Sci-fi Horror (at least there were no vampires in it) - Simon Clark missed what I think is the essence of Wyndham's... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Big Texas Butters
A very good sequel
I don't normally like sequels written by another author as generally the original style is lost. However, I was really pleased with Simon Clark's effort and the book followed on... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Jerz Jurkiewicz
Such a disappointment
When I found out that there was a sequel to one of my favourite novels, I jumped at the chance to read it and put several other books that I had all ready started on hold. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mister Terne
Not necessarily any more flawed than than the original
This is a good fun book. It is no doubt not the sequel John Wyndham would have written, and has its own flaws. Read more
Published on 17 Jun 2008 by fat man on a bicycle
An Audacious Attempt
Among SF fans, John Wyndham's "The Day of the Triffids" is a classic of the same water as H. G. Wells's "The Time Machine". Read more
Published on 12 May 2008 by C. S. Junker
the night of the triffids
I was disappointed with the book I had very high hopes because I have liked much of the authors pervious work and very much enjoyed the "day of the triffids". Read more
Published on 15 July 2007 by john craig dunkerley
"Triffids" Deserves a Sequel But This Ain't It
This book starts a generation or so after "The Day of the Triffids" ends, with the world again being plunged into darkness, this time because the earth has passed through a cloud... Read more
Published on 15 May 2007 by M. W. Stone
My 100-word book review
Set a few decades after the events of John Wyndham's famous novel, Night of the Triffids is a straightforward adventure story, with travel, warfare and a little romance thrown in. Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2007 by A. J. Cull
A good sequel that's well worth a read.
Written exactly fifty years after the release of John Wyndham's classic post-apocalyptic novel "Day Of The Triffids", the British horror writer Simon Clark brings you a sequel to... Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2007 by Chris Hall
Second rate
This really is a poor follow up to Day Of The Triffids.Dull characters in stereotypical hollywood sci fi situations. Read more
Published on 12 Feb 2007 by Johnnybluetime
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