In this sequel to John Wyndham's "The Day of the Triffids", 25 years have elapsed and Bill Mason's son David sets off for New York to meet humans who are immune to triffid poison. Here he comes face to face with one of his father's oldest enemies.
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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
Review
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. -- CNN.com
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Rod Williams
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.... Read more ›
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.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By MattC+
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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 style, a social satire around an apocalyptic event, with the absurdities, charms and often broad comedy of the Brit's stiff upper lip and ingenuity winning (at least in part) through. As with much of Wyndham's work, there's a chap bemused about the hostilities of the cold war, not along after everyone rolled up their sleeves and pulled together in WW2.
Wyndham's science hardly stands up to scrutiny - as a kid I always wondered could triffids get upstairs, climb hills etc - and Clark starts so well - a freak dust cloud and a threat to the island existence from floating mats of vegetation, flotsam, jetsam and triffids, and what should have been the core of a "believable" sequel, the emergence of survivors (such as his father) with natural or acquired resistance to the triffid poison. The whole sequence in the USA stretches the already unbelievable plot beyond breaking point, and the graphic violence and ridiculous monster triffids jarred with me I'm afraid.
I'd love someone to have a proper go at Triffids and Wyndham's best prophetic novel, the Kraken Wakes, probably not Mr Clark though.
Wyndham's science hardly stands up to scrutiny - as a kid I always wondered could triffids get upstairs, climb hills etc - and Clark starts so well - a freak dust cloud and a threat to the island existence from floating mats of vegetation, flotsam, jetsam and triffids, and what should have been the core of a "believable" sequel, the emergence of survivors (such as his father) with natural or acquired resistance to the triffid poison. The whole sequence in the USA stretches the already unbelievable plot beyond breaking point, and the graphic violence and ridiculous monster triffids jarred with me I'm afraid.
I'd love someone to have a proper go at Triffids and Wyndham's best prophetic novel, the Kraken Wakes, probably not Mr Clark though.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
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 seamlessly. I now wish there was another follow up to come. Surprisingly I liked the way the story moved to New York and gave us another environment for John Wyndham's excellent book
Any possibility of a further follow up? I hope so.
Any possibility of a further follow up? I hope so.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
...As John Wyndham's 'Day of the Triffids' is one of my favourites, I was interested to read this new sequel.
I must confess than when I started to read the new book, I expected to be disappointed. Surely nothing could be anywhere near as good as the original.
However, in about chapter 3 of the book,I was suddenly hooked and just couldn't put it down. Wisely, author Simon Clark has written about completely new characters and a story taking place 25 years after the original book ended, as David Mason finds himself in a series of exciting adventures taking place in American, a land where people still have to keep the Triffids at bay. The action goes along at a cracking pace, but David still finds time for romance in the middle of a world falling apart.
If you enjoyed the original book, 'The Night of the Triffids' is well worth reading. This book also has an ending that could be continued. Does Simon Clark intend to write more about the Triffids ??
I must confess than when I started to read the new book, I expected to be disappointed. Surely nothing could be anywhere near as good as the original.
However, in about chapter 3 of the book,I was suddenly hooked and just couldn't put it down. Wisely, author Simon Clark has written about completely new characters and a story taking place 25 years after the original book ended, as David Mason finds himself in a series of exciting adventures taking place in American, a land where people still have to keep the Triffids at bay. The action goes along at a cracking pace, but David still finds time for romance in the middle of a world falling apart.
If you enjoyed the original book, 'The Night of the Triffids' is well worth reading. This book also has an ending that could be continued. Does Simon Clark intend to write more about the Triffids ??
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3.4 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty good
The writing style is very similar to Wyndham's and the plot is very good. It's nothing compared to The Day of the Triffids but it's still a good book and well worth a read :D
Published 5 months ago by Veronica
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not up to Wyndham's standard...
Simon Clark takes up the story 25 years after John Wyndham's "Day of the Triffids" and follows the adventures of Bill Masen's son David. Read more
Published 6 months ago by John Metcalf
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Night of the Triffids
This is an excellent follow up to John Wyndhams classic - it moves along at a good pace to a terrific ending.
Published 19 months ago by rojcrad
1.0 out of 5 stars
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 on 7 April 2011 by Mister Terne
4.0 out of 5 stars
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
3.0 out of 5 stars
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
3.0 out of 5 stars
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
1.0 out of 5 stars
"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
4.0 out of 5 stars
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
4.0 out of 5 stars
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
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