Book review: The Midwich Cuckoos
Back to the pile of freebie classics that's been keeping me busy for a few years now - finally looking a bit less intimidating but not quite finished yet. I don't know why I kept John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos waiting in the pile for so long but the classic sci-fi novel (best known for its film adaptation as Village of the Damned) was one of the best surprises so far. From the opening as a village mysteriously falls asleep for 24 hours, to the revelation that all the women have been impregnated by "something" in that time, to the children getting more dangerously powerful as they get older, Wyndham progressively dials up the tension and the story's very satisfyingly sinister. But there's also a lot of wit in his writing that nicely balances out the Cold War paranoia and makes for a very entertaining read. I've already been checking out which other Wyndham books are available on the kindle, he's definitely someone whose work I'd want to read more of.