They were likely engineered in a lab and escaped, but it turned out they produced a valuable oil, so everyone was willing to deal with the minor inconvenience of their violent streak because they were slow and easy to contain - as long as you were sighted, or course.

Think very large, very mobile Venus flytraps crossed with scorpions. Society had become gradually dependent upon triffids, large, ambulatory, carnivorous plants with poisonous stings (that’s how he was temporarily blinded). That’s a novel in itself, but that’s only half the story. Turns out the long-anticipated meteor shower the night before blinded everyone who saw it, which was basically everyone, and things are going poorly. Eventually, he peels the bandages off and heads outside to find a ruined London. But none of the nurses or doctors come to his aid and, aside from some occasional screaming, the hospital seemed deserted. It’s one of the most compelling opening lines I’ve encountered: “When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like a Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.”īill suffered temporary damage to his eyes and was swaddled in bandages waiting for the big reveal, scheduled that morning. The setup, presaging 28 Days Later, involves protagonist Bill Masen who wakes up in a hospital alone. The story combines some very timely and prescient threads - environmental degradation, genetic mutation, a pandemic, a possible alien attack and even a social influencer - into a thrilling romp through post-apocalyptic England in search of love, alcohol and weapons.

The Day of the Triffids, written in 1951 by John Wyndham, is a cracking good read that seems 70 years ahead of it’s time. A droll little horror masterpiece, a rollicking good read and more than a little creepy and prophetic

The triffids book