The Night of the Triffids
| The Night of the Triffids | |
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.jpg) Cover of first edition (hardcover) |
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| Author(s) | Simon Clark |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Publication date | 2001 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 406 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-340-76600-X |
| OCLC Number | 45327422 |
| Preceded by | The Day of the Triffids |
The Night of the Triffids is a science fiction novel by Simon Clark published in 2001. It is a sequel to John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids. Clark has been commended for his success at mimicking Wyndham's style, but most reviewers have not rated his creation as highly as the original 1951 work. Clark's book is written in the first person and narrated by David Masen, the son of Wyndham's protagonist.
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[edit] Plot summary
The story starts 25 years after The Day of the Triffids ended. Pilot David Masen has grown up in a community on the Isle of Wight, safe from the venomous and carnivorous triffid plants which have dominated the world since most human beings were blinded by a meteor shower (as related in the original book).
As the sequel begins, a mysterious darkness falls — something is blotting out the sun. Masen takes to the air to determine if a high cloud is to blame but he loses contact with his home base and crash-lands on a floating island populated by triffids. There, he meets an orphaned young girl, and the pair are subsequently rescued by an American ship and taken to Manhattan island in New York City.
Manhattan, a secure and self contained community like the one on the Isle of Wight, appears at first glance to be a utopia; but David soon realises that it is in fact a dictatorship run by an old enemy of his father's. David and his young friend are soon being used by both the dictator and a band of rebels who oppose the dictator's tyrannical rule, while the triffids — now evolved into even more dangerous forms — are trying to take deadly advantage of the slowly lifting darkness.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
Comments on The Night of the Triffids include:
- "Clark scores fairly high in pastiching Wyndham's style, at least." [1]
- "Wyndham did hit notes of poetry and grim beauty more often than Clark does" [1]
- "Overall, The Night of the Triffids is a fine work of fiction that will keep any sci-fi/horror fan happy" [2]
- "It fails, however, in its main aim, that of supplying a worthy follow-up to one of the classics of British science fiction." [3]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b Di Filippo, Paul (2006). "The Night of the Triffids : Off the Shelf". scifi.com. Archived from the original on 2006-12-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20061231224448/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue221/books.html. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
- ^ Seaman, Dave , (2005). "The Night of the Triffids review". curledup.com. http://www.curledup.com/nitetrif.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
- ^ Hudson, Patrick. "Triffids - book reviews for zone-sf.com". zone-sf.com. http://www.zone-sf.com/triffids.html.
[edit] References
- Clark, Simon (October 2001). The Night of the Triffids (1st Ed. ed.). London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-76600-X.
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