How to Make a Triffid

by Kelly Lagor

A chilling tale of science, science fiction, and how we break.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 13, 2012

About the author

She writes things.

She grew up in Chicago, but now lives in southern California. She has never gotten used to it.

She used to be a scientist, but now helps scientists do better science. Because SCIENCE.

She plays banjo and ukulele in a band, and guitar otherwise.

To read more of her fiction, you can go to http://kellylagor.com/writing/

Reviews

[Chantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is important to note that most of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the book's subject matters & those detailed in my review overwhelming. I suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters that contain reflections on Depression, grief, the death of a loved one, terminal illness, suicide, & others.

This short story encourages readers to admire the traditional format of Science Fiction. Should readers who come upon this particular story be longing for the genre as they used to know it, here they will be met with the reminder of what it means to incorporate equation with emotion. That is to say, Lagor crafted her story’s desire to be an ode to its inspiration. The writing she employs is visible in the mind & the heart as a method to transmit a wonderful story the likes of which trailblazing authors of Science Fiction would be proud to welcome alongside them.

In its essence, this is a story about a man who is mourning the loss of his father. The main character, Joe, is a scholastic scientist. He explains to the reader that following the suicide of his father, he abandoned his scholastic pursuits to dedicate his time to reanimating the molecular form of his father. His inspiration is drawn from the book the pair read throughout Joe’s childhood, John Wyndham’s “The Day of the Triffids” (1951).

I hold a particular fondness for stories that seek to pay homage to another. It matters rather little to me whether I have read the source material or not, what I care about is seeing the stern dedication of praise gifted to, in many cases a stranger, via the written word of the author I meet in their work. This story is no exception. Readers will clearly see that Lagor spent time with the source material. Her story flowed in such a way as to leave one with the assumption that Wyndham may have in his possessions the ability to weave together the scenes left off the page. It is always nice to see a person’s efforts in the great wide world.

With that being said, this story will not land in the hands of all readers & be deemed a success. The plot itself is of interest to me as a science seeker; a reader of the non-fictional accounts of studies & hours of failures spent until the success we have as a simple given part of our days is achieved. Therefore, the paragraphs on end in which Joe details the biology of a plant; the minutia of signals; & the permanence of death, may all seem rather dull to a reader who isn’t inclined to enthusiasm towards the subject matter. That is not to say that the material is not interesting however, it is present in abundance.

Alongside the science, Lagor has included what might strike the cord of humanity; grief. Throughout the story, Joe’s emotional capacity seems non-existent. He expressed frustration, which the reader will note by the use of emboldened & italicized letters but, Joe himself never exhibits what the reader assumes he is feeling.

This was confusing to me. Certainly, as a man of science & the even-keel numbers of facts, Joe may have long since abandoned the human tendency to be overly emotional. However, each of Joe’s actions is done under duress. Why then, does the reader not see this?

To use specific examples, one may look at the explanation of Joe’s father’s suicide. Joe was on the phone with his father when he overdosed & while he died. Joe spent eight years of his life dedicating all his time & resources to reanimating his father. At some point, Joe’s psyche would have snapped. This does not necessarily mean that he would have gone awry or been exuberantly vocal in his feelings but, Joe’s near apathy towards accomplishing his goal—a goal he continued to fail at—would have made him deeply frustrated. Why is this not shown?

Throughout the story, the reader will be acquainted with Andrew, Joe’s closest friend. Andrew is sad about watching the downfall of his best friend & their conversations teeter very closely to revealing this pain. It makes sense that their dialogue would not directly reflect their pain. However, when each man is alone, the story chooses to go down another laneway rather than advocate for the humanity in the characters it has introduced. In some way, I can understand keeping to the facts but, in truth, the despair I am aware circles these men is known to be my assumption & experience only. Therefore, what is the story trying to say?

This is a story about a man who longs to meet his father again. Whether this quest is out of loneliness, guilt, general grief, or in a bid to prove that scholastic institutional pursuits are not the only avenue for scientists, the reader will never know. The exploration of rationals might have added another level to this story that, in my opinion, it would have benefitted from. That is not to say that the story is bad, on the contrary, it is a good story. However, its focus is very limited & therefore, the experiences of the characters feel dry & underdeveloped.

Ultimately, I appreciated this story for what it was. Rather than delve deeper into the biological expressions of grief, Joe held firm to his distance & torment. The imagination of the reader will allow this story to thrill the person who recognizes the torment of realistic turns of events; the sorrow of loss & the despair of a series of failures.

In truth, the intertwined narrative that the reader will put forward may be the magic in this story. Alongside the ode to another, the author whispers the joy of a long life in the memories of the ears always listening, hearts still beating, & eyes dry to better gauge the road ahead.

If you would like to read this story, please visit this •LINK•

[Hákon Gunnarsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham a little while back so when I came across this free short story on Tor I was curious to know how Kelly Lagor would handle the material. You see, it builds upon the Wyndham novel, but isn't a sequel, nor prequel. The main character is fascinated by the book, and is trying to build a triffid.

It's a science fiction that is heavy on the science part. I don't know enough about bioengering to know if it that part feels right, or not. What I do know is that it is a mad scientist tale, with a student that has left the estabishment to work on something unorthodox in his home. So there is a little bit of Frankenstein in here as well.

Still, as a story it doesn't built on suspense. Under all that science there is a sad story about loss. It is an interesting story about a man, and his relationship with his father, and a friend. I like this story, but strangely enough I think it is either too long, or short. As a short story I feel like it could do with a little tightening. On the other hand this could actually be the beginning of a novel, because the way it end could suggest that there is more. Main thing for me though is that I enjoyed reading it.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scientist sets out to prove that some barriers can be broken, with tragic results.

Lagor's story is deep and concerns itself not just with the "just because we can, doesn't mean we should" trope of science fiction, but looks closely at the things that drive us as people.

[Kimikimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh god. Truly mad science. Another story that was just a little too smart for me, but I still enjoyed it.

[Lyn eldrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best plant based science fiction book I have ever read

I enjoyed reading this book very much, the story was exciting, fresh, creative, imaginative, detailed and just a delight to read. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone else interested in science fiction.

[Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but to much chemical mumbo jumbo.

[Amyanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the interesting scientific detail, the emotional driving force behind the triffids creation and to a certain extent the clearly nuts narrator.
However, just when you're waiting to see what happens, perhaps asking yourself the questions- does he succeed? What goes wrong? Does he imbue the triffids with his own DNA? how does Andy react to Joe's behaviour? It ends....abruptly. In the middle of nowhere. Without any kind of conclusion. Just slams into an invisible wall and comes to a crumpled stop.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Available as a free read at tor.com.

I wasn't as enamored with this story as most of the commenters on the tor website. I do enjoy sci-fi, and it's always nice to come across fiction with sound science, and I'm usually a sucker for psychology-heavy stories (as this one is, though it doesn't really sell itself as such). Maybe this would have struck me more if I'd read The Day of the Triffids before. I surely would have enjoyed it more if there was a bit more closure instead of the open ending. Maybe I don't have enough background in biological engineering to fully appreciate all the plant-animal and chemical theory batted around. I understood enough to make sense of it, at least.

I guess I just felt there should be more there. That said, Joe and Andy were great characters. A lot didn't need to be said explicitly because the codependent relationship between a manic-depressive genius and the introverted scientist friend in his shadow was actually quite clear.

[JM · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a sad story. I've known people like the main character, who transfers his flaws to those around him who try to help him. It's like something I read once, in a book by David Gemmell I think, which says that destruction is much easier than creation. A sculptor can take years to create a beautiful statue and any idiot with a sledge hammer can reduce it to rubble in a few minutes. Sometimes we can't - or won't - see what we're going to cause with our actions.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, like everyone else is saying, this is a pretty sad story. Definitely a sort of mad scientist story, but.. somehow different.
To be honest though, I don't know much about biochemistry and plants. It was interesting to learn about bits of it through the protagonist.

I really really enjoyed the beginning. The writing of that, and basically everything else gave such a clear ability to see what kind of person the main character was.
Great short reading.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was just, just so sad.

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, worth the time in my opinion. It is quite depressing though, just warning you. Overall, a good short story.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seldom to never does one read a story of such quality from an author's first publication. I cannot wait for what she will publish next.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading the Tor page comments which are always brill I decided that Joe is a woman and not a man like I thought, and with that in mind, the second reading was so much better.