Reading 1001 discussion

Read 2016: Enjoyable science fiction story about encounter with aliens. Written in 1957, the book might be a little dated but I still liked it and found it enjoyable. Not too terribly hard to figure out what has to happen but still a good story. This story is entertaining but it also addresses some ethical questions as well as other philosophical musings.

*** 1/2

In the middle of a countryside English village, a strange silver object appears in middle of town. Overnight, all the inhabitants fall unconscious and nobody can actually reach the village for at least another day, all being stopped for a mysterious force which makes them unconscious as soon as they try to cross it. All of sudden, everybody in the village comes back to consciousness, the mysterious force disappears and everything seems to come back to normal. Then, a couple of months, the village quickly discovers that all its female inhabitants of child-bearing age are pregnant...

A pioneer alien encounter story written in the late 50s, it feels quite different from the usual science-fiction offerings we are used to see today. One of the different aspects lies in the political, legal, moral and ethical discussions and arguments animating several of the characters. Even though at times these discussions might feel a bit dry, the novel nevertheless offers something which is quite often absent in today's sci-fi, maybe at the expense of special effects. It feels dated, but I quite enjoyed this rather short novel (a bit above 200 pages), probably better than The Day of the Triffids.

Read this for this month's TBR Takedown and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. A light very readable tone despite a topic that could have turned very heavy.

Slightly dated but interesting science fiction. All the inhabitants of the village of Midwich fall unconscious, and within a month or so, every female of child bearing age realises she is pregnant. When the children are born, it becomes apparent that they are not like other children, but the villagers and the authorities appear unsure how to deal with the situation that worsens as the children age.

Wyndham has a deliberately dry and rational style which means that some of the incidents with the Children are not as dramatic as they could have been. All the same, I found this gripping, liked the main characters and wanted to know the ending.

Written in 1957, this has a political undertone of the Cold War and other post-War concerns, and towards the end these are outlined in a rather stark monologue. Even so, the ideas and principles discussed have a universal resonance that politicians still grapple with today, and the explanation of how Left and Right wing governments exploit emergency situations has more than a grain of truth today.