This has been on my re-read list for some time. I didn't particularly enjoy it when I first read it as a young teenager - probably because the protagonist, Bill, is a bit of a fussy, nervous type. This time, I loved the cautionary tale of humanity's greed and excess resulting in our downfall. A must-read for all sci-fi fans. ( )

Great book! Easily one of the best dystopian novels I have read. I would say currently tied for second best with Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. Couldn't give 5 stars because the ending was a little underwhelming, but overall definitely worth the read. I highly recommend! ( )

I truly don't remember the first time I read this novel. I know I was very young and I was raiding my school library for every single SF book that grabbed me. I know I pretty much read through the entire SF section of Ridgway Secondary Public School that I attended for grades 7 and 8, so I had to have read it somewhere between late 1974 to mid-1976.

So, one heck of a long time ago. And, to the best of my knowledge, this is literally the very first post-apocalyptic novel I ever read (definitely pre-dating HG Wells's WAR OF THE WORLDS and THE TIME MACHINE, as well as Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451).

So, at the time, while I remember very little of the actual story from that first read, I do remember it blew my mind, and sent me on a quest to read everything Wyndham I could put my grubby hands on. I also remember that nothing else he wrote seemed to live up to this book.

On this read-through, I'm much older, much more jaded, and I've read far more than my fair share of post-apocalyptic fiction.

But I still see what I loved about this one. The opening, the wandering through the deserted areas of Britain. The various forms of society that are struggled with throughout the short novel are likely the weakest parts of it, as Wyndham can get a tad preachy, and of course the casual misogyny doesn't hold up all that well, seventy-odd years later.

But overall, considering this novel was published six years before the launch of Sputnik 1, the first manmade satellite, and Wyndham was already speculating on what would eventually be up there in Earth orbit is just fascinating.

Overall, Wells's WAR OF THE WORLDS influence is quite obvious on this novel, and I'd still say Wells's is the superior of the two, but this one still holds a certain charm, due to those nasty walking plants.

While it has its flaws, overall, I really enjoyed this one, the second time around. ( )

My first survival scifi book. Definitely not a fan of survival films, but this book worked wonders for me. Prose was strong and the structure sound. Definitely deserves its spot on the Top 100 Scifi books list: http://scifilists.sffjazz.com/lists_books_rank1.html. ( )

An absolute classic. ( )