3.5
The Midwich Cuckoos
ByPublisher Description
A genre-defining tale of first contact by one of the twentieth century’s most brilliant—and neglected—science fiction and horror writers, whom Stephen King called “the best writer of science fiction that England has ever produced.”
“In my opinion, [John] Wyndham’s chef d’oeuvre . . . a graphic metaphor for the fear of unwanted pregnancies . . . I myself had a dream about a highly intelligent nonhuman baby after reading this book.”—Margaret Atwood, Slate
NOW STREAMING ON AMC AS THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED
What if the women of a sleepy English village all became simultaneously pregnant, and the children, once born, possessed supernatural—and possibly alien—powers?
A mysterious silver object appears in quiet, picture-perfect Midwich. A day later, the object is gone—and all the women in the village, they will come to learn, are now pregnant.
The resultant children of Midwich are shockingly, frighteningly other. Faced with these unfathomable and potentially unstoppable children, the question arises: What will humanity do when faced with the threat of the unknown?
“In my opinion, [John] Wyndham’s chef d’oeuvre . . . a graphic metaphor for the fear of unwanted pregnancies . . . I myself had a dream about a highly intelligent nonhuman baby after reading this book.”—Margaret Atwood, Slate
NOW STREAMING ON AMC AS THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED
What if the women of a sleepy English village all became simultaneously pregnant, and the children, once born, possessed supernatural—and possibly alien—powers?
A mysterious silver object appears in quiet, picture-perfect Midwich. A day later, the object is gone—and all the women in the village, they will come to learn, are now pregnant.
The resultant children of Midwich are shockingly, frighteningly other. Faced with these unfathomable and potentially unstoppable children, the question arises: What will humanity do when faced with the threat of the unknown?
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3.5
ellie.estelle
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Philip King
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IseulReads
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Cole Baker
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““Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros is the hot romantasy second only to ACOTAR. Centered on a world of dragons, magic, and repressed lust, this book is kinda like “The Real Housewives” of fantasy. Does it make sense? No. Do the characters mature? Absolutely not. Was it fun to read? Hell yes. 3/5 - just fun!
Let’s start with the good. The world has lots of stuff going on. Yarros makes a Hogwarts dragon school, except for some reason the students are actively encouraged to kill each other. It’s a brutal setting that seems, to me, a bit counterintuitive for a military to do.
Ignoring the…discrepancies a bit, Yarros perfectly nails every trope you want in something like this. Mysterious and corrupting magic along a Hunger Games-esque dragon school is entertaining and rich for story moments. Throw in the X-Men super powers each dragon rider gets and now you know Rebecca is really cooking!
As much as I think the plot and final conspiracy twist are absolutely ridiculous, I can’t deny it was fun to read. I just accepted early on that this military is more concerned murdering its own soldiers than actually making an army - after that, the book is a roller coaster ride. It’s dragons and magic, who cares if the plot doesn’t make sense?
Something that is not enjoyable is the characters. Everyone repeats themselves constantly. Rebecca had one idea for Aetos’ character and he says it aloud 15 times. I swear the characters will have the exact same conversation at least twice. Even Xaden is way too into loving her rather than killing her early on.
The worst part of the book is the action. It’s not good. It’s actually really bad. The problem is in lacking descriptions. I often have no idea what is happening or how - the Gauntlet is the absolute worst example of this. Could anyone really describe that thing? The final battle was important to follow.
Finally, I’m not a smut guy. Just not my cup of tea. I do feel like the main character was a little too into jumping her man - but hell, let her have something. It gets weird to me when she is talking about rubbing him like a cat in heat. Just writing that again made me shudder.
In the end, this book is fun. I didn’t really care about the world or the characters, but I was invested in seeing how the tropes would be fulfilled. Honestly, they just get hit in the wackiest of ways. The action scenes were not good, but let’s be honest, no one is reading these books for that. 3/5, fun smutty fantasy book. Have at it if you like dragons and terrible romance!”
About John Wyndham
John Wyndham (1903-1969) is considered a pioneer of science fiction and horror, though he preferred to think of himself as a “logical fantasist.” He began writing science fiction and detective stories in the 1920s, but shifted to science fiction post-WWII, focusing on themes of disaster, invasion, and first contact. His best known works include The Day of the Triffids (1951) and The Midwich Cuckoos (1957). A pacifist and socialist, Wyndham—unlike a lot of mid-century genre fiction authors—was alive to the impact of sexism, classism, and prejudice and his novels reflect his liberal politics.
Other books by John Wyndham
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