Wyndham inaugurated the persecuted mutants coming-of-age trope with The Chrysalids decades before the X-Men. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic future with an all-too-believable religion in which biological norms are the measure of virtue. (A passage of preachiness from a progressive mutant near the end of the book provided the inspiration and principal lyrics for Jefferson Airplane's song "Crown of Creation.") Except for the ending, the story has excellent pacing and credible characters. It's not a monumental work of literature, but it holds up after half a century.

I grew up reading sci-fi, and Wyndham was one of the authors I somehow missed reading. Though I've always enjoyed a good post-apocalpytic story of dystopia. Finally, after 50 years or so, I finally read The Chrysalids, thanks to LTER. The ideas were less fresh than they probably seemed 60 years ago when it first came out, but I read it with enjoyment, like getting together with an old friend who isn't as interesting as he was in his youth but who fills one with the warmth of the familiar and remembrance of good things.

Anyway, in the novel, most of the world has been annihilated by nuclear warfare. Their island community (Newfoundland? Labrador?) was spared, and the society that rose from the ashes of destruction was as narrow-minded and controlling as the one that caused the nuclear devastation in the first place. For me that comes down to: the more things change, the more they stay the same. It's something I've seen happen again and again. This book epitomizes that.

It was well-written, the characters were ones I cared about, and the story was gripping. Recommended. ( )

According to a sticker on the spine this was my second favourite book when I was 13, and I can understand why. Wyndham's story of post-apocalyptic attempts to keep mutants from humanity through religious fervour hasn't dated at all and still enthralls. ( )

Not his strongest work, but like all Wyndham it's enjoyable and immensely readable. Quite fun to read against Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale! ( )

One of my earliest Sci Fi reads. Gripping story, great pacing and characterisation. Makes you think hard about prejudice, evolution, and genetics. ( )