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The island of Tanakuatua seems like heaven to the 40 people who go there in order to create a utopian society, but soon they start to die in a horrible way and it seems that something strange and deadly is out there in the jungle.

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1 review
I picked this up at a Bookcrossing meetup after having read two of Wyndham's other books - Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos.

Narrated by Delgrange, a man who deals with the loss of his family by signing up for a new project. A man looking to leave a legacy behind him buys up an island in the Pacific where a group would start a colony, ushering a new society.

Unbeknown to these pioneers, Tanakuatua is no normal island, years before it had been evacuated before nuclear weapon testing. An islander placed the island under a curse, a taboo, meaning no one has been back in a while. Even as they approach Tanakuatua, there is something off about it. There are no birds flying and there is a mysterious white cloud on its peak. It seems show more the island is home to rather unusual spiders.

Not in the same league as the previously mentioned books, but Wyndham poses important questions, such as man versus nature, man as the chosen species, or rather the current leading species.
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Author Information

Picture of author.
173+ Works 29,485 Members

Some Editions

Lord, Peter (Cover artist)
Malmsjö, Karin (Translator)
Salwowski, Mark (Cover artist)

Series

Belongs to Publisher Series

Work Relationships

Common Knowledge

Original title
Web
Original publication date
1979-04
People/Characters
Frederick Foxfield; Walter Tirrie; Arnold Delgrange; Camilla Cogent
Important places
Tanakuatua Island
First words
The question I find most difficult to answer; the one one which always crops up sooner or later when the subject is mentioned, is, approximately: 'But how on earth did you come to get yourself mixed up in a crazy affai... (show all)r like this, anyway?'
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Inside, in a bottle of spirit, was a single spider which I had no problem recognizing as a Little Sister -- Araneus nokikii.
Well, well ... Time, I suppose, will show ...
Blurbers
Crispin, Edmund

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Science Fiction, Horror
DDC/MDS
823.91Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesEnglish fiction1900-1901-1999
LCC
PZ3 .H2422Language and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction in English
BISAC

Statistics

Members
129
Popularity
252,420
Reviews
1
Rating
½ (3.28)
Languages
6 — Dutch, English, German, Italian, Latin, Swedish
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
8
ASINs
9