Kraken Wakes [Paperback]

John Wyndham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 1973

Ships are sinking for no apparent reason, carrying hundreds to a dark underwater grave. Strange fireballs race through the sky above the deepest trenches of the oceans. Something is about to show itself, something terrible and alien, a force capable of causing global catastrophe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ingenious, horrifying Guardian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Benyon Harris was born in 1903, the son of a barrister. He tried a number of careers including farming, law, commercial art and advertising, and started writing short stories, intended for sale, in 1925. From 1930 to 1939 he wrote short stories of various kinds under different names, almost exclusively for American publications, while also writing detective novels. During the war he was in the Civil Service and then the Army. In 1946 he went back to writing stories for publication in the USA and decided to try a modified form of science fiction, a form he called 'logical fantasy'. As John Wyndham he wrote The Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes, The Chrysalids, The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed as Village of the Damned), The Seeds of Time, Trouble with Lichen, The Outward Urge, Consider Her Ways and Others, Web and Chocky. John Wyndham died in March 1969. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (June 28, 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140010750
• ISBN-13: 978-0140010756
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #716,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Invasion story with a new angle, December 13, 1999

By 

Greg Hughes - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kraken Wakes (Hardcover)

In "The Kraken Wakes" John Wyndham writes about an alien invasion - from the sea. The book is divided into three parts.

Phase One of the invasion begins with the sighting of fireballs that land in oceans around the world. They are a strange phenomena but the public soon lose interest. Then ships start to sink mysteriously...

In Phase Two more and more ships are sinking and people are now aware of some malignant force at work beneath the sea. In this stage of the campaign the invaders are bolder, coming onto the shores of remote islands in "sea tanks" and dragging people to their deaths.

In Phase Three the sea level has risen, and cities are slowly being submerged. Morale is low, society is breaking up, and people are living in small scavenging communities as land, food and fuel become scarce.

This is a good disaster novel and well written, but it's not as good as "The Day of the Triffids". In "Triffids" the destruction was sudden and more immediate. In "Kraken" the destruction is more gradual and drawn out, like a sick man fighting an illness. Like a disease, the invaders are never actually seen, but the damage they do is great. Once more it looks like the human race is finished, but the book ends with optimism. A book worth reading.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My 100-word book review, May 16, 2007

By 

A. J. Cull (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kraken Wakes (Paperback)

Fans of Frank Schätzing's novel The Swarm might be interested to know that the 2004 bestseller had a 1953 precursor in John Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes, another novel featuring humanity under threat from mysterious forces operating beneath the sea. Ignore the middle-class twittering of the two main characters and, instead, enjoy Wyndham's relentless build-up of tension, punctuated by some truly chilling moments, as inhuman entities escalate their attacks. The Kraken Wakes is a personal favourite of mine, from way back, and has much that is relevant today, including such topics as international inertia in the face of abrupt climate change.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliantly idea brilliantly well-told, November 28, 1999

By 

Nelle - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kraken Wakes (Hardcover)

This is perhaps one of my favourite books ever! Being new to SciFi, and what with the stigma it gets, I wasn't expecting much from this, but I was pleasantly surprised! Entertaining, intelligent and beliveable characters (like everyone else I was amazed at the relationship Wyndham concocts between Mike Watson and his wife Phyllis--it's also tremendously fun to watch her 'work' on prospective interviewees for their scripts) and an intelligent, believeable plot, too, which reads like a historical document. If you thought "The Andromeda Strain" was a thrillingly believeable foray into a possible doomsday scenario, think again--Wyndham has all that and more. This is a fantastic novel, and I strongly recommend it to anyone in search of a good, smart read--Sci Fi fan and non-fans alike.