{"product_id":"the-chrysalids-paperback","title":"The Chrysalids - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJohn Wyndham\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eChristopher Priest\u003c\/b\u003e (Introduction by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Chrysalids\u003c\/i\u003e is set in the future after a devastating global nuclear war. David, the young hero of the novel, lives in a tight-knit community of religious and genetic fundamentalists, who exist in a state of constant alert for any deviation from what they perceive as the norm of God's creation, deviations broadly classified as \"offenses\" and \"blasphemies.\" Offenses consist of plants and animals that are in any way unusual, and these are publicly burned to the accompaniment of the singing of hymns. Blasphemies are human beings--ones who show any sign of abnormality, however trivial. They are banished from human society, cast out to live in the wild country where, as the authorities say, nothing is reliable and the devil does his work. David grows up surrounded by admonitions: KEEP PURE THE STOCK OF THE LORD; WATCH THOU FOR THE MUTANT. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt first he hardly questions them, though he is shocked when his sternly pious father and rigidly compliant mother force his aunt to forsake her baby. It is a while before he realizes that he too is out of the ordinary, in possession of a power that could doom him to death or introduce him to a new, hitherto-unimagined world of freedom. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Chrysalids\u003c\/i\u003e is a perfectly conceived and constructed work from the classic era of science fiction. It is a Voltairean philosophical tale that has as much resonance in our own day, when genetic and religious fundamentalism are both on the march, as when it was written during the Cold War.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Wyndham\u003c\/b\u003e is the pen name of John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (1903-1969), the son of an English barrister. The boy's parents separated when he was eight, and after attending various boarding schools, he lived off family money while trying his hand--unsuccessfully--at careers such as law, commercial illustration, and advertising. In 1924 he turned to writing, and within a number of years he was selling short stories, mostly science fiction, to pulp magazines in America, as John Beynon or John Beynon Harris. During World War II, he served behind the lines in the British army, and in 1951 he published \u003ci\u003eThe Day of the Triffids\u003c\/i\u003e, his first novel as John Wyndham, and a tremendous success. John Wyndham's six other novels include \u003ci\u003eThe Kraken Wakes\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Midwich Cuckoos\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eChristopher Priest\u003c\/b\u003e has published eleven novels, three short-story collections, and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies, novelizations, and children's nonfiction. In 1996 Priest won the World Fantasy Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel \u003ci\u003eThe Prestige\u003c\/i\u003e. His most recent novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Separation\u003c\/i\u003e, won both the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Science Fiction Association Award.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 224\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.49 x 7.98 x 5.06 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 18, 2008\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51771255193888,"sku":"9781590172926","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/68d1536053a8deafbf2e509f597b2df2.webp?v=1780383627","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-chrysalids-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}