'Web' is a surprisingly pleasing addition to the career of John Wyndham. Published some ten years after his death, it follows similar themes to several of his better known works.It is another familiar premise. After an episode of PTSD, our protagonist purchases an island in the south Pacific in order to create a utopia and get away from the strains of the western world. This is a very short book (140 pages) and a good 40+ at the beginning is taken up with a short history of the island, the first arrivals in the early 19th century, its annexation into the British Empire then onward to both world wars and its change of ownership during that time all the while the locals amuse themselves with the rare arrivals of the white man.But it is in the aftermath of WWII that the story really begins to take shape. This was a period of testing nuclear weapons and an attempt is made to move the locals from the island and to another where they wouldn't be in the path of the fallout.Years later our group arrivals on their utopia to discover that something isn't quite right. There are spiders all over the island and they are evolving. Far from being a utopia, the humans become trapped by the freak of evolution.The metaphor of humans no longer being the pinnacle of evolution is one used several times by Wyndham and it doesn't feel tired or overused here, it is just presented in a different way in light of the era in which Wyndham was living in which he wrote it.It comes to a sudden end but felt that it could have should have been longer. The ending itself is not typical Wyndham.See more of my book reviews at my blog
Ok I will admit I was a little disappointed over this one, Day of the Triffids, the Kraken Wakes are two of my favourite books but this one well not so impressed. The book cover spiel states this was Wyndhams last book and was in fact published after his death, and to be honest it shows it. The political and historical settings for this book (which gives rise to much of the reasons for the events) takes up the first 40 pages of a 140 page book. The storyline feels rushed and is over far too quickly and considering how long it took to set up the scene almost feels like it is not complete. For a collector this book no doubt holds a place in their Wnydham collection but there are better works of his out there than this. That said the descriptions of the little critters how they operate and what they do is well described but if anything it just highlights would could be done with this book and for what ever reasons was left out.
He does write some cracking stories. This is the third John Wyndham book I've read and I have not been disappointed yet. I am afraid of spiders, so this possibily isn't the best of books for me to be reading, but it was such a good story, such addictive reading. I read it in half a day, which maybe isn't saying so much as it's not the longest book in the world, but I did just get sucked into the story.A rich lord whatever decides to buy an unihabited island to set up a new, superior kind of comm
—Ape
John Wyndham's last novel, published 10 years after his death, is slight compared to better known works like Day of the Triffids or The Kraken Wakes. It's the tale of an ill-fated utopian commune and spiders, an awful lot of spiders. This is a story told by a master story teller but sadly it's not a classic. Wyndham is at his best with tales of ordinary people dealing with other worldly threats and this follows that tried and tested format. There isn't enough in the story to allow for the slow build & vivid characterisation he does so well but this is a creepy little tale nonetheless. One to avoid perhaps if you're an arachnaphobe but if you're a fan of John Wyndham don't miss this last adventure.
—Abigail Rieley
Felt like Wyndham was attempting to deal with a few heavy topics for this book.He's written before about nature proving how fragile man really is, and better in the Triffids.He's toying with cooperation pushing evolution, but doesn't seem to want to decide either for or against.He brings in superstition, plays with man's delusion as a God, and highlights our short sighted ideas about Utopias.But even with all this, I just didn't care about the characters enough to want to keep reading. Although I finished out of stubbornness, I didn't get the satisfaction being able to close the book after an enjoyable read.
—Mac Ince
