The Night of the Triffids

The Night of the Triffids
by Simon Clark

About the Book:
The Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham's classic bestseller, is one man's description of doomsday: almost the entire population has gone blind, and the world has a new master—the monstrous triffid plant. The novel ends with its narrator, Bill Masen, leaving the British mainland with his wife and son to join a new colony on the Isle of Wight.

In The Night of the Triffids, which takes place in the 29th year since the fall of the old world, David Masen, Bill's now grown–up son, wakes one morning to discover that the world has been plunged into darkness. The few sighted people have their artificial lights, but once more the triffid has the advantage. Setting off to find the cause of the darkness, David finds himself stranded.

Eventually rescued and taken to New York, he discovers a very different sort of colony, prosperous and technologically advanced. But this sophisticated society hides an evil secret—and David is about to come face to face with an old enemy from his father's past.

"In John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids (1951), mankind is overtaken-and much of it blinded-by the demonic walking plant of the title, a monster created in a lab in an act of Cold War profiteering. Clark picks up the story more than 25 years later, puts a new narrator at the helm and spins a brisk and engaging adventure-cum-horror yarn. Clark's narrator is David Masen, son of scientist Bill Masen (the protagonist from Wyndham's book). The Masen family, along with a handful of other survivors, has set up an outpost on the Isle of Wight, and have gone about rebuilding society. A major part of this renewal involves a particularly bizarre idea called the Mother House, a convent-like home where women spend their lives giving birth over and over again. All seems well, until one morning when the sun doesn't rise and the triffids, long thought condemned to the mainland, attack. Clearly marketed as a genre horror title, this crafty continuation is elegant in its construction. Clark's prose is clean, thoughtful and perfectly suited to his faux doomsday-memoir approach. Less cautionary than the original, but more literary than many books of its ilk, this is a truly enjoyable voyage."
— Publishers Weekly

"A quarter of a century after an invasion by the deadly alien plants known as triffids blinded most of the world's human population and caused the collapse of civilization, only a small colony of survivors on the Isle of Wight continues to preserve what they can of society and culture. When a new phenomenon arises, resulting in the darkening of the atmosphere, pilot David Masen, the son of the colony's founder, sets out to discover the source of the problem-and encounters a new group of technologically advanced survivors from across the Atlantic. Continuing the classic tale of alien invasion begun 25 years ago in John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, Clark envisions a world poised to fight back against their invaders. Winner of the 2002 British Fantasy Award for Best Novel, he retains a feel for sf pulp horror in an action-filled tale that captures the spirit of the original story. Recommended for most sf collections."
— Library Journal

Simon Clark lives in Doncaster, England. When his first novel, Nailed by the Heart, made it through the slush pile in 1994 he banked the advance and embarked upon his dream of becoming a full-time writer. Many dreams and nightmares later he wrote the cult classic Blood Crazy. Other titles include Darkness Demands, Stranger, On Deadly Ground, and The Night of the Triffids, which continues the story of Wyndham’s classic The Day of the Triffids. The Night of the Triffids has been adapted as a full-cast audio drama by Big Finish.

Simon's latest novel is Inspector Abberline & the Gods of Rome, a crime thriller featuring the real-life detective who led the hunt for Jack the Ripper.

Films, news, and tips on writing horror fiction, can be accessed at his website.

Published in two states:
• Hardcover Limited Edition of 1000 signed copies bound in full-cloth, Smyth sewn, and featuring a full color dust jacket ($50)
• Deluxe Hardcover Lettered Edition of 52 signed and hand-lettered copies bound in leather, Smyth sewn with a satin ribbon page marker, raised hubs on the spine, custom gilded page edges dipped by hand, a full-color signature sheet, and featuring unique full color illustrated endpapers not appearing in any other edition ($175)

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