Chrysalids

Novels with which, for many, first acquaintance with English-language science fiction began. Masterpieces tested by generations.

An audio edition that made an astonishing impression on science fiction fans in the USSR; many seriously believed the novel was written by the Strugatsky brothers. What’s more—an intriguing homemade “translation” circulated under the title “Christolud”—where quotes, borrowings, and references to Strugatskys’ works were inserted into Wyndham’s text. One of the best anti-utopian works of 20th-century SF!

“No place for deviations from the norm” in the settlements of the new Puritans—descendants of the few who survived the nuclear catastrophe that befell humanity. Animal babies showing even the slightest signs of mutation are destroyed. Human infants are treated “more mercifully”—they are simply sterilized and thrown into the wild jungles, at the mercy of other savage mutants surviving there. But can all “deviations” be recognized by the merciless judge-preachers and their fanatical flock? Unnoticed by them, children grow up with a powerful paranormal gift…