Never used to have a problem with spiders, in fact I am quite fond of the clever little buggers. But, from here on in, thanks solely to Mr Wyndham, I will be eyeing them with extreme caution. ( )

Tanakuatua, Stillehavet, ca 1980.
Lord Foxfield har købt en stillehavsø af den britiske regering for at starte verden forfra med en lille koloni af mennesker. Tanakuatua har været ramt af nedfald fra prøvesprængninger, men er nu ufarlig igen, i alt fald hvad radioaktivitet angår. Delgrange leder en ekspedition til øen for at forberede den nye koloni, men ikke alt er som det skal være. Øen blev evakueret inden prøvesprængningerne, men en af beboerne kastede en forbandelse over øen inden han forlod den og måske har den faktisk virket?
I alt fald er der ingen fugle på øen og der er en underlig hvid sky om toppen på det højeste punkt på øen.
Det viser sig at være edderkopper og de har udryddet alle andre dyrearter på øen. Delgrange og nogle af ekspeditionen undslipper med nød og næppe.
Regeringen køber øen tilbage og udrydder edderkopperne, formentlig med en brintbombe.
En dag får Delgrange et brev fra en af de andre vedlagt en edderkop i sprit. Fundet i junglen i Sydamerika og af samme art som dem på øen: Araneus Nokikii.
Muligvis har menneskene et problem.

Bogen er nogenlunde. Den er udgivet posthumt, så mon ikke Wyndham selv ville have pudset lidt mere på den inden udgivelse? Det kan man da håbe på. ( )

I love John Wyndham novels – he comes up with so many excellent scenarios, all seemingly with a pleasing shot of apocalypse. The only problem I tend to have is that they aren’t long enough, and this was no exception.

Apparently unpublished until some time after his death, it almost feels as though it wasn’t intended as a full length novel but as a plan for one. Fleshed out, this would have been properly chilling, whereas in its existing form everything seems to be over before it’s had chance to begin. It also felt as though the need to explain scientific ideas took precedence over the emotions of a situation. So we have people calmly advancing scientific hypotheses at gunpoint, or when sitting in a boat that has a corpse lying at the bottom of it. Such stiff-upper-lipped people could only be British.

Aside from the above, there was much to appreciate about the plot, and the horrors that await the protagonists on a remote Pacific island. The setting was unusual and interesting, and the story of the disgruntled displaced natives well told. ( )

Web is a posthumously published novel by one of the last century's greatest science fiction writers: John Wyndham. Like his more famous works (i.e. The Chrysalids, The Day of the Triffids), Web rides the line between science fiction and horror—this time swerving more towards horror.

Lord Foxfield was an aging mogul with a desire to leave a lasting name for himself. He decided to buy a deserted island with a spotted past to create an ideal society. As you might guess, things degenerate. There's some obvious social commentary there about the inability of humanity to create a perfectly synergistic society while other creatures . . . well, just read the book.

I love Wyndham, but I have to admit this is one of his more lackluster efforts. The first few chapters border on tedium, while the middle of the book races along like pulp fiction. Unfortunately, this is only worth reading if you're a fan of the author. ( )

I picked this up at a Bookcrossing meetup after having read two of Wyndham's other books - Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos.

Narrated by Delgrange, a man who deals with the loss of his family by signing up for a new project. A man looking to leave a legacy behind him buys up an island in the Pacific where a group would start a colony, ushering a new society.

Unbeknown to these pioneers, Tanakuatua is no normal island, years before it had been evacuated before nuclear weapon testing. An islander placed the island under a curse, a taboo, meaning no one has been back in a while. Even as they approach Tanakuatua, there is something off about it. There are no birds flying and there is a mysterious white cloud on its peak. It seems the island is home to rather unusual spiders.

Not in the same league as the previously mentioned books, but Wyndham poses important questions, such as man versus nature, man as the chosen species, or rather the current leading species. ( )