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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Kraken Wakes in Books

Sep 5, 2019 (Updated Sep 13, 2019)

The Kraken Wakes

John Wyndham | 1953 | Science Fiction/Fantasy

7.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Wyndham's second catastrophe novel isn't up to the same standard as Day of the Triffids, but is still a solidly crafted and (perhaps) eerily prophetic read. Aliens colonise the Earth and begin trying to displace the human inhabitants - but the twist is that they live somewhere almost totally inaccessible to human beings (at the bottom of oceanic trenches) which makes them rather difficult to strike back at.

Despite Wyndham's very reserved style, it's difficult to read The Kraken Wakes now and not interpret it as a novel about climate change: there is the predictable inability to agree on what to do about the crisis to begin with (many key players refuse to admit there is even a problem) and when the invaders make their final move (they melt the icecaps, causing rises in sea level and widespread flooding) the response of world governments leaves a lot to be desired. Many vivid sequences; the tone feels peculiarly light in parts, but the final third of the book is very powerful (though let down a bit by a somewhat bungled conclusion - the original, considerably more accomplished but much darker ending was changed at a late stage). Not one of Wyndham's strongest novels, but still one many authors would have been proud to write.

Kudos

Sarah (7800 KP) rated Ready or Not (2019) in Movies

Oct 3, 2019

Ready or Not (2019)

2019 | Comedy, Horror, Mystery

7.6

(46 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Wonderfully dark fun

I went into this film not even having seen the trailer, instead going in blind based on having read some favourable reviews. And I can say that I was very pleasantly surprised.

This is a rather wonderful and fun horror, with a lot of laughs, a bit of gore and some marvellous dark comedy. This really doesn’t take itself too seriously and it’s all the better for it, some of the best scenes in this are of the family bickering between each other. That’s not to say the darker and more thrilling scenes in the film aren’t good, because they are. It’s rather tense watching Grace try and escape and her encounters with the deranged family members, and Samara Weaving plays her perfectly. I love the strong heroine aspect of this film, and that they haven’t gone down the stereotypical female needing to be rescued plot. I do think the scary and horror aspects of the film could have been increased and made more of, but it’s still a rather surprisingly good and bonkers film. The ending, whilst parts of it were potentially predictable, was absolutely genius and hilarious and such a fantastic way to end the film.