I loved Triffids; Wyndham excells in this tale too

No Spoilers!

Three days ago I had no idea this story existed. Now I would swiftly recommend it with delight. It has cemented John Wyndham as one of my favourite authors (as opposed to simply the writer of a single book I thoroughly enjoy).

"Trouble with Lichen" features non-animal life in a manner significantly different to it's better-known sibling "Day of the Triffids". Both novels share a dependence upon their notable vegetation to drive the plot, which is more essentially about humanity itself.

Though at first a little slow to start, the pace picks up quite dramatically after the revelation of the first major plot point, and doesn't particularly slow throughout. There are many thrilling narrative beats, interspersed occasionally with digestible bites of insightful philosophy, all of which build together towards a satisfying climax and whole. Despite misgivings, in the end I found myself quite satisfied with how everything played out. I include the philosophy in this statement, which strikes me as an impressive feat considering that the work was first published in 1960.

Trouble with Lichen has a distinctly British feel, which is pleasantly embellished by the talented narration of Vanessa Kirby. If anything, this enhances the comprehensibility of the text, whether newspaper headline or group conversation. Kirby's skillful use of reservation, boldness, quietly-complex undertones and so much more breathe vibrant life into this wonderful rendition.

This book might not be for everyone, but it is certainly enjoyable for broad audiences, and personally I consider it to be an absolute treat. If possible, do yourself a favour and skip the blurb to add scintillating suspense and mystery.

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A great piece of Scifi

It's great to revisit John Wyndham after 60 years or so
The writing style is a bit dated but the them is as fresh as a dose of lichen.
As well as the overall theme I enjoyed the discussions of the sociological implications.
And the narrator was pretty good too.

Very dated, but still well worth the listen.

Listening to this book really brought home to me how very much the world has changed, particularly for women, since it was was released in 1960. The story was thought-provoking and addressed the implications of a scientific discovery making it possible to slow the ageing process so that we could live for several hundred years, I found however that it was set in such a different world to the 21st century, that it was difficult to relate to some of the problems and approaches. That said, I enjoyed the book and the narration was excellent

And thank you Audible for putting it and the other John Wyndham works on the PLUS catalogue. Makes a subscription even more worthwhile..

Understated classic British SF

I wasn't sure what to expect from the title and the story took a few minutes to get going. Well developed and insightful without populist violent overtones.
I suspect that this classic has been the inspiration for at least several more modern Sci Fi attempts to address the implications of human longevity.

it was OK

was not sad to reach the end of this one.
of all of john's stories, this one has held me the least