The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1951)

England tries to cope after two disasters strike Earth, a mass blindness followed by an invasion of murderous plants.

SF Review: The Day of the Triffids was the first book of the second act in the writing life of John Wyndham (1903-69). He had two careers, the first from about 1927 to 1946 when no one knew who he was, and the second beginning with this book, the first published under this name, from 1951 to his death. This doubly post-apocalyptic work presents a unique dystopia. Dystopian stories fall into two categories, those with too much order (think 1984) and those with not enough; this falls into the second category. The Day of the Triffids is credible and suspenseful, with highly organized characters (perhaps a remnant of the not long before World War). Writers often expect post-apocalyptic humanity to quickly devolve and lose the veneer of civilization, with a major factor being the projected role of women. This is no exception: "The men must work--the women must have babies. Unless you can agree to that, there can be no place for you in our community." For those living in the U.K. the novel should be great fun as the characters scamper widely across the country. Wyndham's works paved the way for the global disaster novels of J.G. Ballard (1930-2009) beginning with The Wind from Nowhere (1961). The Day of the Triffids is mostly different from the 1962 film with Howard Keel, and has been presented as two different television series.  [4★]