Mr. John Wyndham, writing in a disarmingly mild and humorous way, sets his story [The Midwich Cuckoos] in an English village. Invaders land there from another planet, accomplish their mysterious design, and make their escape. The consequences turn out to be very nasty indeed; some readers may find them objectionable, though Mr. Wyndham does not go into any obnoxious details. The Midwich Cuckoos is an ingenious yarn, with pleasant, unpretentious characters, about yet another bit of mischief on the part of one of our neighbours in space, but it lacks the force of his previous ventures into science fiction.

"Interplanetary Frolics," in The Times Literary Supplement (© Times Newspapers Ltd. (London) 1957; reproduced from The Times Literary Supplement by permission), No. 2901, October 4, 1957, p. 598.∗