A good, 1950s era sci-fi tale about a group of survivors dealing with the aftermath of a world-wide disaster made all the more dificult by the presence of the titular triffids: seven foot tall carniverous plants capable of movement and brandishing a long, whiplike appendage with a poisonous stinger, capable of killing a man instantly. Wyndham keeps the plot moving quickly, and leaves much of the mystery to the disaster and to the triffids throughout.