‘The Midwich Cuckoos’ is a very talky book, in which Midwich villagers are confronted with an extraordinary circumstance, with national, or even human species, implications which are exhaustively discussed. Most of the book’s action takes place offstage, aside from what becomes known as the “Dayout,” in which villagers all simultaneously pass out and stay unconscious for 24 hours. When they awaken, all the women of childbearing age have been impregnated, a source of embarrassment for many and later downright resentment and anger. As the Children grow they develop golden eyes, lit from within, blonde hair, and shimmering skin, and are almost impossible to tell apart. Where did these children come from and what is their intention? The characters in Wyndham’s book draw out the many implications of a quiet alien invasion, which are very interesting, but the many discussions do require some patience and attention. The villagers know they’re outclassed, because the Children tell them so: “As a securely dominant species you could afford to lose touch with reality, and amuse yourselves with abstractions,” one tells them (193). Wyndham’s speculative fiction still has intriguing questions for us today, which is undoubtedly why these books have been reissued by Modern Library.