Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus reviews The Chrysalids by John Wyndham.

Wyndham inaugurated the persecuted mutants coming-of-age trope with The Chrysalids decades before the X-Men. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic future with an all-too-believable religion in which biological norms are the measure of virtue. (A passage of preachiness from a progressive mutant near the end of the book provided the inspiration and principal lyrics for Jefferson Airplane’s song “Crown of Creation.”) Except for the ending, the story has excellent pacing and credible characters. It’s not a monumental work of literature, but it holds up after half a century. [via]