Who wrote "The Kraken Wakes"?

John Wyndham was the pen name of John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (10 July 1903 - 11 March 1969). He was a particularly inventive and cerebral English science-fiction writer best known for his works such as "The Day of the Triffids" (1951) and "The Midwich Cuckoos" (1957, retitled "Village of the Damned" when made into a film).

"The Kraken Wakes" is a 1953 novel by Wyndham, published in the UK by Michael Joseph and in the USA by Ballantine Books under the title "Out of the Deeps". The UK title is a reference to Alfred Tennyson's sonnet "The Kraken".

The plot covers the escalating phases of an invasion of Earth by aliens, as told through the eyes of Mike Watson, a reporter. Mike and his wife Phyllis witness major events of the invasion in a series of drawn-out phases. In the first phase, objects from outer space land in the oceans, always at their deepest points. Phase two starts when ships around the world are attacked by unknown weapons and are rapidly sunk, causing havoc to the world economy. In the final phase, the aliens begin melting the polar ice caps, causing sea levels to rise. London and other ports are flooded, causing widespread social and political collapse. The Watsons cover the story until organised social life ceases to exist.

Although written over 65 years ago, the disaster of the melting ice caps in the story has modern resonance. An updated version of "The Kraken Wakes" was made as a radio drama for the BBC in 2016.