The calm writing style of John Wyndham is something I like about his stories. Not much in the way of action or excitement, no vast space opera with many winding threads. World changing ideas, writ small.

Trouble with Lichen is about the discovery of a genuine anti-ageing compound, but we don't see anyone super old or the social consequences. We see the people who discover it and what they choose to do next.

The Outward Urge is a family with several generations of spacemen in it. Nothing really happens, we see a few snapshots of their lives through the decades as human activity out in the solar system increases.

The Midwitch Cuckoos is perhaps the most unexcitingly told story of its kind (no spoilers) but not worse for it.

Web is a nice weaving of ancient curse and modern (1950s) civilisation into an imminent end of the world.