Customer Reviews

Tripods Trilogy (The White Mountains / The City of Gold and Lead / The Pool of Fire)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Tripods Trilogy was John Christopher's first attempt at writing for young people and it is a triumph. I was introduced to these books back in 1985, when I was 9. I was really taken with the cover artwork of "The White Mountains", which showed this giant three-legged machine and a boy hiding in the foreground.

But I didn't actually read the books until four years later. I was obsessed with it! I loved the idea of a small rebel group fighting something that seemed so invincible. For ages I couldn't draw a landscape without putting a Tripod in it!

These books got me interested in cities and how they'd look when they're destroyed. One of my favourite parts of the story is when the three boys are walking through the ruins of an ancient city. We all know what city it was and we recognise so much that is unfamiliar to them. It's both amusing and moving to see them ponder over the relics of a better time.

These are a series of books I've read over and over. The praise for this trilogy is well deserved.

Most people have not even heard of John Christopher....I enjoyed John Christopher's books as a young adult and I still enjoy them today. The "Tripod Trilogy" is full of timeless action for male and female alike. I highly recommend this and other books for young adults by the author who also writes adult science fiction.

I first encountered the Tripods through the TV series in my teens. I became thoroughly addicted to it, and had to read the books.

John Christopher portrays a future in which human society has been reduced to a medieval level, and is under the complete domination of three-legged, 70-foot tall machines - the Tripods, who keep humans docile by fitting them with "Caps" - devices implanted in the brain during adolescence which rob the victim of his/her power of independent investigation of truth. Thus - culture never develops further, and none of the adults ever question the existence of the Tripods. As the story progresses, it is revealed that the Tripods are controlled by a race of three-legged, three-eyes aliens - The Masters - from their three super-technological domed cities.

The story centres around a small number of boys who flee before they are Capped to a community of rebel "Free Men". The main character, who tells the story in the first person, is partially motivated by the fact that the girl he loves has been taken by the Tripods into their city for her beauty.

"The White Mountains" tells the story of how the boys flee their home in England to the rebel community in the French Alps - "The City of Gold and Lead" reveals the super-technological Tripod city when two of the boys enter it in disguise, and "The Pool of Fire" tells of the final overthrow of the Tripods.

The story is very simplistic and childlike, but it greatly influenced my way of looking at life when I was younger.

I first read the Tripod series in seventh grade. Some of you in the Boy Scouts may remember the comic book adaptation of The Pool of Fire from the Boy's Life Magazine. I'm now a 24 year old adult (Ahem!) and I still love these books. Ever since my book collection was destroyed by a flood three years ago I have been hunting for both this, and the Prince in Waiting series by Mr. Christopher. As usual, Amazon.Com comes through for me. I heartily recommend this series, and the Prince in Waiting to all readers of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

This book is a classic and tha most amazing book I have ever read. I stumbled upon it at a book stor and purchased it and liked it soooo much, I bought the next few books in the series, and am waiting to get the last one. This book is a must read and will never get old.

I read the trilogy for the first time a long time ago (6-8 years ago)and every once in a while, I'll still reread them. This is a timeless, classic SF trilogy. Very good reading. They will never become "old-fashioned"!

I first read the Tripods Trilogy as a preteen in the late 70s, then again in the 80s as a teenager, and again only recently as a middle-aged man. John Christopher created a classic that still holds up in many ways, despite the passage of time and advance of technology. If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then J.K. Rowling's use of ideas from Sphere Ball and the Golden Sphere, as well as Suzanne Collins' use of the Games and resistance, prove that these books influenced readers and writers for years beyond their initial run.

"The White Mountains" was first in the series, and introduced us to a world in which man is enslaved to the mysterious rule of the Tripods and those who control them. Will Parker, Henry, and Beanpole headed for the hills, literally, looking high in the Swiss Alps for freedom from mind-control. We got our first glimpses of the larger enemy--and of the resistance to come.

"The City of Gold and Lead" takes the series to another level, putting Will and young Fritz through their paces when they attend some European Games, as part of the resistance's plan. They win their events and gain access to the Tripods' city, where the alien masters live in heavy, green-tinted atmosphere. For the first time, Will sees a way to fight this imposing enemy, but not all goes as planned.

"The Pool of Fire" gives us a fast-paced conclusion, with Will, Henry, and Beanpole reunited as the resistance forms a plan to take down all three cities of the Tripod rule, including the primary one on the Panama Isthmus. They face obstacles, some give their lives, but the resistance refuses to give up until they have exhausted every way of sabotaging the alien invasion that's on its way.

Only recently did I read the prequel, "When the Tripods Came," released by Christopher after much interest in the late 80s and early 90s. It fails to create the same suspense of the original trilogy, but provides a nice bit of extra info for those who love the books as I do.

There was once a BBC telivision series of the Tripods, which was on TV in England when I was about four. The effects were, suprisingly, really good. So good in fact that I developed a mortal fear to electricity pylons because of it. I used to scream whenever my mother took me anywhere near them, believing them to be the giant, three legged machines of the books and series. At the age of eight I was only uneasy around them, and that was when I got my hands on the books. Sublime. A book for children of all ages. At the age of nineteen I still cannot look at a towering electricity pylon and not think of the tripods, sometimes with a shiver down my back!

This is an incredible story of how aliens came to earth and use man's technology and weakness of disbelief in each fellow man against him. Yet, through these "weaknesses" Will Parker, our headstrong hero, works to defeat the invadors and take back what is rightfully ours. Christopher's chhoice of main character is very intriguing. Will is not your typical hero, and is neither practical as his companion Fritz, nor daring as his cousin Henry, nor talented as his companion "Beanpole". The story come to life with lovable and realistic characters who encounter various obsticals on their way to defeating the terrible Tripods.

I do not think there are three juvenile novels that I enjoy nearly as much as these three. The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead and The Pool of Fire are absolutely perfect examples of Juvenile fiction. The books teach moral lessons as well as tell a rip roaring good tale.

Without giving to much plot away this tale is covers a not too distant future when Aliens who roam the Earth in giant Tripods rule the land. Every person who reaches puberty is capped and there mind is controlled or at least molded by the Tripods.

These three books follow a group of runaways and rebels who have never been capped and who desperately want to free Earth and its inhabitants. This band of rebels must find a way to defeat the Aliens without knowing who they are, what there weaknesses are or any worthwhile knowledge. On top of this the `rebels' have to defeat these space age aliens with technology at roughly 19th century levels.

These books are even more remarkable as they were written in the late 60's. I first read these books as a cartoon serial in `Boys Life' in the early 80's. I enjoyed the tale back then and still enjoy the stories now. I highly recommend all these books for kids and or there parents. Read and enjoy.