Customer Reviews

When the Tripods Came

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is really a great book. This being said I am not sure that I would have enjoyed this novel quite as much as if I had not read the Tripod trilogy first. For those of you who are not aware, the Tripod trilogy is series of books that take place in the somewhat distant future of the events that take place in this novel.

This novel covers the arrival of the aliens (Tripods) onto Earth and their rapid conquest of Earth by means of an ingenious method of mind control. A terrifying novel even if it is written for a juvenile audience.

The real point to this book is not so much to tell an independent story but to give us a prequel history to the events in the Tripod Trilogy. As a prequel this book is very good. This book is not nearly as action packed or triumphant as the Tripod series but as a companion it is great. I recommend reading after the Tripod series.

The only thing I have to say is, look at the Teletubbies and the Pokemon craze. Then read the book. Then look at these fads again...from a distance. We may not be threatened in the near future by an invasion from space, but the concept of hypnotising by television/popular culture is close enough to put a chill down your spine. I recommend reading this one *after* the original trilogy. Surprisingly good for a "young adult" sci fi trilogy. Reminds me of "The Giver" in terms of scale and depth of human nature. Movie franchise plausible, laudable.

This is a wonderful compainion to the best-selling series The White Mountains. Very well written, with a hidden moral about what too much television can do to your mind.

Two kids start off in a very modern world, just like the one we live in now. One of the kids younger sister loves a television show called The Trippies. Her brother finds the show very odd, yet nonetheless mesmerizing. After she watches it day after day, and tries to run away, he assumes that there must be a connection between his sister and the t.v show causing all the people who watch the show to go out and worship the 'Tripods'. But what can he do about it?

Like I said before, well written with a compelling and thought-provoking end. One caution: This book does clear up a lot of unanswered question about the rest of the series, but read through the series first. You become a lot more attached to the characters while they try to figure out the mystery of how the Tripods rule the earth and how to defeat them. If you read this book first, you will have a hard time connecting to the rest of the books. The mystery leaves.

Happy readings!

I thought this book was well written. Perhaps not as well as the rest of the series, but it holds many good answers to the series that the rest do not answer. Very good description on how the world was taken over. Very interesting on how un-capped humans came to live in the White Mountains. I do have one suggestion: Read the first three books before reading this one. I think the magic in the series is NOT knowing how the Tripods and Masters took over the earth. This book was written as a prequal, a book made to explain things that were left out in the other books. If you read this one first, I do think the rest of the series: The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, and The Pool of Fire, will not hold as much magic and imagination if you had read it last. Very good, very thorough, but meant to be the last read.

Years and years after finishing his highly popular and adaptable "Tripod" trilogy, John Christopher caved into public yearning and added a single prequel to his three-part series. Fans of the "Tripod" books are divided as to whether or not this was a good idea. Some people claim that the three books are perfect in and of themselves and that this prequel was a bad idea poorly executed. Others state that this is a well-written book that definitively clarifies how the tripods got a hold on the world in the way that they did. And still others, like myself, think that the books are pretty silly to begin with, but they're fun reading and a prequel like this one isn't going to change what was already out there. Nuff said.

In this book we meet our hero Laurie (who, I should tell you right now, is a boy) and his best friend Andy. While participating in a wilderness trek, the two come across a startling scene. It happens in the middle of the night as they camp out in an abandoned shed. From over the horizon they spot a huge three legged machine, picking its way carefully along the landscape. To their horror, the machine casually plucks up an escaping farmer, and destroys the man's house with a few well-aimed bashes. In no time the army is called, and when attempts at a peaceful reconciliation are dropped, they destroy the tripod forthwith. Laurie and Andy return home to their families and all seems to go back to normal. Of course, there is that weird tv show that came out after the Tripod disaster called the Trippy show. It's your usual fast-paced tripod-based entertainment with catchy music. Laurie's half-sister is obsessed with it, and she's not alone. Suddenly people all over the world are watching the show and becoming mindless pawns. So when more tripods land on Earth once again, suddenly there are people everywhere waiting to greet them. The world is in serious danger, and there's not much Laurie can do to stop the onslaught.

The book's kind of a zombie film put on paper. At one point, people who've already been hypnotized by the program start wearing silver metal caps that prove their allegiance. They also start "capping" their unwilling fellows, thereby taking away their free will and making them slaves of the Tripods. In such a situation, your nearest and dearest could suddenly turn into your enemy without your ever knowing it. Apart from the obvious zombie-like quality of the story (and Christopher is to be commended for his abilities at making a good child-friendly horror tale) the book also reminded me a bit of the first three movies in the Star Wars series. You go into this book knowing full well that, in the end, the Tripods are going to win. So how do you end it on a happy note? Keeping this in mind, again John Christopher has adeptly given us a book that ends in a hopeful mind set. It makes for a fascinating read.

My personal problem with the series has always been that there aren't much in the way of women in the books. I was delighted for the first 25 pages of this tale to learn that the narrator of the book was named Laurie.... and then I found out that Laurie was a boy. Doggone it. The women that remain here are pretty annoying as well. There's Martha, Laurie's grandmother who favors her granddaughter, henpecks her son, and is seen in a mostly negative light. Ilse, Laurie's step-mother, is fine but vapid. And Angela is seen as a spoiled little brat who only comes into her own when the family vacates their home. It's funny, but at the end of the book Laurie makes a statement that girls are more likely to join his family's rebel resistance than boys and then promptly has his head almost bitten off by an angry Angela. This is the only moment that Christopher clearly shows his sexist hand. I looked at the motley crew of men and women who are left free at the end of the book and had to wonder where all the girls went in the future books. After all, the free people living in the White Mountains in subsequent novels were all men. Ugh.

Personally, I think this book is a much better read if you pick it up after the first three tales in the series. Though it contains the same outdated views of women as its predecessors, "When the Tripods Came" is still a worthy addition to an already captivating series.

A 14 year old boy named Laurie tries to flee England from gigantic three legged machines called Tripods. With his family and his friend named Andy,Laurie has a long and dangerous journey from England to Switzerland. His Uncle even tries to "cap" Laurie. The rule of the Tripods is when a child turns the age of 14,they must be capped,and Laurie dosen't want to be capped. Once capped,you are brainwashed and in total control of the Tripods. Laurie finds new friends,almost gets capped,and nearly gets in a plane crash! I reccomend this book to anybody who likes Science-Fiction and Adventure. This book is a page turner at the end. You'll never want to stop reading it!!!

Although fourth in the series in terms of publication dates, this book is actually set earlier in time than the famous triology, giving us a chance to witness the Invasion firsthand.

We meet all new heroes, of course. This story starts off slowly and seems somewhat bland after the first wave of tripods is exterminated. But gradually we realize their insidious plan to take over the Earth by Mind Control--mass Brain Washing via the media. People--kids as well as adults--start Tripping Out; pretty soon the majority of the population is saluting and chanting: Hail the Tripods! Is this tne end of human civilization?

Young Laurie and his family (lead by the courageous father) undertake a dangerous, circuitous journey to escape the menace to free will in England; they feel that safety lies in distant Switzerland,Europe's Land of the Free. But can the mountain-bred and peace-loving Swiss both human and alien attack? Is the human race doomed as Capping becomes mandatory even in the snowy Alps? This book extolls the virtues of being Human: the right to choose one's own destiny and the inate will to survive. If you have read the triology, Now it all Falls into Place! If you have not, Read This First!

John Christopher, When the Tripods Came (Dutton, 1988)

This prequel to the Tripods Trilogy, written two decades after the original books, is decent enough, but it certainly doesn't measure up to the three books that preceded it (chronologically) in the series.

Laurie, a British teen, is one of the first in the world to see the Tripods while on an orienteering trip with a friend. The initial tripod, after causing a bit of destruction, is swiftly brought down by the local armed forces. The intelligence behind the Tripods, then, fearful of human technology (as was explained to us in The City of Gold and Lead, in which a very short version of this story appears from the Tripods' POV), the invaders turn to mind control, broadcasting The Trippy Show over pirated TV networks. Laurie's sister falls under the spell, and the family realizes that things are only going to get worse. But their attempts to flee the country are stymied. What to do?

It's not a bad book by any means, but it lacks the magic, and the frantic pace, of the trilogy. Worth reading if you've read the Tripods Trilogy and want a clearer picture of the backstory, but start with the original novels first. ***

MANY PEOPLE DON'T SEEM TO REALIZE IT, BUT THIS BOOK IS NOT JUST FOR KIDS. THIS BOOK MAY SEEM SIMPLE WITH ONLY 150 PAGES, BUT LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING. ALIENS LAND ON EARTH AND BEGAN USING TELEVISION AGAINST US. PEOPLE GIVE THEIR MINDS TO THE TRIPODS AND BEGAN TO LOOK FOR MORE UNWILLING RECRUITS(KIND OF REMINDS ME OF THE INVAISION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS). THE TRIPODS ARE DESTROYED IN A STRIKE BY A UNITED EARTH, BUT SOON THEIR DISCIPLES TAKE OVER WORLD GOVERNMENTS. A NEW SOCIETY EMERGES DEDICATED TO ENSLAVING OUR OWN. THIS IS DEFINIATLY NOT KIDS STUFF. IN ESSENCE IT IS A SCIENCE FICTION HORROR STORY ABOUT HAVING YOUR MIND AND YOUR FREEDOM STOLEN FROM YOU. VERY THOUGHT-PROVOKING, A MUST READ FOR ALL SCIENCE FICTION FANS. SHOULD BE MADE INTO A FILM ALONG WITH ALL OF THE OTHER BOKKS IN THE SERIES. ALSO STORY IS SUBLIMINALLY DARK BUT HAS A HOPEFUL ENDING.

When the Tripods Came Jacob J.
By: John Christopher
Do you like exciting stories about killer robots???? Then this story is certainly for you. The two main characters are Andy and his best friend Laurie. Laurie is a very courageous person that will not take no for an answer or let the navy take care of three 15,000lb tripod robots without him somehow being involved. Andy on the other hand, isn't that.....well, weird. So he thought.
The story,When the Tripods Came is an exiting story about two kids named Andy and Laurie (who is a guy) that are camping out in the wilderness in an abandoned shed. They decide to go exploring and after about an hour they decide to head back to the shed when they come across something that they think is a UFO. Suddenly, they start running....but why? The robot did not even get up until they were already back at camp. They then hid for a little while. After 15 minutes of silently breathing, the robot finally goes away. As it walks away, they notice its a tripod robot like the two they heard about in England and Russia. They quickly went home and Andy told his parents along with Laurie. At first, they did not believe the two of them. Then they called the United States Navy to report what they had seen. The Navy had helicopters and jets looking for them. They find two and completely destroy them. One in England and the other in Russia. The third, simply self destructs.
I would certainly recommend this book to anybody of any age that can read.
Even if you don't like reading. It is very interesting sci-fie about alein robots.now. If you dont like that your crazy!!