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The City of Gold and Lead (The Tripods #2)
Will, Henry, and Beanpole have been living in the White Mountains with the last community of free people on Earth, training to fight against the Tripods. Now there is an opportunity for them to obtain vital information -- every year, young men come from all over to compete in a series of Games, and the winners are taken to the City of the Tripods. Will intends to be one o
Mass Market Paperback, 218 pages
Published
1970
by Collier
(first published 1967)
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Nov 07, 2012
Jennifer Wardrip
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
trt-posted-reviews
Reviewed by Kira M for TeensReadToo.com
When Will and his friend, Beanpole, are able to infiltrate the Tripods' city, they get more than they bargained for.
With inhospitable living conditions, Beanpole's cruel master, a threat from the Tripods that will extinguish the human race, and no sure escape route, things start to look hopeless. When Will accidentally kills his master, the two, however, must fight against all odds to escape or risk being captured by the Tripods.
Will they be able to escape...more
When Will and his friend, Beanpole, are able to infiltrate the Tripods' city, they get more than they bargained for.
With inhospitable living conditions, Beanpole's cruel master, a threat from the Tripods that will extinguish the human race, and no sure escape route, things start to look hopeless. When Will accidentally kills his master, the two, however, must fight against all odds to escape or risk being captured by the Tripods.
Will they be able to escape...more
Nov 19, 2008
mlady_rebecca
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
1977-1982,
genre__childrens_sf_fantasy,
author__john_christopher,
genre_sub__aliens_and_space_travel,
2008,
__childhood_rereads,
read_more_than_once,
genre_sub__dystopias_utopias,
fiction__part_of_a_series,
genre__sf,
fiction__speculative,
in_retrospect__favorite,
best_of__childhood_favorites
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
The second book in the Tripods series starts much like the first--Will, a human boy, along with two companions, travels the European countryside, this time not seeking to escape the mysterious Tripods who rule over the Earth, but to join them--to infiltrate their city to gain information for a human resistance movement. The first half of the novel mirrors the first very closely, in both its rich descriptions of food and landscape and its pancake-flat depictions of our human protagonists.
However,...more
However,...more
Jun 19, 2012
Melissa
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childrens-literature,
young-adult
The City of Gold and Lead
Book 2 of the Tripods Trilogy
Christopher, John
New York: Aladdin, 1970
209 pages
Chapter book
Genres: Science fiction, coming of age, drama, quest, adventure, young adult
Will, Beanpole (Jean-Paul) and a boy named Fritz are chosen by the resistence to compete in the Games. Will and Fritz win their events and are taken by tripods to the City of Gold and Lead. They discover that the Tripods are essentially vehicles, maneuvered by Masters. Human boys are kept as servants; the mo...more
Book 2 of the Tripods Trilogy
Christopher, John
New York: Aladdin, 1970
209 pages
Chapter book
Genres: Science fiction, coming of age, drama, quest, adventure, young adult
Will, Beanpole (Jean-Paul) and a boy named Fritz are chosen by the resistence to compete in the Games. Will and Fritz win their events and are taken by tripods to the City of Gold and Lead. They discover that the Tripods are essentially vehicles, maneuvered by Masters. Human boys are kept as servants; the mo...more
Second book of the Tripods trilogy, where the plot thickens in darker ways.
For all their resistance, the people of the White Mountains barely know anything of the tripods. Who they are, what their plans are, and how they can fight them. So they devise a plan, win the annual games of the Capped, the games where Will lost Eloise to the tripods in the first place. Get taken, spy on them, and come back alive.
Will, Beanpole, and a boy named Fritz are chosen, and after several dangers, they arrive at...more
For all their resistance, the people of the White Mountains barely know anything of the tripods. Who they are, what their plans are, and how they can fight them. So they devise a plan, win the annual games of the Capped, the games where Will lost Eloise to the tripods in the first place. Get taken, spy on them, and come back alive.
Will, Beanpole, and a boy named Fritz are chosen, and after several dangers, they arrive at...more
-Contains spoilers-
The book starts off in the white mountains base with the 3 main characters and their allies training for a tournament. The winners get to serve the master race in the city; which is said that slaves enter none ever come out. The point of this is to gather information for a war to override the master race. At the end 2 main characters and an ally pass training and get sent on a boat to the tournament. The main character and the ally win the tournament and get sent to the city w...more
The book starts off in the white mountains base with the 3 main characters and their allies training for a tournament. The winners get to serve the master race in the city; which is said that slaves enter none ever come out. The point of this is to gather information for a war to override the master race. At the end 2 main characters and an ally pass training and get sent on a boat to the tournament. The main character and the ally win the tournament and get sent to the city w...more
The second installment (or third, if you are counting the prequel) in John Christopher's late-60's "Tripods" trilogy has our erstwhile hero Will undercover in the city of the aliens. The "city" is really a huge biosphere set up on earth, where the aliens--the Masters--have subdued the populace with nefarious intent.
Christopher's spare writing style comes right out of Strunk and White--nothing wasted, everything moving the story forward. (Contemporary writers, with infinite hard drive space and a...more
Christopher's spare writing style comes right out of Strunk and White--nothing wasted, everything moving the story forward. (Contemporary writers, with infinite hard drive space and a...more
The second book of the Tripods Trilogy, The City of Gold and Lead continues the science fiction adventure that began with The White Mountains. The world has been taken over by aliens who rule in large, three-legged machines. Humans are controlled by metal caps, which are melded to their skulls at the age of 14. Will, the main character, is a young man who is part of a small group of free men, who have escaped the capping process and live secretly in the mountains. In The City of Gold and Lead, W...more
This some badass, excellen' sci-fi, hee-ya. Book Two of the trilogy about century hence when mankind is slave to the Tripods, giant war machines that control men through Caps which are ritualistically affixed to their skulls at adolescence. The three teenagers from the first book who make it to the White Mountains, where a small band of free people are trying to free the earth are at their zany hijinks again! This time they enter a pseudo-Olympics thing fake-Capped and get inside one of the citi...more
I loved these books as a kid. A 4th was written & I re-read the series as an adult. Not as good, but still very readable.
Like most of Christopher's books (all the ones I've read) the hero of the story is a young boy, so it is easy to place yourself in the role (if you were a young boy at the time, of course...). In this series, the world has been taken over by aliens. Survive & fight back.
Like most of Christopher's books (all the ones I've read) the hero of the story is a young boy, so it is easy to place yourself in the role (if you were a young boy at the time, of course...). In this series, the world has been taken over by aliens. Survive & fight back.
If you read enough of this kind of story when you're young I think you get a certain feel for how the plot is "supposed" to go: there are wicked enemies that must be dispatched, and the fate of the entire world rests on taking care of that as soon as possible. What I never really noticed before this re-reading was that for these child soldiers of the White Mountains, the end always justifies the means. The free-living heroes up in the White Mountains are really no more than high-minded burglars...more
This is the second installment in the Tripods trilogy. It is my favorite book of the trilogy and is still as much fun 20 years from when I first read it.
Will, Beanpole, and Henry are training for the games in hopes that one of them will make it into a city of the Tripods and be able to escape to provide vital intelligence to the human resistance.
The description of what happens in the Tripods city is amazing and interesting. I remember reading this when I was younger and finding it absolutely fas...more
Will, Beanpole, and Henry are training for the games in hopes that one of them will make it into a city of the Tripods and be able to escape to provide vital intelligence to the human resistance.
The description of what happens in the Tripods city is amazing and interesting. I remember reading this when I was younger and finding it absolutely fas...more
My initial impression was that the author so takes for granted that any kind of enslavement is evil that he doesn't explain why that would be true. However, as it's presented, Squire doesn't get the problem, as long as the Masters are nice. After all, they are superior beings: they are smarter, live longer, are more technologically advanced, etc. What's the surprise in that they take over? It's not different from pets or zoos. I'm disturbed, but he has a point; in fact I wonder if Christopher is...more
These book are absolutely fantastic. I'm amazed after each one that such a huge story (that doesn't skimp on detail mind you) comes in such a small package. You can stack some of the best stories told with a series of books next to these and maybe all of these altogether would = one of the others. Good stuff.
I believe the 2nd half of 2011 was an introduction into "Science Fiction" for me. I'm glad, I don't know why I've put off or never getting around to reading the genre sooner. It's the one...more
I believe the 2nd half of 2011 was an introduction into "Science Fiction" for me. I'm glad, I don't know why I've put off or never getting around to reading the genre sooner. It's the one...more
I enjoyed this book more than its predecessor The White Mountains. Although the writing and characterization is the same, there seems to be more going on. We finally get to see who's behind the Tripods that invaded Earth 100 years ago, through the eyes of the young protagonist Will, who has invaded their own city in the guide of a devoted slave. He learns a lot about where they are from, what they are like, and their nefarious future plans for the Earth. The plot is interesting enough to keep yo...more
I can barely cope with how brilliant this book is. And also, revisiting it 22 years after the first time I read it, I'm surprised by how disturbing it is. The treatment of the boys by their masters is hugely unpleasant in places, and I'm not sure if I just didn't understand that, as a kid, or if I just didn't care, but it's...not something I'm used to reading in children's fiction, these days. All the same, there is such a weight to everything that happens in these stories, and such momentum, in...more
This book was just as good as the first one, maybe even better. Just like in the first one, this one was a bit predictable but it still kept my interest. The story moves along quickly and even though the plot is a bit basic, it is still an enjoyable read. I like John Christopher's writing because it is simple yet elegant and he doesn't waste any space. I did not enjoy this book because of any deep philosophical messages or symbolism or anything, but enjoyed it because it was short, easy to read,...more
Having by the skin of their teeth survived a cross-continental walk to freedom from the mind-control of the Tripods, Will and his friends now volunteer to risk their lives by joining those who enter the alien city as slaves of the Masters. First they must make another arduous journey and then triumph at an athletic competition designed to select the best and strongest specimens to serve the invaders. But getting into the city is the least horrible of the dangers that wait for the boys... Tense a...more
Second in the "Tripod" trilogy, this book picks up where "The White Mountains" leaves off. Will and his two friends, Henry and Beanpole, have found a group of free humans in the Swiss Alps (the white mountains). They have successfully avoided the mind-control of the Tripods, and are living by their wits and plotting overthrow of the aliens. Control of humans is achieved by "capping", putting a metal cap on the head of every 14 year old and giving orders thru the cap to the human. The free humans...more
The second in the White Mountains trilogy, this is the book where the rebel children must infiltrate the enemy complex and learn the aliens' weaknesses. Don't read this one without first having read The White Mountains, and likewise, don't read it without finishing the story off with The Pool of Fire. All three books are very important to the set. And you must read the set! This was one of the best sets of books I've ever read.
I'm going to go ahead and give this one four stars, if only for the moral complexity in some of the situations and the protagonist's decisions. Sure, things get more outlandish here, but the sci-fi concepts are sound and a whole lot of fun in very British way.
This is sci-fi literature (like, real literature) for younger readers. Again, I wish I'd been aware of these around the time I was reading A Wrinkle in Time.
This is sci-fi literature (like, real literature) for younger readers. Again, I wish I'd been aware of these around the time I was reading A Wrinkle in Time.
The second in the Tripods series, this book follows Will and Beanpole as they leave their mountain home and try to win a competition of games that will allow them to enter the mysterious city of the tripods. While inside the city, they learn about their captors the Masters and look for a way to defeat them.
Very imaginative, told in the style of Jules Verne with a particular knack for describing alien science and technology. It's a great story with a focus on the action, I loved these books as a...more
Very imaginative, told in the style of Jules Verne with a particular knack for describing alien science and technology. It's a great story with a focus on the action, I loved these books as a...more
Aug 13, 2011
Thomas Fackler
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
How exactly do you make a relatively larger gravitational field on a city-sized portion of Earth, that ends on the boundaries? Everything else makes sense.
This is a great series for a young reader making the move to science fiction. There are some interesting ethical problems that are partially developed, but remain unresolved; one of which is that some of the aliens question whole-sale extermination of humans.
This is a great series for a young reader making the move to science fiction. There are some interesting ethical problems that are partially developed, but remain unresolved; one of which is that some of the aliens question whole-sale extermination of humans.
The second in the Tripod series. Our heros win a competition to make it into the mystery city. Hmm....sounds a little familiar....
Anyway, the world created by Christopher is fascinating and terrifying. Everytime I think they are goners and have NO idea how they are going to get out of THIS one, they do and not with some cheap ghost in the machine device. Will is Potteresque in his ability to slay dragons. Glad the last in the series is waiting for me at the library.
Anyway, the world created by Christopher is fascinating and terrifying. Everytime I think they are goners and have NO idea how they are going to get out of THIS one, they do and not with some cheap ghost in the machine device. Will is Potteresque in his ability to slay dragons. Glad the last in the series is waiting for me at the library.
Sep 30, 2010
Beverly
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s,
science-fiction
As flatly written as it predecessor, but somehow fascinating in its descriptions of the nasty world the aliens have created for themselves on earth. Will and Fritz have been sent out from the White mountains to infiltrate the alien world posing as slaves to gather intelligence for their renegade brothers. This is the perfect cold war story of calculated domination by an alien race.
Far creepier than The White Mountains. Christopher did a great job of creating aliens that are strange enough to be, well, alien without being completely incomprehensible. I remember reading this 30 years ago and being totally creeped out. I wasn't as creeped out as an adult, but there are still some disturbing scenes and ideas. A great sequel.
I have re-read these books several times over the years, and they have stood up quite well. They're quite suspenseful and interesting, without being over-the-top preachy, which a book like this easily could be. What stood out to me this time was their amazing economy. They're only around 100 pages each, yet they don't feel like slight books in any way.
I thought that the book was very slow moving. It was also very depressing. Many friends were lost, and some were then recovered. It had a very big twist at the ending. I am not going to tell what the ending was though. I thought that the theme of the book was about friendship and sticking together. One alien wanted to be friends with a boy who tried to act very nice. I also saw how Fritz and Will stuck together through the whole hard time. I would give this book a seven out of ten.
Sep 14, 2010
Rebekah
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childhood-reads-incomplete-list,
fantasy
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book is a great, early reader sci-fi book. The language is easy but descriptive. The passive narrative makes the story read somewhat stoically, which is an interesting choice given the ideas and ramifications of the aliens on earth. I think young boys in particular would enjoy these titles. I'm going to go back and read the first and third in this series since they're simple enough to enjoy quickly.
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John Christopher
is the pseudonym under which the British science fiction author Samuel Youd has been most successful. Youd has written under the following pseudonyms:
• John Christopher
• Stanley Winchester
• Hilary Ford
• William Godfrey
• Peter Graaf
• Peter Nichols
• Anthony Rye
He is best known for The Tripods trilogy, published under the pseudonym John Christopher.
His novels were popular during the...more
More about John Christopher...
• John Christopher
• Stanley Winchester
• Hilary Ford
• William Godfrey
• Peter Graaf
• Peter Nichols
• Anthony Rye
He is best known for The Tripods trilogy, published under the pseudonym John Christopher.
His novels were popular during the...more
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“One enjoys friendship most when dines are good, when the sun shines and the world is kind. But it is the sharing of adversity that knits men together.”
—
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27 mar. 20:56