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The White Mountains (The Tripods #1)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 4,553 ratings · 382 reviews

John Christopher's compelling science fiction saga about the interplanetary Tripods and Masters who threaten all life on earth.

"Strong in action and suspense." - School and Library Journal

Paperback, 195 pages

Published April 1st 2003 by Simon Pulse (first published 1967)

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Nov 16, 2011 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, 1954-1969, audiobook, invasion, world-in-the-shitter, post-apocalypse, metal-men

A splendidly written science fiction yarn aimed at the lads and lasses but with enough clever going for it to appeal to ~~older~~ more seasoned readers as well. This is the second novel by John Christopher that I've had the pleasure of consuming and this gent certainly has the prose chops to spin a ripsnorter of a story. My previous experience, the dark, disturbing and fantabulous The Death of Grass), is one of the more under-appreciated apocalyptic SF books I have come across and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND...more

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Sep 30, 2010 Aaron Vincent rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystocalypse, scifi

Also posted here.

This is not included on my book pool but I’ve decided to start my YA-D2 adventure with one of the oldest Young Adult Dystopia fiction there is. I figured that if we really want to explore the ya dystopia genre, we must trace its roots by reading the first books that is published under the genre. John Christopher’s White Mountains, without a doubt, influenced a lot of dystopian novels being published recently. I think that dystopian authors, even if they haven’t read this, owes a...more Also posted here.

This is not included on my book pool but I’ve decided to start my YA-D2 adventure with one of the oldest Young Adult Dystopia fiction there is. I figured that if we really want to explore the ya dystopia genre, we must trace its roots by reading the first books that is published under the genre. John Christopher’s White Mountains, without a doubt, influenced a lot of dystopian novels being published recently. I think that dystopian authors, even if they haven’t read this, owes a lot to this series.

Tripods follows the popular theory that our future will just be a repeat of our past. A new Middle Age has come to earth where there is Kings, Comtes, Knights and all those nobilities but this time, everyone is a subject of gigantic three-legged walking machines called Tripods. When a person turns 14, the Tripods installs a Cap in their head. This is when that person go, in Scott Westerfeld’s term, bubbly.

Will, a 13 year-old kid, noticed this change when his favorite cousin was capped. His suspicion was confirmed by a stranger named Ozymandias that came into their town and told him the real purpose of the Caps to human. With the guidance of that Ozymandias, Will sets out on a perilous journey to the last place that is not ruled by Tripods, The White Mountains.

This is a classic book that will not make young readers groan in pain when someone asks them to read it. Although this has been written 4 decades ago, the writing style and the plot never at any point appear as something dated. It is, in fact, at par with all the young adult novels being published recently.

It’s fast-paced, exciting and like other dystopian fiction, possess a poignant social commentaries. But I guess the real strength of this series is how John Christopher brilliantly mends together the past and the future. There are scenes set in a palace when Will and his company, Henry and Jean-Paul, learned the ways of the nobles. There are also scenes set in a ruin of a city where they marvel at our present way of living. You would hang on every word they used to describe a certain thing so that you can guess what it is. The fusion of the past and the future gave the story a bizarrely amazing setting.

I found out that there is also an interesting 1984 UK television series that is based on this book. (Check out the trailer here)

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This is somehow a forgotten gem that I highly recommend to all those who enjoys reading dystopian fiction. I hope that the planned Walt Disney film adaptation comes to fruition because it deserves an attention those nonsense books adapted or will be adapted into film gets.(less)

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May 05, 2011 Amy Sturgis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, ya-dystopia, science-fiction-vintage

This young adult dystopian science fiction novel (the first of a trilogy, followed by a prequel) is considered to be a classic, and it's easy to see why. The Tripods (machines? living beings? robots gone wrong? aliens from another world?) rule over the post-apocalyptic Earth, keeping humans in their (faux-medieval) place by means of "capping" them at puberty: that is, surgically implanting metal helmet-like contraptions on people to keep them docile and content. Young Will, the protagonist, flee...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Kira M for TeensReadToo.com

Centuries ago, the Tripods took over Earth and enslaved mankind. Every human wears a helmet made of metal that makes it so they are controlled by the Tripods. There is a period of time in one's childhood, however, where one is free to think for oneself.

When thirteen-year-old Will is told that there is a place in the mountains where there are people free of the Tripods, he decides he doesn't want to be capped and runs away. Along the way, he is joined by a c...more

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Feb 21, 2009 Bob Redmond rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

One of the best Young Adult authors ever, John Christopher, kicks of his masterwork trilogy with this book about a retro-future in which the world has been colonized by Tripods. Three boys, before undergoing the coming-of-age transformations of Capping Day (incidentally, this has to be the namesake of the Seattle band, remember them?), run away. Will they make it before the tripods find and brainwash them?

It's amazing how much Scott Westerfeld's PRETTIES has borrowed from this series--not that W...more One of the best Young Adult authors ever, John Christopher, kicks of his masterwork trilogy with this book about a retro-future in which the world has been colonized by Tripods. Three boys, before undergoing the coming-of-age transformations of Capping Day (incidentally, this has to be the namesake of the Seattle band, remember them?), run away. Will they make it before the tripods find and brainwash them?

It's amazing how much Scott Westerfeld's PRETTIES has borrowed from this series--not that Westerfeld copied anything, just that Christopher organized things in his future world so well. Like Blade Runner set certain cinematic standards, it's impossible to write about kids in the future (at least one in which we have been colonized) without certain plot inevitabilities. On this reading, I also noticed how good is Christopher's craft: he leaves plenty to the imagination in his decriptions, dialogue, and storyline, unlike modern writers, who, with their gigabytes of word-processing, seem unable to do (hey, Stephenie Meyer!). The book is lean and yet illuminates much. It has held up well over the years and deserves the highest praise.

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[Beginning with this book, I'm instituting a new note: "Why I read this book." The paths that lead us to a certain book at a certain time can bring all kinds of illumination to the reading of the book, if not the book review.]

WHY I READ THIS BOOK: Talking about death and graveyards with Greg Lundgren (of Lundgren Monuments), we agreed that our culture handles death in odd, dysfunctional ways. I praised Neil Gaiman's GRAVEYARD BOOK for helping undercut those notions, which led to talk of other best young adult books. One of my all-time favorites is The Tripods Trilogy (which I got from the library after seeing older neighbor Jim Burnham devour it on the school bus). I've read this book a half-dozen times but after finding it (in the 1970's paperback edition) in Half-Price books last week I could not help but tear through it again. (I had found all the used editions a while back but gave them to Erin Corday for a wedding present.)

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Jan 27, 2013 Michele rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those books I read as a middle schooler that inspired my love of science fiction and dystopian fiction. Because of all the recent young adult fiction and dystopian novels popularly released I decided to go back and retread some of my favorites from my young adulthood. This one is as good as I remembered it.

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Dec 12, 2008 Jeremy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this trilogy many moons ago and loved it. I've been trying to track the title down for quite some time and finally found it. I'd like to re-read this as an adult to see if it has a broad appeal or more for the young adult crowd.

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Apr 03, 2009 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a little embarrassing to admit, but I've been reading a lot of YA fantasy/SF novels aloud to my husband while he paints his new 40k army. I guess if you're going to dork out and regress, it might as well be all the way. So I pulled this novel out of the vaults--my fifth grade English teacher assigned it as part of an inspired introduction to genre fiction unit. This was our introduction to science fiction. I blame her for launching a number of excessively awkward adolescences. Anyway, th...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Christian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The White Mountains is a Young Adult Dystopian novel which most likely inspired a lot of the current YA Dystopian novels, although I think it itself probably owes quite a bit to The Chrysalids and obviously The War of the Worlds. The book follows the journey of a group of boys as they leave their small town and head to the eponymous White Mountains. Their journey is inspired by the upcoming capping day in which they would have small caps put on the backs of their head making them obedient and co...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Marcus MacGregor rated it 5 of 5 stars

I used to love teaching The White Mountains to middle-schoolers — it was actually at my personal behest that the principal signed off on the book order!

TWM is the first book of John Christopher’s epic saga that pits puny humans against overwhelmingly powerful machines (it’s anyone’s guess whetheror not something biological lives inside a Tripod). The Tripods — mysterious overlords of the earth — exert their ambiguously benevolent authority over humankind by means of mind-controlling devices call...more
I used to love teaching The White Mountains to middle-schoolers — it was actually at my personal behest that the principal signed off on the book order!

TWM is the first book of John Christopher’s epic saga that pits puny humans against overwhelmingly powerful machines (it’s anyone’s guess whether or not something biological lives inside a Tripod). The Tripods — mysterious overlords of the earth — exert their ambiguously benevolent authority over humankind by means of mind-controlling devices called “caps.” These mesh contraptions are fitted to the shaved scalps of boys and girls in their early teens, and become all but unnoticeable once the recipient’s hair grows back.

The choice facing a young person who has not yet been fitted with a “cap” is simple and profound: comfortable slavery under the mechanical overlords, or painful freedom in the harsh wilderness.

If this sounds similar to The Matrix, it is — only it was published more than two decades before that movie hit the theaters, and is unburdened by sensual cyberpunk motifs.

The hero of the story is Will Parker, an un-capped young man of thirteen. He hopes to retain his individuality by fleeing his village and joining a mountain community of free-thinking rebels. Will is accompanied by two other boys more or less like himself, and on their perilous journey the young men meet a colorful assortment of supporting characters. All are well-drawn, and the interactions have the ring of authenticity.

Poignant, compelling, and action-packed, TWM is the kind of adventure that will appeal even to a boy who is generally averse to reading. Truly, you’d be hard pressed to find one better.

If you want to fault the author for “ripping off” the idea of the Tripods from H.G. Wells, Christopher himself has beat you to the punch. In his Preface to the Anniversary Edition, he transparently and with considerable embarrassment explains that although he “stole” the idea from Wells, it was done in good faith — in his words, “An almost incredible example of amnesia...”

It is well worth forgiving the oversight, for the story gets even better with the subsequent installments — which is really saying something.(less)

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Jul 19, 2012 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars

Will Parker is a teen living with his family in England hundreds of years after the Earth has been taken over by the Tripods. No one knows anything about the Tripods anymore, other than that when boys and girls reach puberty, the Tripods come to the village and “Cap” the kids, meaning they graft a metal mesh on their heads which renders them completely subservient to the rule of the Tripods. The day before his friend Jack’s Capping Day, the two discuss some doubts about just who and what the Tri...more Will Parker is a teen living with his family in England hundreds of years after the Earth has been taken over by the Tripods. No one knows anything about the Tripods anymore, other than that when boys and girls reach puberty, the Tripods come to the village and “Cap” the kids, meaning they graft a metal mesh on their heads which renders them completely subservient to the rule of the Tripods. The day before his friend Jack’s Capping Day, the two discuss some doubts about just who and what the Tripods are, and if maybe being capped isn’t the best thing. But immediately after Jack’s capping, all of his doubts are gone, and so is his friendship with Will.

The bulk of the book is Will’s journey, with his two eventual companions, to find the White Mountains, a place where people supposedly live free from the Tripods’ influence. On their way they learn more about their world, and about the old world as they travel though ghost cities that have been dead for centuries.

One of the best aspects of the book—and probably one that would be most interesting to the younger readers the book is meant for—is seeing the spent leftovers of our world through the eyes of these kids who can only guess at what they are. What are those boxes on wheels that travel on steel rails, pulled by teams of horses? What’s this box with the numbered-and-lettered buttons on it? And what’s this egg-shaped thing and what happens when you pull this pin out of it?

On the other hand, much of the book is descriptions of traveling the countryside by foot, something most younger readers would almost have to skim over. And even when things get tense and the action ramps up, the sense of danger is often immediately deflated by things working out just fine, or by outside forces helping our heroes out.

The book does pick up as it goes along. And I have to say, by far the most effective scenes come at the climax, in the showdown between the boys and the Tripods depicted on that front cover on which I judged the book in the first place, 32 years before I read it. What comes immediately after this climax, however, is basically the words “The End.” This book ended so abruptly I actually shook my Kindle to see if the ending would fall out. It’s as if Star Wars ended with a title card that read, “And they blew up the Death Star.” Knowing that this is only the beginning of a longer series does ease that awkwardness a little, but I need to find out if it was originally written as the first part of a series, because if it wasn’t then this ending seems even weirder.

The flip side of all this quickness, abruptness, and lightness is that the book is enjoyably breezy. As a writer currently working on a genre book in which teens fight science fiction forces bigger than they are, I was pleased to see that an engaging story didn’t need to ponder its themes and events for pages and chapters in order to be effective. This is the trick with being an adult reading some YA fiction: The breeziness that the younger audience might require can seem to an adult reader either refreshingly economical or unsatisfyingly light. In the case of The White Mountains it’s a little of both.

But I’m excited to read the next two books in the series. I’m guessing that at the very least they will feature kids running for their lives from giant tripods.(less)

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Mar 18, 2012 Kerry Nietz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Though I started reading science fiction at a young age, I somehow missed the Tripod series altogether. So when an author friend mentioned it in an online post I did some research into the books, was intrigued by the premise, and knew I had to check one out eventually.
Even as an adult, I found a lot to like about “The White Mountains”. The premise is excellent: Man enslaved by machines and kept in a technological state akin to medieval times. Can you think of a better way to explore both the pas...more

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Oct 26, 2011 07CameronW rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Title: The White Mountains
Author: John Christopher
Setting: Futuristic Europe
Story Summary: Sometime in the near future the world is ruled by Tripods. All children are “capped” at the age of 14 when they have a metal cap grafted to their heads and they come under control of the tripods. Will and his Cousin Henry don’t want to be capped so they travel across Europe to go to a new land where there are supposedly no tripods. When they cross the ocean they meet a boy named Jean-Paul who loves to in...more Title: The White Mountains
Author: John Christopher
Setting: Futuristic Europe
Story Summary: Sometime in the near future the world is ruled by Tripods. All children are “capped” at the age of 14 when they have a metal cap grafted to their heads and they come under control of the tripods. Will and his Cousin Henry don’t want to be capped so they travel across Europe to go to a new land where there are supposedly no tripods. When they cross the ocean they meet a boy named Jean-Paul who loves to invent things. Because he is so skinny they call him Beanpole. Beanpole agrees to travel with them because he doesn’t want to be capped either and they head south for the White Mountains. While they’re traveling they come across a castle where they are taken in because Will is very sick. He is cared for by a young girl named Eloise who helps him recover from his sickness. Will falls in love with her and wants to stay behind when his friends leave but when he finds out that Eloise intends to be capped he changes his mind. His friends leave on the night of a big tournament but Will stays behind because he’s afraid he will be missed. He tells them he will catch up to them in a couple of days. As Will is leaving a tripod catches him and takes him inside it. Later it turns out that Will got a chip placed in his arm so that they could track them. They notice a tripod seems to be following them and they notice he has something in his arm so they cut it out. The tripod begins chasing them and it catches Will. As he’s being taken into the tripod Will throws at it one of the exploding eggs they had found on their trip. It blows up inside the tripod and Will is released back to the ground. The tripod stops moving and they know it’s destroyed so they run as far as they can when they see three tripods approaching, searching for them. They hide in a crevice of a rock that was big enough for them to fit in for over two days before they leave and continue on to the White Mountains where they resolve to destroy the tripods.
I found the book very interesting and easy to read. I like how someone my own age made the choice that they wanted to be free and how they were faced with many challenges and dangers but were able to overcome them and were finally able to reach the White Mountains which represented freedom from the control of the tripods.
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May 08, 2011 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: children, science-fiction

I read this book when I was about 10, but there's a moment near the beginning that's really stayed with me. It's one of those stories where Earth has been enslaved by alien overlords. There are, however, a few bright points in their miserable existences, and one of these is the annual games, where young athletes compete in a kind of Olympics to pick out the fastest and strongest.

The hero and his best friend are competing. They're both top jocks. They're pretty much certain that they'll win and b...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Eileen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-scifi, ya

I read this first as part of an English unit in fifth grade, so when I found it at the library book sale the other day, I grabbed it. This is good, disturbing YA scifi with more formal prose than comparable authors would use today. It really feels related to John Wyndham, with a similar subdued British tone. The story is set in the future, a hundred years after the tripods--gigantic three-legged machines with no visible pilot, portrayed as conscious beings--destroyed most of humanity and enslave...more

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Jan 01, 2011 Agnes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Spencer, Rory

Recommended to Agnes by: Bill

Shelves: youth

After also reading The Giver for the first time, Bill recommended this trilogy to me. He remembered really enjoying it as a child, and complained that the world of The Giver is not sufficiently developed (which is true), whereas this series is much more of an immersion into a near-future dystopia (also true). The basic premise of the series is that the main character, a 13-year old boy, is about to go through his village's coming-of-age experience in order to be more fully integrated into his so...more

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Sep 03, 2010 Allison Means rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wow, I can't believe that I went through my entire youth and somehow managed to never hear of this book, thank goodness for The New Yorker writing a piece about dystopian stories for young adults.

I wasn't 100% sure about reading this because the emphasis seemed to be on aliens, but really it's about societal control and complacency. It's about how important free will is compared to daily comforts and easy living. Of course, as a woman it's a little annoying to see that the story is really only...more

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May 23, 2009 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: boys, scifi

The White Mountains is the first of a classic children’s science fiction trilogy that was first published in the 1960’s. In The White Mountains, humans live quaint and old fashioned lives in the shadows of the Tripods, large, mechanical beings who rule above humans. Will, age 13, realizes that he does not want a part in the capping process, a creepy and ceremonial event that is required for all villagers at the age of 14. He realizes that those who have been capped obey the Tripods without quest...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Erik Graff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: sf fans

Recommended to Erik by: Dorothy Gregory

Shelves: sf

There seems to be some complexity to the Tripod novels and stories written by Christopher (actual name, Samuel Youd). Whatever their order, this book stands by itself as one a reader can begin with, without worrying about what may have been set or composed earlier. It does not, however, tell a full story. The City of Gold and Lead (1967) and The Pool of Fire (1968) complete this particular tale.
While ordinarily regarded as a young adult novel, I did not feel patronized. The protagonist and his...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Karissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book in the Tripods series. This book describes the journey of three young boys who are eager to escape the Capping ceremony of the Tripods and go on a journey to the White Mountains where there is a rumor free-men still live.

I loved this book when I was younger and reading it twenty years later, I think it is still a great book. It is fast-paced, suspenceful, and intriguing. A great novel for kids, young adults, or a dults; and a great book to read as an entry to the science f...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Abby Harrison rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, ya-lit-books-13-25

In this novel, the Tripods, (a very technologically advanced an evil alien race) have complete control over the human race. They have reduced cities to ruin and men to mindless livestock.

All thanks to the caps the Tripods force people to wear upon their adulthood (age 14.) Upon being capped, you unwittingly commit yourself to slavery. But young Will won't have it. Instead, he takes the advice of a vagrant claiming to know the way to freedom: He must go to the White Mountains.

As Will begins the...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Wesley rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was cool. As I don't have that much (good) science fiction under my belt this was one I enjoyed, greatly. Short but solid. It got the job done. Only thing about quick books like this it makes me want the next asap. On the issue of science fiction though. I think more people she be open to it. Obviously the goodreads crowd isn't one to turn on that. In my head it's almost as I really started to read science fiction that the literary genre broadened my horizons. Area's of my imagination once...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Jenny (hades2) (Chocolate Chunky Munkie) rated it 4 of 5 stars

I’ve wanted to read this trilogy for a long time now. When I was young I remembered my parents watching a TV adaption of this book and it has always stuck in my mind.
I can say I have not been disappointed. I loved the idea of a rebellion of a minority few trying to regain control over an alien life force. The whole drama and thrill of whether these three young boys will escape the clutches of the Tripods. It makes for an exciting read. The story centres around the main character Will who is comi...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-literature, young-adult

The White Mountains
Book 1 of the Tripods Trilogy
Christopher, John
New York: Macmillan, 1967
214 pages
Chapter book
Genres: Science fiction, coming of age, drama, quest, adventure, young adult

About a century into the future, the culture is preindustrial following the Tripods’ defeat of humanity. A boy named Will looks forward to his “capping,” the day on which he will be implanted with a device that allows the Tripods to control him. A stranger named Ozymandius comes to town and convinces Will to see...more

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Jul 05, 2010 Mitchel Broussard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: apocalypse, dystopia, fantasy, sci-fi, series, ya-fiction, summer-2010, aliens-and-outer-space

While the premise, set about 100 years in the future where giant three legged machines, the Tripods, control every human on the planet, may seem familiar, the execution is wholly original. What i loved about this set up is that Christopher didn't just go with the normal now-all-of-humanity-is-living-in-fear trope, but the entire other direction. Humans worship the Tripods. They have no choice.

The world is basically in a new Middle Age, with Kings, Nobles, and Knights. Will's village is more unto...more While the premise, set about 100 years in the future where giant three legged machines, the Tripods, control every human on the planet, may seem familiar, the execution is wholly original. What i loved about this set up is that Christopher didn't just go with the normal now-all-of-humanity-is-living-in-fear trope, but the entire other direction. Humans worship the Tripods. They have no choice.

The world is basically in a new Middle Age, with Kings, Nobles, and Knights. Will's village is more untouched with royalty, but still lives by the rule of the Tripods. Basically, when you turn 14, you get taken up to a Tripod and have a Cap (a large metal plate) installed on your head. As you can probably imagine, these Caps cause the wearer to become docile, uncaring and slightly removed from previous troubles of life.

Will, just before his best friend Jack's 14th birthday, starts to question the Tripods and all the adults wearing their Caps. Jack even mentions he would rather turn into a Vagrant (someone whose brain, for reasons unknown, does not accept the Cap, resulting in mild insanity). But Jack, after his Capping Day, completely changes tune, expressing positive thoughts towards the Tripods and how they saved all of humanity. Will, with help from a stranger from the last sanctuary of normal humans, the White Mountains, decides to take the long and treacherous journey there.

(On a side note, I know this was made years before Scott Westerfeld even came up with the idea for his Uglies quartet, but the Capping process reads just like the Pretties surgery. Everyone goes along with it, the adults are all completely aware and are okay with it, and it makes you subservient to the leaders that be. Even if Westerfeld didn't read these books, I think he owes a lot to this guy).

I really enjoyed seeing not the destruction of the Earth as so many books and movies do, but the aftermath. The "what would happen centuries after aliens invade?" really created an awe in every page of the book. The three main characters are fun and create great dynamics with each other. Two of which begin as bitter rivals, and really learn to work together to stay alive.

The big questions - Where did the Tripods come from? Are the Tripods THE aliens, or are they being driven? Are they even aliens, or some machine made by man which turned on us? - are not answered, and, really I hope are never answered. The mystery, the fear of an unseen enemy, is what had me eating threw the last 50 or so pages of this book. What you imagine in your head is always scarier than what is written, or seen.

After a months long journey full of starvation, alien battles, and chases, the message at the end of the book (with Will describing plans to fight for humanity's future against the Tripods) felt excitedly epic.

A brilliant start to the series.
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Oct 17, 2007 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: adventure loving boys

Shelves: sciencefiction, childrensbooks

I was in 6th grade, had just moved to the Seattle area, and was as unhappy as an uprooted, adolescent girl living under perpetually gray skies can be - but this book, read to my class by the teacher, showed me that, hey, it could be worse! I could be on the run, hunted by aliens in giant tripods who wanted to control my brain with a metal cap device on my head. It gave me perspective, you know?
A great introduction to real SF for kids.

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Apr 12, 2012 Cassie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this as part of a 'book swap' deal I made with my boyfriend. In exchange for him reading the Hunger Games I had to read this. If it hadn't been for this deal I don't think I would have given this book a chance. I really like the world that Christopher created and loved the way that his characters marveled at the objects (and cities) the mystical 'ancient' peoples left behind.

Overall this was a really great read, the only issue I really have is the ending. It's so sudden and there wasn't...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Chris Holliman rated it 3 of 5 stars

Plot: The tripods arrived about a hundred years ago. Some say that they came from outer space, other claim that they were invented by humans and turned on them. Either way, they currently rule over humanity. They consolidate control over the minds of men by “capping” them. When a person grows old enough, perhaps around their 14th birthday, they are taken into a tripod and a net of metal is enmeshed into their flesh.
Will Parker is an adolescent on the cusp of this rite of passage. The village in...more Plot: The tripods arrived about a hundred years ago. Some say that they came from outer space, other claim that they were invented by humans and turned on them. Either way, they currently rule over humanity. They consolidate control over the minds of men by “capping” them. When a person grows old enough, perhaps around their 14th birthday, they are taken into a tripod and a net of metal is enmeshed into their flesh.
Will Parker is an adolescent on the cusp of this rite of passage. The village in which Will lives, however, is altogether ignorant of the deleterious effects of the caps. It is but a way of life for them. As the date approaches, he receives information from a drifter that the caps are mind control devices. But there is hope. A group of people live in the White Mountains, far to the south. These people are uncapped, live in freedom, and fight against the tripods.
Stealing away from home, Will is determined to make it to the White Mountains. His cousin Henry Parker joins him and together the boys travel at night to avoid detection. Along the way they encounter clues as to the history of the tripods and how best to destroy them.

Personal Reaction:
John Christopher’s death last year prompted me to revisit this book. I was perhaps 10 years old the last time that I read it. I loved it then and I still enjoy it 20 some years later. I love the juxtaposition of the low-tech feudal world that Will inhabits and the high tech tripods. It is a classic underdog, David vs. Goliath tale.
One troubling spot for me as a reader was an abrupt shift in the plot that occurs about halfway through the book. The boys are taken in by a Comte and Comtesse and taken to La Chateau de la Tour Rouge, essentially a tower and surrounding structures for knights and servants. What follows are scenes of high Medieval times reminiscent of something out of King Arthur. It lasts for a chapter or so and then our boys on their way again, dodging tripods and trying to make it to the White Mountains. The scenes are engaging, but they felt disjointed to me and seemed almost to exist as filler. Perhaps Christopher is merely laying groundwork for future plot points farther into the series.

Themes: dystopian future, mind control, free will, individual vs. society, side effects of technology
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Jul 16, 2009 Valerie added it

Frankly, I liked this book because of its realism. That may be a funny thing to say about a sci-fi book, but the book is bland in tone and often deals with details of everyday life (Like why the runaways call their companion Beanpole, or the finding of an electric wristwatch that (astonishingly) still runs).

There's no real attempt anywhere in this series to explain the motives of the aliens--they're barely examined even in the third book, set mostly in the aliens' city--though at least there's...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Stacey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Will has always known that Capping Day changes a boy's life. But he never realizes how much is actually changed. Once a person has been capped, freedom and life is controlled by the Tripods. As Will's own Capping Day inches closer, fears and doubts nag at Will, until the random vagrant Ozymandias tells Will of a land beyond the sea, the White Mountains, where Tripods don’t rule men. Armed with an old map, a compass and his freedom Will searches for the White Mountains.
I heard of this series in p...more

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About John Christopher

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

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Books by John Christopher

The City of Gold and Lead (The Tripods, #2)

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The White Mountains (The Tripods #1)

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