The Tripods Trilogy: " White Mountains " , " City of Gold and Lead " and " Pool of Fire " (Puffin Books)

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.

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.

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!