What do You think about When The Tripods Came (2003)?
EXCITING PREQUEL TO A FABULOUS SCI FI SERIES!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! (Apirl 19, 2013. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)
—Gale
Reviewed by Kira M for TeensReadToo.comSomething is not right in England.Laurie's little sister recently started watching a show called Trippies. One day, she disappears. When they bring her back, all she can talk about is peace and Tripods, an alien race bent on bringing peace to Earth. Although they manage to dehypnotize her, people all over start disappearing and showing up with helmets that allow the Tripods to control their brains.Soon the whole world is conquered by this strange alien race, and Laurie and his family are driven into hiding underneath a hotel in the mountains. Can they find a way to take back Earth with the odds stacked against them?WHEN THE TRIPODS CAME is a book well worth the read. The suspense and adventure in the story draw the reader in and make them want to keep reading. The characters are believable and the author does a great job of capturing why humanity is the way it is.Readers who like science fiction, continuing series, and adventure books will all enjoy this read and the others that follow.
—Jennifer Wardrip
When I was a mere lad I was introduced to John Christopher by way of The White Mountains. I instantly related to the young boys who escaped being capped by aliens, which would make them like everyone else. They risked life and limb to cross a dystopian Europe to escape that fate. I reread it as an adult and saw their flight from “normality” in my own escape from rural NJ to New York to live life on my own terms as a gay man, a reading that Christopher probably never foresaw. I was curious to read his prequel to the successful trilogy. I really wanted to like this book, but it read like a forced and unnecessary explanation of the original invasion of the Tripods: part War of the Worlds, part Invasion of the Body Snatchers, part The Day of the Triffids. Although I would handily recommend it to any pre-teen reader, along with the much better trilogy and some of Christopher’s other work, I can’t do the same for an adult. The only benefit is that it exposes the evils of television… and television is very evil in these pages.
—Sean Meriwether
