The Tripods Collection (Boxed Set): The White Mountains; The City of Gold and Lead; The Pool of Fire; When the Tripods Came

I read this trilogy in the 1980s as a teen and remembered having nightmares about the Masters... After unsuccessfully trying to watch the series online (half the episodes are missing), I decided to re-read the books. While reading as an adult is obviously not the same as reading as a teen (one would hope!), these were still page turners. I read the 4 books in 3 days. What holds up is the fact that the author shows us the aliens' world in a manner of speaking. Most invasion stories focus on the human race and leave us guessing as to the aliens. The psychology and sociology comparisons to the two races is also unique. If you are looking for a series with a happy ending... look elsewhere. Humanity is shown to be flawed and reading this during COVID made these flaws appear even more prominent.Keep in mind these stories were originally written before man even landed on the moon. I won't go into a tedious review of the plot hole issues, let's just say that reading this as an adult in today's culture, I had to shut down half of my brain and just enjoy the story. I also had to remind myself the author wrote these books for CHILDREN??? (Gotta love the Brits and their idea of children's fodder). While some people complained the newer written 4th book was a disappointment, it actually does help address many of the plot hole issues, so I enjoyed it. Decide for yourself.

J'avais lu cette trilogie au collège, et récemment (20 ans après...) je me suis rappelée de ces romans et ai souhaité les lire en version originale, étant désormais assez bonne en anglais.L'auteur a su créer un univers cohérent, où les envahisseurs ont obtenu l'asservissement total des humains...ou presque !J'attends avec impatience le film, il parait que c'est prévu.

"The Tripods" is patterned after The War of the Worlds, but given the target audience, it is naturally up to the children to battle the aliens. The invaders with their shadowy intent use devices implanted in the skull to control humans, who appear to have reverted to a medieval agrarian style of life. The children, however, cannot be safely "capped," and thus have the window of opportunity.Christopher's achievement here is not so much the now-classic plot, but creation of interesting key characters who unlike most series shift in and out of view from sequel to sequel. The descriptions of the people enslaved by the Tripods contrast with the resistance in a way Christopher might have observed in many an authoritarian state. They are drawn so sharply that I recalled the plot twists and character conflicts 25 years after reading the trilogy.The trilogy? But there are four books? As others note, "When The Tripods Came" is a prequel written long after the others. It is a decent and readable but gratuitous book. Reading it first will undermine from the most compelling storytelling device of "The White Mountains" -- its gradual demystifying of what the devil happened to these people and what's inside those tripod things, from the perspective of children with no memory of technology.Note that this very much a male-driven story. The few females are lightly sketched and far between. Thus the books are a harder sell to girls for lack of connection, but I would encourage the attempt. It might also be worthwhile for children to read or reread the books when they are old enough to appreciate the themes of tyranny and rebellion. (Certainly all teenagers do. :)This boxed set is an excellent buy.

My all time favorite book and TV series.If you really want to get to know The Tripods more check out "The League of Freemen" a Tripod based fan site on Yahoo Groups. The cast, crew, and producer get together and meet in England & Germany almost yearly and there is a wealth of information including GPS coordinates so you can see every filming location as if you were actually there. You can find The Tripod meetings on You Tube.Also on You Tube you will find a channel called FritzEger which is actually Robin Hayter who played Fritz in Series 2 and he has Tripod and meeting videos there too.Finally do not forgot to check out The Tripods DVD on Amazon here containing bonus material and the entire Series 1 & 2.If you are a fan of The Tripods this DVD is a must for you and if you like adventure with a little science fiction thrown in then this is for you and I hope you enjoy the information I have included for you to explore this series more.

This was a book that I read back in the early 70's as a child. I loved the story and the book. Highly recommend it. I purchased it recently to relive those wonderful days of being engrossed in a well written story.