Publisher's Weekly Review
Now in 35th-anniversary editions, John Christopher's Tripod trilogy, about a race of three-legged machines who rule the planet, appears with a new introduction from the author and revised texts. The White Mountains introduces 13-year-old Will as he flees the capping ceremony, a rite of passage in which the Tripods enslave their subjects by fitting them with metal headgear, and heads to Switzerland's White Mountains in search of the world's only remaining community of free people. The follow-up, The City of Gold and Lead, finds Will and friends living in Switzerland and training to overthrow the Tripods. But he must travel to the City of the Tripods, from which few return, to acquire vital information. In the final installment, The Pool of Fire, Will and friends fight against time to defend the human race from extinction, the end result of the Tripods' scheme. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
These remarkable science fiction novels raise questions about society and free will that are as intriguing as ever. Although the books have never been out of print, revised editions that were published in England in 1995 were not published in the U.S. These thirty-fifth anniversary editions contain the revised texts and informative introductions that Christopher wrote for each volume. [Review covers these Tripods titles: [cf2]The City of Gold and Lead, The Pool of Fire,[cf1] and [cf2]The White Mountains[cf1].] From HORN BOOK Fall 2003, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 5^-8. This has the escape adventure as well as the future time setting of the Bawden novel. Before they turn 14 and are "capped" by despotic machine creatures called Tripods, Will and his friends undertake a daring escape to a free colony in the White Mountains.