When the Tripods Came

I love it when a book exceeds my expectations. And they were very low after finishing the core Tripods trilogy. John Christopher's well-crafted prequel, however, more than made up for my disappointment in those first three dry, poorly paced books. By shifting the action to the near-future, Christopher gives us both a more realistically palpable setting and a much more sympathetic narrator. Although Laurie, hero of When the Tripods Came shares some personality traits with Will (protagonist of the first three books who I eventually came to loathe, not love), he is much more redeemably human, and shows much more growth over the course of 150 pages than Will does over three whole novels. What's more, the invasion of the Tripods--gradual, show more but nonetheless terrifying--gives the novel an urgency that the others lacked. Their indoctrination of mankind via television is really scary and manages to be pleasantly undidactic (and I speak as a lover of the boob tube). Rather than giving us a lecture on the dangers of TV, Christopher shows television watching for what it is--a universal, but almost certainly exploitable--weakness. Even the characters who are seduced by the aliens are sympathetic. All in all, a worthwhile read--and since it could easily stand on its own, I'd recommend it in a heartbeat, even if I can't say the same for the rest of the series. show less

This is a prequel to the author's Tripods trilogy, published twenty years (1988) after that trilogy (1967/8) and after the TV adaptation of the first two books. The story gives a reasonable lead up to the events in the original, following the backstory given more briefly in the middle book of the trilogy, though the Tripods seem to take over unrealistically quickly and the method of take over via a TV programme didn't convince in the circumstances. But a good, quick read. 4/5

This was the prequel to the Tripods trilogy which tells the story of the Tripods invasion of Earth and the beginnings of the first cell of resistance in the White Mountains. There was a 20 year difference between the publishing of this and the final book in the original series, and I think that gap showed a lot in John Christopher's writing for the better. My two biggest complaints with the trilogy had been that it was told primarily in summary rather than scene and that there were next to no female characters (none at all after the first book). This book at least attempted to rectify both problems. Though still not perfect, this book told a lot more of its story in scene and was therefore easier to get into. Also, there were several show more female characters, both secondary and tertiary. It felt as though the author had realized his mistake in not including women at all before, as he did mention "the men and women fighting against the Tripods" in this book. At the end, the main character also mentioned that girls seemed more difficult to convince and recruit than boys, which I think the author included simply to give himself an excuse for not including girls in the trilogy, though considering one of the original group's first ever recruits was female, this felt hard to believe.

Anyway, I enjoyed seeing the invasion of the Tripods in person rather than just hearing about it in vague description, and I definitely recommend that anyone who enjoyed the original series read this, as well. show less

Hadn't previously read this prequel to the Tripods trilogy. I found it a little underwhelming and not entirely consistent with the main series, as it is set in the late 20th century in contrast to the mid 20th century invasion implied in the original books (it was written 20 years later, long after I first read the main series). It's still an enjoyable read, mainly for the family dynamics between the young narrator and his Swiss stepmother and stepsister.

I get the motivation to write a prequel, and what results certainly slots in nicely with the other three books. It lays out plainly what is hinted and referenced in the other three books, I'm not sure it really explores any new ground. Nothing wrong with it, just maybe not worth reading if you got 'enough' out of the main series.

Enjoyable young adult prequel to the original Tripods Trilogy which I enjoyed as a teenager - my copy is very well read. I think it probably works best if (like me) you leave plenty of time (years) between reading it and the originals as then it's not too irritating that essentially you know the plot already. Nice to see it all in detail and my only main irritation is the lack of YA girls in the story - it was a bit of a jolt when I suddenly twigged the narrator was a boy.

The original tripods trilogy was one of my favorite reads as a young adult. This book is a prequel to that trilogy; I have owned it forever and have never read it. So when I found the trilogy (along with this prequel) sitting on my bookshelf I decided to give it another read.

This is a short book but I found it was not as engaging as I remember the trilogy to be. It is a book that basically tells how the tripods came to our world. Overall I agree with the other reviewers that say read the trilogy first and then come back to this prequel for filler if you want to.

It was well written but seemed to be more a quick telling of events leading to the invasion than a really gripping story. It is a quick read at 150 pages or so. It was show more interesting to find out the before but this book doesn't really fit in that well with the other books of the trilogy.

I am on to read the trilogy now to see if those books are as excellent as I remember them being. I hope they are! show less