''The Tripods'' is a series of
young adult novels
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
written by
John Christopher
Sam Youd (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012), was a British writer, best known for science fiction written under the name of John Christopher, including the novels ''The Death of Grass'', ''The Possessors'', and the young-adult novel series ...
, beginning in 1967. The first two were the basis of a
science fiction TV series, produced in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.
Synopsis
The story of ''The Tripods'' is a variation on
post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
literature, wherein humanity has been enslaved by "Tripods" — gigantic three-legged walking machines, piloted by unseen alien entities (later identified as "
Masters"). Human society is largely pastoral, with few habitations larger than villages, and what little industry exists is conducted under the watchful presence of the Tripods. Lifestyle is reminiscent of the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, but small artifacts from the
Modern Age are still used, such as
watch
A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...
es.
Humans are controlled from age 13 by implants called "Caps," which suppress individuality and free will. Some people, whose minds are broken by the Caps, become vagrants. According to ''The City of Gold and Lead'', Masters begin to believe that humans should be capped at an earlier age "because some humans, in the year or two before they are Capped, become rebellious and act against the masters", but this cannot be done, because Capping must wait until the
braincase
In human anatomy, the neurocranium, also known as the braincase, brainpan, or brain-pan is the upper and back part of the skull, which forms a protective case around the brain. In the human skull, the neurocranium includes the calvaria or skul ...
has stopped growing.
Series
''The White Mountains'' (1967)
Life is like the Middle Ages in the
pre-industrial era, except that all adult humans are subject to Tripod control. Protagonist Will Parker, a thirteen-year-old boy living in the fictional English village of Wherton, is looking forward to being Capped at the next Capping Day, until a chance meeting with a mysterious fake-Capped man named
Ozymandias
"Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of '' The Examiner'' of London.
The poem was included the following year in Shelley's c ...
(taking his name from a poem he frequently recites) prompts him to discover a world beyond the Tripods' control. He is accompanied by his cousin Henry and later by a French teenager named Jean-Paul Saeger, nicknamed "Beanpole". The novel climaxes with Henry and Beanpole discovering that earlier, when Will was captured by a Tripod, he was unknowingly implanted with a tracking device. When Henry and Beanpole remove the device, a nearby Tripod attacks them, but the boys defeat the Tripod and elude subsequent efforts to find them. The story ends with them joining the resistance, located in the eponymous White Mountains. The White Mountains also are free from the tripods.
' (1967)
After a year in the White Mountains, the resistance charges Will, Beanpole, and a German boy, Fritz, to infiltrate a Tripod city by competing in a regional sporting exhibition. Will, a boxer, and Fritz, a runner, win their respective contests, while Beanpole fails to win in the jumping events.
The winners are taken to the Tripod city in a pressurized dome astride a river. Inside the city, the boys encounter the Tripods' operators, whom they refer to as the "Masters". Human males are slaves inside the cities, while beautiful females are killed and preserved for the Masters to admire. Slaves are furnished with breathing masks to survive the aliens' atmosphere but are rapidly exhausted by the stronger
artificial gravity
Artificial gravity is the creation of an inertial force that mimics the effects of a gravitational force, usually by rotation.
Artificial gravity, or rotational gravity, is thus the appearance of a centrifugal force in a rotating frame of re ...
and must therefore be periodically replaced. The ''gold'' in the title refers to the city's color; both ''gold'' and ''lead'' refer to the heightened gravity.
Although Fritz is abused by his Master, Will is treated as a privileged pet by his. Eventually, Will's Master reveals a plan to replace the Earth's atmosphere with the Masters' toxic air to enable full control of the Earth. When the Master finds Will's diary, Will kills him to maintain the secret. With the assistance of Beanpole and Fritz (who temporarily stays behind to maintain Will’s alibi), Will escapes and returns to the White Mountains with Beanpole. The story ends with Will and Beanpole giving Fritz up for dead and returning to the White Mountains.
' (1968)
Will and Fritz (who had managed to escape the city after all) travel to
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
, the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
, and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
to organize resistance against the Tripods. The resistance, having ambushed a Tripod and captured a Master, accidentally discover that alcohol has a strong
soporific
Hypnotic (from Greek ''Hypnos'', sleep), or soporific drugs, commonly known as sleeping pills, are a class of (and umbrella term for) psychoactive drugs whose primary function is to induce sleep (or surgical anesthesiaWhen used in anesthesia ...
effect on them, and use this knowledge to simultaneously attack their cities. Having introduced alcohol into the aliens' city water systems, raiding groups kill the Masters in two of the three cities by forcing open airlocks and exposing the unconscious aliens to Earth's atmosphere. However, the attack on the third city (located in
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
) fails. After an attack using simple airplanes and
aerial bomb
An aerial bomb is a type of explosive or incendiary weapon intended to travel through the air on a predictable trajectory. Engineers usually develop such bombs to be dropped from an aircraft.
The use of aerial bombs is termed aerial bombing.
...
s also fails, another attack is undertaken using hot air balloons developed by Beanpole. After most bombs detonate either before making contact with the dome of the city, or after the bomb has bounced clear, Henry jumps from his balloon onto the city's domed roof and holds the bomb in place, sacrificing himself and shattering the dome. Earth's atmosphere kills the Masters, and Henry is remembered as a hero.
Sometime later, the Masters' atmosphere-seeding spaceship arrives and destroys the remains of their cities, then leaves – presumably since the cities contained "star maps" which showed the location of the Masters' home world, also to prevent the humans from
reverse engineering
Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
their technology – although Beanpole notes that they have already learned much from the cities. Modern human technology, which was halted during the Masters' rule is rediscovered rapidly, including the theory of space travel.
The saga ends with the Resistance leader Julius being deposed at a summit of nations. In contrast to Julius' efforts to unite the world, the alliance built during the resistance falls apart, with nationalistic hostilities appearing and each country going their separate ways. Will, Beanpole, and Fritz reunite as a tribute to Julius, to work towards establishing a better world.
' (1988)
''When the Tripods Came'' is a prequel written twenty years after the publication of the original trilogy. The plot follows the description of the conquest given in ''The City of Gold and Lead''.
Fearing the technological potential of humanity, the so-called "Masters", unable to defeat humanity in a conventional war, hypnotise people through a television program called ''The Trippy Show'', later using temporary and finally permanent Caps to control them.
As in the original trilogy, the narrator of ''When the Tripods Came'' is a young English boy. He and a friend bear witness to a botched initial invasion by a single Tripod in the British countryside. After the event is old news, ''The Trippy Show'' begins broadcasting, and engenders in some viewers an enthusiasm that gradually becomes a mania. As an increasingly hypnotized society falls under the control of the Masters, he and his family escape to
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
by boat. When they find it is also controlled by the Capped, they hijack a plane to
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, which has managed to restrict its hypnotized population better than other European nations. When the Swiss are eventually invaded and enslaved, the narrator and his family establish the "White Mountains" resistance movement of the original trilogy.
Editions
Editions have been published by
*
Hamish Hamilton (UK First Edition)
*
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
(USA First Edition)
*
Collier Books
Crowell-Collier Publishing Company was an American publisher that owned the popular magazines '' Collier's'', ''Woman's Home Companion'' and ''The American Magazine''. Crowell's subsidiary, P.F. Collier and Son, published ''Collier's Encyclopedia, ...
*
E. P. Dutton
E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group.
Creator
Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...
*
Thorndike Press
* Knight Books
* Turtleback Books
* Beaver Books
*
Audible Studios
Audible is an American online audiobook and podcast service that allows users to purchase and stream audiobooks and other forms of spoken word content. This content can be purchased individually or under a subscription model where the user receiv ...
(
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
)
The series has been translated into Arabic, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Persian, Spanish, Greek, and Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan).
Comic books
Multiple graphic adaptations have been produced, notably including:
* ''
Boys' Life
''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas.
''Scout Life'' is pu ...
'', the monthly magazine of the
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...
, serialised all three books in the trilogy from May 1981 to August 1986. Artist
Frank Bolle
Frank W. Bolle (June 23, 1924 – May 12, 2020) was an American comic-strip artist, comic book artist and illustrator, best known as the longtime artist of the newspaper strips ''Winnie Winkle'' and ''The Heart of Juliet Jones''; for stints on th ...
drew the single page black and white proofs, which were then inked by another person.
* In 1985, the BBC initiated ''
BEEB
''BEEB'' was a weekly, children's magazine centred on the BBC's most popular programmes at the time of its publication. It was published by Polystyle Publications and was created as a competitor to ITV's Look-in magazine. It lasted 20 issues ...
'', the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Junior Television Magazine, and started to present in picture strip form additional adventures of Will, Henry, and Beanpole on their way to the White Mountains, starting at some unspecified point during the fourth episode of the first BBC serial as the trio pass through ruined Paris, and then heading off at a tangent to the television version. From Issue 6, the boys were accompanied on their journey by a young woman named Fizzio, a character original to the strip. The strips were drawn by
and in each issue, they consisted of three pages; the first two in colour and the third in black and white. The storyline was never concluded as ''BEEB'' ceased publication after only 20 issues.
* Masters were one of the species detailed in ''
''.
...