 | By: John Christopher Joe Burleson Binding: Mass Market Paperback Publisher: Simon Pulse ISBN: 0689856725 ISBN-13: 9780689856723 Released: 03 Apr 2003 RRP: Average Rating:  |
Fourteen-year-old Will Parker has witnessed every year the coming of the Tripod, whose purpose is to perform the annual Capping ceremony on those boys & girls who have come of age. The Cap, a silvery mesh which is woven into the bald head of those who receive it (the recipient's hair grows through & around the mesh in time, obscuring it from view) is said to symbolise one's crossing the threshold into adult life. But that summer, when Will's cousin Jack is Capped, the boy begins to suspect that the ritual serves a much more sinister purpose.
After having their suspicions confirmed by an un-Capped travelling messenger, Will, his other cousin Henry, & their friend Jean-Paul decide to embark on a perilous journey to the distant White Mountains (the Alps), where other free-thinkers have gathered in defiance of the enemy. Together, the three boys travel through a decimated Paris, before stopping off at Le Chateau de la Tour Rouge, where Will fallls in love with the beautiful Eloise - but a turn of events leave him heartbroken & more determined than ever to destroy earth's rulers.
The boys wonder (as does the reader) what the Tripods actuallly are: intelligent machines made by the ancestors, or vehicles carrying alien beings? More importantly: Why are they here? What are their plans for the future of humankind? In the meantime: Will the young adventurers make it to the safety of the mountains?
The two sequels, The City of Gold & Lead & The Pool of Fire, are tremendous supplements as our heroes discover the truth about the enemy & strive to overthrow them. Those of you who remember the BBC's adaptation for grape picking & circuses, don't be put off reading the original trilogy. It's not without reason that the blurb describes it as "almost unbearably exciting".
The White Mountains is the perfect opener.
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