For those who aren't on my FB, you probably don't know of my obsession with finding reprints of the comic at the end of Boys' Life Magazine from the 80's, in which came my introduction to John Christopher's Tripod Trilogy. (I've since managed to find a blog that has the adaption of Book 1 up, but due to cropping issues, it's a pain in the butt to read.)
As part of my birthday, I received the boxed set of all four books in the trilogy. (Yes, I know, this is like Douglas Adams's misnamed Hitchhiker Trilogy. Christopher went back in 1988 and wrote a prequel.) As such, I'll be reading through them as I can.
The trilogy starts with The White Mountains, in which we meet our narrator, Will. Will lives in the British countryside in the village of Wherton, bullied by cousin Henry and friends with Cousin Jack. Jack is a year older, and therefore due to be capped by the tripods as part of his rite of passage into adulthood at 14. Jack expresses doubt to Will about being capped while they hide in a den they use to sneak away from the very commune like village. Capping day arrives, and Jack dutifuly allows the very large tripod (it's never given height qualifications beyond taller than trees) to take him up, returning later with a shaved head and a metal cap attached to his skull and a more docile nature in his personality.
We find that Will's father has a watch, one of the few relics in the village. We also find that capping doesn't work for everyone, with some percent of the population becoming Vagrants, seemingly mildly insane people for whom capping didn't take very well. (There's a bit of misogyny here, since it's mentioned females are less likely to go Vagrant, likely because they don't resists the brainwashing as much.)
One Vagrant comes to town named Ozymandias. Ozy is not nearly as nuts as he acts, since he's really a member of the resistance, wearing a fake cap and looking for recruits in villages who aren't capped as of yet. He gives will a map and a compass and directions to the White Mountains, where the resistance is based.
Will sneaks off in the night, and is followed by Henry. After a fight, Will lets Henry join him as they make their way to the sea and eventually board the Orion to another land.
In the other land, they meet Beanpole (actually Jean-Paul), who shows them the wonders of the schmand fair and one of the ancient cities (Paris, I assume, since they find a cathedral on an island in the river in the middle of the city). In the underground schmand fair, they find explosive eggs that blow up after removing a pin.
As they make their way Southeast, Will gets sick, and we get to listen to him whine about Beanpole and Henry's friendship. They do end up taking refuge with the Compte and Comptess, who's daughter Eloise teaches Will French. Beanpole and Henry plan on escaping during the Tournaments, which colnclude with capping the uncapped of the right age; Will, being a ninny, decides to stick around and be with Eloise. Well, until he finds out Eloise will be taken by the Tripods to serve them, at which point he steals a horse and rides to find Henry and Beanpole. And he gets attacked by a tripod, but the tripod leaves him be. Or not, as the boys face a tripod fox hunt as they near the mountains.
In the end, we find out how Will is tracked, watch the boys figure out grenades, and hear that they found Freedom in the mountains, even if they now will be yelling "Wolverines!" as they fight back against the Tripods.
Amazingly, the book has held up well from my childhood memories, even if I did wonder if L Ron Hubbard read this and got the idea for Battlefield Earth. I also found myself pondering how different the narrative would have been if it was set in the US, given our dystopian youth fiction involves a lot less running away and a lot more midwest stoicism and insubordination in the face of authority. Honestly, I find myself excited to start the next book and see if it still thrills me.
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