The White Mountains: Tripods Series, Book 1
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The White Mountains: Tripods Series, Book 1 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

John Christopher (Author), William Gaminara (Narrator), Audible Studios (Publisher)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 949 ratings
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In the first book of John Christopher's classic series, it is the year 2100, and the world is controlled by the machines called Tripods. Life goes on largely as it had in the pre-industrial era, as all of humanity is subject to mental controls that prevent anyone from challenging the established order.

Will, a 13-year-old living in the small English village of Wherton, is looking forward to the transition to adulthood, which will take place on the next "Capping Day" - until a chance meeting with a mysterious Vagrant named Ozymandias sends him on a quest to discover a world beyond the Tripods' control.

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  1. Listening Length
    4 hours and 33 minutes
  2. Author
    John Christopher
  3. Narrator
    William Gaminara
  4. Audible release date
    March 14, 2011
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Audible Studios
  7. ASIN
    B004S0BHOG
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 4 hours and 33 minutes
Author John Christopher
Narrator William Gaminara
Audible.com Release Date March 14, 2011
Publisher Audible Studios
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B004S0BHOG
Best Sellers Rank #37,762 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#3,268 in Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#12,214 in Science Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
949 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

OpheliasOwn
5.0 out of 5 stars YA Sci-Fi at its Best and Most Classic
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2013
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Sometimes when you are struggling to find the next book to read, it is good to just reread an old favorite. For me, The White Mountains by John Christopher was one of the first young adult stories I read as an adult, and it was the first story I enjoyed with a student. It had been well over a decade since I read it, so I thought I would pick it up again. And I am glad I did!

Will has always known his Capping Day was coming, but until now, it didn't seem like something to worry about. But as his day grows nearer, he gets more and more worried about the idea of allowing one of the tripods to put a metal cap in his head that would control his thoughts. Everyone in his village had it done and seems content, but there is something about the process that doesn't sit well with Will.

When a Vagrant (a person whose Capping didn't go well) approaches him about the Capping, he is interested in hearing the man's perspective. But it turns out the man wasn't Capped at all. He was masquerading as a Capped Vagrant, but in reality, he was a rebel recruiting unCapped young adults to bring to the White Mountains- a place where the rebels are safe from the Tripods and can plot to take the world back. Will decides to head to the White Mountains, and along the way he acquires two new friends, Henry and Beanpole. But the three boys have a long way to go to the White Mountains and between them and sanctuary are many many tripods.

This story was written almost 50 years ago and still it is one our kids today could enjoy. I have seen a few comparisons to War of the Worlds, but this story takes place well after the tripods have taken over the world. No one really fights back and everyone accepts the Capping with a complacency that makes them even easier to manipulate and control. The idea of choosing the easier road because you don't want to make life harder with the fight for freedom is a universal theme especially relevant for today's children. Kids who are so far removed from wide-spread social protest don't really understand fighting for freedoms and rights, so this story could easily be related to the current events of our students' lives.

While this is more of a middle reader, it is a great series for young adults who also like to read science fiction. The stories are easy to read, so they might be best for an older student who has a lower reading skill level. Christopher's stories are classic, and they will survive long after the tripods come to Cap us! So if you have a sci-fi junky who has burned through everything, pass this gem on. You won't be sorry!
2 people found this helpful
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Michelle
5.0 out of 5 stars Read this with my son!
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2022
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Feminist mom stamp of approval. I’m reading this series with my nine year old son. Wonderfully imaginative and advanced both for its time and today. Zero toxic masculinity; on the contrary, the boys in these books must acknowledge their own different weakness and strengths, being vulnerable to each other and relying on their friendship to overcome great adversity. The main character isn’t a Harry Potter golden child that does no wrong: Will is complicated and both his shortcomings and triumphs are well written.

As a mom trying to raise a thoughtful son, I was hesitant to pick up a sci-fi book written in the 60s. I’m relieved and excited to see such progressive writing shaping minds today.
4 people found this helpful
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W. K. Aiken
4.0 out of 5 stars Good allegory for the younger set
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2001
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Having reread the John Christopher trilogy (by torch light in the back of the cave) a number of times when I was in Junior High School, it was a no-brainer to drop the $... for the set now that my kids are nearing the age that they'd be able to enjoy it.
Imaginative, and while not terribly challenging in its prose, it doesn't condescend, either. The words don't get in the way of the story, and for the eager young mind this is a sine qua non for a gripping read. This series is aimed at 11-14 year- olds; at least it was when I was that old. It may be suitable for college freshmen these days (unpaid editorial, there).
The story is set in the indeterminate but familiar-enough, day-after-tomorrow future, in what was England. The reader follows the odyssey of a middling teen and his band of rebels who have chosen dissidence of a kind that will earn them death if caught, which nearly happens a half-dozen or so times. To intentionally throw off the mundane existence rendered by The Capping - a ritual that occurs at the age of 16 (which, in the narrator's perspective, is old) is to be "An Enemy of the State" in so many words. Their trek to the fabled "White Mountains" (the Alps), the last bastion of a free resistance to the Masters, is well-rendered and contains enough action that tween and teen readers will be held page after page.
Interwoven in the plot is metaphor for our own modern condition; mindless obedience to the Masters, who, while seemingly acting for the benefit of mankind by eliminating all war, poverty and illness (by eliminating all individuality, humanity and liberty), are in fact working diligently to remake the world to suit themselves. That such a reworking will kill every living man, woman and child is irrelevant; the Masters are invaders of the most heinous sort, and the temporary enslavement of humans is but a step towards their extinction.

This work is a good foundation for parents who wish to instill in their children the mindset that uncritical obedience to anything - government, television, rock 'n' roll, drugs, money, religion - is slavery. To examine everything with an unclouded eye is to gather the knowledge necessary to grow within the richness of a chosen avocation; to go where one is led is simply death put off for a bit.
The recently added prequel to the series provides a relevant but slightly distracting velcro to modern day tribulations; that said, the set is worth the investment for open-minded, liberty-loving parents who wish to raise well-balanced, independent kids.
9 people found this helpful
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Paul Rogers
5.0 out of 5 stars Read this as a kid, still holds up
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2024
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As good as I remember, glad it is still in print
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Top reviews from other countries

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Manoj
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing read
Reviewed in India on August 23, 2021
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Gripping book, not boring at all. Fortunately, this is a God-less book. The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. If God be for us, who can be against us?
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Demosthenes Paris
5.0 out of 5 stars A good read
Reviewed in France on June 5, 2020
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I read this series of books about 45 years ago and lately bought them for my son, who loved them. Still a good read after all those years.
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javih33
1.0 out of 5 stars Bastante mediocre
Reviewed in Spain on January 17, 2018
Verified Purchase
Muy regular el libro. No lo recomiendo. Creo que hay infinitas opciones mejores. Ademas leer este solo sin el resto no aporta nada.
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Marcel Zahm
5.0 out of 5 stars Kindheitserrinnerungen
Reviewed in Germany on February 28, 2018
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Die Tripods-Trilogie kenne ich von der Fernsehserie, die in meinen Kindertagen (irgendwann in den 80ern) im Fernsehen lief und die für mich damals ziemlich gruselig, aber faszinierend war. Die Serie habe ich mir dann mal auf DVD gekauft. Da die Serie aus Kostengründen (Tricktechnik damals sehr teuer) nie zu Ende geführt wurde, habe ich mir die Bücher geholt.

Was bekommt man:
- Story sehr sehr nah an der Serie (bzw. umgekehrt)
- eher Jugendbücher, nichts wahnsinnig Verwickeltes
- auf Englisch gelesen, eignet sich bestimmt für Sprachtraining, nicht weiter anspruchsvoll
- eine SF-Story, die in sich geschlossen ist und den Trick gut hinbekommt, dass zugleich die Geschichte der ganzen Menschheit und einiger Jugendlicher erzählt wird und das (soweit möglich) recht glaubhaft
- inhaltlich haben Aliens die Menschheit unterworfen, nichts wahnsinnig Neues, aber hier - ohne Spoiler gesagt - in einer nicht völlig standardmäßigen Variante

Ich muss bemerken, dass ich positiv voreingestellt war, weil Kindheitserinnerungen bei mir eine deutliche Rolle spielen.
One person found this helpful
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Mai Britt Lisborg
5.0 out of 5 stars An old passion rediscovered
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 16, 2012
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I remember when I read The White Mountains the first time...I was completely sold. That was about 30 years ago. It made an everlasting impression on me. Of course, back then, I read it in Danish...since I am a Dane. Recently I decided that I wanted to read it in English, as I prefer to read English books in their original language. It was like an old love that was found again. I learned that I still love this story, the character of Will has remained with me all these years, proving that John Chrisopher knew his craft.

We follow Will Parker, a miller's son, his cousin Henry and the french boy Bean Pole, travelling through the countries of a posessed world...a world taken over by the Tripods, who by a mind-controlling device called a Cap enslaves humanity. Will and his two friends must travel to the White Mountains in France to reach the last un-Capped humans left, to join the Resistance and overthrow the Tripods. Not an easy task, since those humans who are Capped will deliver the boys to the Tripods, to be Capped themselves, if they are caught.The journey to reach their goal and the relationship between the boys are interesting and well-written.
I think this one will remain with me forever, I truly love this story :D
6 people found this helpful
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