With a genre like young adult science fiction, with its long, illustrious history, it can be difficult, at times, to decide which novels deserve coverage and which do not. Do we focus on newest releases, or older books within the genre? In a book blogging world full of buzz and ARCs, sadly the inclination is often to do the latter. There’s just not enough time in one’s day to discuss all the books, no matter how deserving, and the pressure to remain current can feel very strong.
Which is why I hadn’t yet dedicated a post to John Christopher’s Tripod novels, despite the fact that I’ve intended to since well before our launch. This series, consisting of a trilogy (The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, and The Pool of Fire) and a prequel (1988′s When the Tripods Came), is often the first mentioned when one raises the subject of “young adult sci-fi”–and for good reason. And yet, compared to, say, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time (celebrating its 50th anniversary this month), it’s less commonly encountered by modern readers.
Sadly, I learned today of the death of Samuel Youd–the author also known as John Christopher–and realized I’d been terribly remiss. So today we’re foregoing our scheduled post (a review of The Adoration of Jenna Fox–look for that tomorrow) and giving you a rundown of Christopher’s Tripod series.
Though The White Mountains was first published in 1967, its impact can still be felt on young adult genre fiction today. It opens in a seemingly-bucolic village with medieval-level technology. However, our hero Will, thirteen and slated to be “capped” as part of a ritual adulthood ceremony, soon learns the truth–the caps are actually brainwashing devices used by the mysterious, alien tripods to control and subjugate the adult population of the world. This dystopian premise would later be evoked by authors such as Lois Lowry in The Giver; today, dystopian remains one of the most popular YA genres. But Christopher was one of the first authors to utilize such a setting–peaceful and idyllic on the outside, but with a terrifying SFnal secret lurking below–for young readers.
The second novel, The City of Gold and Lead, further develops both Will’s quest and the alien race known as the “Masters” who rule his world. Will enters the eponymous city as a spy, and soon finds himself in servitude to one of the noxious alien slugs. But Christopher’s characterization of Will’s Master is nuanced and complex. Though the creature is about as far from human as you can imagine, he’s also, at times, likeable. This type of human/alien relationship–both sympathetic and horrific–would later be seen in Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood series, developed further for an adult audience. But Christopher does a solid job of introducing complexity here. He never condescends to his middle grade or teen audience.
But don’t be fooled by my high falutin’ descriptions–these are classic boys’ adventure novels first and foremost, and nowhere is that more clear than in the third volume, The Pool of Fire. The Pool of Fire concerns the war instigated by the human resistance against the Masters. Will finds himself a hero, engaged in mass alien poisonings and fire bombings. Of course, with the alien menace destroyed, nationalist factions rise up once again–reminding us of the utopian appearance of Will’s life in the first novel. Christopher seems intent on approaching his material from a multifaceted lens. After all, the best dystopian societies in fiction arise to address very real human foibles. And indeed, Christopher’s is one of the best.
Remember, kids, TV will brainwash you as preparation for when our alien overlords attack.
That’s not to say the series is without its flaws. The prequel novel, When the Tripods Came, while very good, sometimes feels more like an invective against the evils of television than the complex fiction of the earlier books. Worse, this is a universe almost wholly lacking in female characters, and one where dated racial tropes are perpetuated. The Tripod novels are, in this way, very much a product of their time.
But they’re great science fiction, too–for readers of any age–a complex look at what happens after the alien invasion. They, and Christopher himself, easily deserve their place in the canon of young adult sci-fi.
I feel like I should re-read these. I loved them as a kid. I’ve heard criticism as an adult that they are full of thinly-veiled religious propaganda — did you notice anything like that? I wish I could remember where I read that, because I’m not turning it up immediately on Google and I’m far too lazy to dig deeper…
Also: have you read his fantasy series, “The Prince in Waiting”, etc? Or the later “Fireball” series? I liked the fantasy better than Fireball, although the latter had some interesting alternate history ideas. I recall The Prince trilogy ending on (what struck me at the time as) this devastatingly bittersweet note. I was depressed for days. I was also 12, so YMMV.
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I’ve never heard that before, and if it’s true, it totally went over my head. There was definitely some questionable racial stuff (talk of the “yellow Chinese”), which stuck out like a sore thumb, but that was about it. Have never read any of his other stuff, but I’m kind of itching to give it a try now!
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Actually, now that I think about it, I think Scott told me that, and I think he may have been conflating it with something else… I’ll have to ask him.
I wonder whether The Prince in Waiting is even in print anymore…
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Ooh – I read these several times. Wonder if I still have copies lurking on my shelves…
Have you read “The Halfmen of O” by Maurice Gee? (I finished re-reading “Andra” – very strange novel in retrospect.)
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I haven’t, but I actually have a copy I got as a gift a few years ago. I should give it a looksie!
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I was startled just now to come across Mr. Christopher/Youd’s obituary. It’s sad, though 89 years is not a bad run–with first publication in the 40′s! I loved the _Tripod_ trilogy when I was a kid. Very much a boy-oriented story, but with pathos on a grown-up level. Actually the sexism that women are trophies (remember what happened to the female “winners” of the contest to be enslaved) is kind of interesting as a period piece. For its imagination and well-developed horror world, it is a model for my own writing. (it also taught me the useless word “ululating.”
I’m not as generous towards the wholly unnecessary prequel, written 20 years after the original. Aside from the two-dimensional plot, it wasn’t written as well as the others. Because of the spoilers in it, I totally discourage anyone from reading it first.
Thank you for your post.
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Thanks for the comment, Andrew. I had actually completely forgotten the fate of the female winners–I agree, that it is interesting to see those sort of values of the time reflected. The books have also had an impact on my writing as well.
I suspect I gave the prequel a bit of a pass because it felt more contemporaneous and featured a female character more prominently (despite spoiler spoiler spoiler her role in the downfall of the family), but I agree that it absolutely should be read at the conclusion of the core trilogy.
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Actually that thing the girls was sigularly ghoulish. (For example, I remember it 30 years later.) Like, Twilight Zone ghoulish, the only thing like it that I recall from the books. I reread the TRILOGY a few years ago while introducing them to my kids (who weren’t too impressed … younger one says not he didn’t read the 3rd because “it was too depressing”) and was less impressed, maybe they haven’t aged well or I’ve gotten snobby.
I just wrote a short story for a competition with the White Mountains in the back of my head, along with other things, and am fascinated (horrified) to discover how (whether) my version rates…. Being a *negative* critic is such a lush profession, a creative the riskiest. A fave quote: “In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talents, new creations. The new needs friends.”
I need friends!
So, John Christopher, RIP and thank you; a friend.
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