The White Mountains

Rating:
Summary: Simply a masterpiece
Review: The White Mountains, along with the other two parts of a 3 book series, are without a shred of doubt, the masterpiece of juvenile book writing by John Christopher. I received the Persian translation of "The White Mountains" and "The City of Gold and Lead" as a gift for my 12th birthday back in Iran. First of all, I read both books at the very least 100 times! Then my 7 year journey began to find the third book of these series called "The Pool of Fire" as this book was simply unavailable in Iran. I let everyone know about my search and when finally after 7 years, one of my friends' cousin told me that he had seen the third book in the window of a small old book store, I left whatever I was doing, stormed to the book store, bought the book and started reading it in front of the store's sidewalk! These books became and still are part of me at the age of 37. They broadened my sense of imagination, adventure, love of universe and life. I am presently living in Canada as a Canadian citizen, along with my wife, enjoying a wonderful life. These books ignited my passion and boosted my courage to leave my revolution-stricken country behind and led me to an unbelieveably hard path towards Canada. It took me exactly 4 years to get here but I never lost the courage all along. Those heroes in the books, always stayed with me. Thank you John Christopher and God bless you wherever you are.

Rating:
Summary: A Daring Journey
Review: Heading: The White Mountains
By: John Christopher
Review by: D. Ji
Period: 1

The book The White Mountains is about a group of boys named Will, Henry, and Beanpole who set on a journey to a place called the White Mountains where there are no Tripods and humans live freely. The Tripods are alien who invaded earth a long time ago, are the supreme powers of Earth. They destroy all of Earth's great cities. They use a method, which they call " capping" to control the humans they enslave. They have these huge three-legged machines to enforce their rule upon Earth. Will hears of a place where there are no Tripods from a Vagrant and decides to journey there. He accompanied by his big brother named Henry who also wants to be free of the Tripods. They leave they town of Willingham in the rural lands of Germany and journey southwest to the White Mountains. As they travel, they are forced to either steal food from unlocked pantries or take food from gardens or crop fields. A captain who agrees to help them cross a wide and fast pacing river helps them. They search the ruins of Paris and find grenades in which they take to defend themselves. Days later they find themselves face to face with a Tripod. It tries to carry Will into its great cities but with a little aim, Will was able to throw a grenade at the Tripod stopping in its tracks. Finally, they reach the White Mountains.
What I like about this book is that it tells me how people react to high-tech species when their high-tech era was lost. " These Tripods were a group of species that were very high-tech and their Tripods were amazed by all." It amazes how time and conquest could really change people's worldviews. The story is very adventurous and the book tells a lot about teamwork and friendship. I also like the part when they find the grenades and do not know what they were. They could have seriously hurt themselves if they did not let go of the grenade. " He had found these egg-shaped balls with pins on them. He was going to test try one of them." I also like how John Christopher describes and talks about the Tripods. He makes them very life like which astounds me.
It was so interesting and when I was done with the book, I was eager to read the second of his series. I wanted to know what the Tripods do when they were the supreme power of Earth. The end of the first book was like a hook to the second book. In addition, I liked the book by what the first book was like. I knew the second would be just like the first one. When the library finally had the second book, I rushed to get it and know having read it; I say it was very appealing. I am hoping to read the third and fourth book of the Tripod series, which are entitled The City of Gold and Lead and The Pool of Fire.
My favorite part of the book was when Will, Henry, and Beanpole faced the Tripod and try to destroy it. It was cool when Will threw the grenade at the write place and destroyed the Tripod, even though he was in an unstable condition. He was brave and was very lucky. Although, he was already hurt, he was still able to manage to destroy the Tripod. How brave! Just reading the part made me sweat and fascinated me very much. My least favorite part was when they found the grenades. They did not what it was. They could have hurt themselves. They should have left themselves away. However, their curiosity did save their lives during their battle with a Tripod

Rating:
Summary: So BORING
Review: The White Mountains was a boring book. It seemed like many books and tv shows I saw many times before. But, the book is not all bad I thought I would know the ending because the book like so many storys in other books and on tv, but the ending really surprised me. This is my review of John Cristphers book, The White Mountains.

Rating:
Summary: Breath Taking Mountain Climb
Review: The White Mountains

As an average everyday boy almost old enough to be capped, Will is about to experience the most harrowing event of his life, and also the terrifying one. After Will's best friend and cousin, Jack, gets capped, Will noticed a strange and unwelcome change in him. Capping, a sacred ceremony done once a year by the large mysterious Tripods, was going to change Will's life forever. Then a stranger called Ozymandians tells Will of free men that are not controlled by the notorious Tripods and their mind controlling powers. Ozymandias was a free man who pretended he was a vagrant, a capping gone wrong. He lived among free people and tried to get younger uncapped people to join them. Will joins up with two unlikely friends heading for freedom. To learn more about their chilling journey read The White Mountains.

Rating:
Summary: The wonderful White Mountains
Review: I am a fifth grade student at Waldron Mercy Academy "FGD".
If you want to read a real science fiction page turner this is a book for you. It's about these three kids who live on the earth when robots called "Tripods" take over the planet. The Tripods took over the humans by means of a cap. "Capping" is a ritual when a 14 year old boy becomes a man. The book starts when Will, a 13 year old boy meets a man who tells Will that he is not capped and that the Tripods tell you commands through the caps. He also tells Will that there is a place called the "White Mountains" where the "Tripods" can't cap you. Will then sets off for a journey filled with amazement and peril. Along the way Will meets Henary, Will's cousin, and Beanpole, his real name is Jean-Paul. I really loved this book and I hope you will too.

Rating:
Summary: A story about fighting against tyrany and incridible odds
Review: 'The White Mountains' is set in a time of the future which has reverted to the past, with a controling race of machines who oversee humans. People are controlled through an implanted device in thier brain, and the time at which this is done has become a great coming-of-age cerimony. Sometimes, before thier 'capping' children of twelve and thirteen have doubts. Are these doubts just silly fears, or is there something truly manevolant about thier advanced masters?

A boy sets out to find a land without these tripods, and is joined by his cousin(who he doesn't get along with well at all), and a boy in France, who they call BeanPole(his name is Jean-Paul, but the accent makes it sound funny to them). Along the way they face challenges of friendship, arguments, fears, and great temptation.

A good book for young readers, it can still be enjoyed as a light read by adults.

Rating:
Summary: This book is mediocre
Review: The story is okay but I had some problems reading it.One of my problem is that some words in this book I didn't know the meaning or how to pronounce them.My second problem is that parts of the story I didn't understand.Overall,I did understand the story.I like because of all challenges Will Parker went through.

Rating:
Summary: This book is mediocre
Review: The story is okay, but I had some problems reading it. One of my problem is that some words in this book I didn't know the meaning or how to pronounce them.My second problem is that a few parts of the story I didn't understand.Overall,I did understand the story. I like it because of the challenges Will Parker went through.

Rating:
Summary: "Mountains" climbs pretty high
Review: The Tripod quartet has become a classic of juvenile science fiction (a very small section of kids' books, unfortunately), an imaginative and intriguing story about the human race's survival and free will. "White Mountains" is an atmospheric and enjoyable SF adventure, marred only by a bland narrative style.

The Tripods came to Earth long ago, ending war, poverty, and other problems. But there is a dark side to this existance: The Tripods "cap" every human being with a mechanical brain implant, making them docile, happy, and easily controlled. The adults, who treat this as a rite of passage, are all unable to question the Tripods.

But the teenage Will and his cousin Henry have not yet been capped, and so their minds are still their own. After a relative loses his suspicions about the Tripods during his capping ceremony, the boys are more suspicious still. And then a seemingly mad vagrant reveals that he is also free of the Tripods -- and that there are others like him. The boys set off on a harrowing journey to a distant place where they can fight the Tripods.

It's a fairly simple plot, being only the first of three interconnected books (there's also a prequel). "White Mountains" sets up the next two books, while establishing an interesting SF plot. Christopher is very effective in gradually increasing the feeling of fear and paranoia over the course of the story; the surroundings of this future England are familiar enough that very little explanation is needed about the surroudnings.

Will and Henry are essentially ordinary young boys in extraordinary circumstances. They don't fit into the idyllic Tripod-dominated world because they aren't mindless drones yet; their determination to remain free is very real and well-written. The vagrant, Ozymandias (an apt name), is a brief but intense presence; the other characters are rather flat and lifeless because of their lack of free will.

The only problem with the book is that the narrative style is too slow in some sections, and very dry throughout it. We hear what the heroes think, but very rarely FEEL it. Dialogue is fairly realistic, at its strongest when the vagrant explains to the hero just what happened in the past. Gradually throughout the story, Christopher establishes a subtle message on blind obedience and subservience, and how detrimental it is to the human soul and freedoms.

Readers should keep the other volumes of this series beside them as they read "White Mountains," because the book ends with a glaring "To Be Continued" sign. It's an entertaining and suspenseful SF story that will entertain kids and adults alike.

Rating:
Summary: Great series!
Review: I loved this book when assigned to read it in the 6th grade -- I went on to devour the series several times. I think kids like series because you can feel like you are growing and learning with the characters. I can't beleive these are out of print. I woud recommend these to anyone who likes adventure stories, or even just coming-of-age type stories. the reviews above give enough plot, so I won't bother with that. I just wanted to say that I read 1,000's of books as a kid and these were right at the top.