The City of Gold and Lead by John Christopher

Title: The City of Gold and Lead
Author: John Christopher
ISBN: 0-02-042701-8
218 pages
Aladdin Paperbacks, 1988 edition

The sequel to one of the first books reviewed here, I had some trouble finding this book (although I did not look too hard). I read all of the trilogy as a kid, but I remember not being too enthralled with the third one, so I'll leave my reviewing to the first and second installment.

Description:

Following the events of the first book in the Tripod Trilogy, 'The City of Gold and Lead' follows the story of Will, Henry and Beanpole after they made their valiant escape from the Tripods to the distant White Mountains. The boys decide to make a trek to the worldwide Games held in Germany. The Tripods choose the most fitting of these young men to be their servants inside their domed cities (the cities of gold and lead from the title). The boys must don fake caps, the mark of humans controlled by the Tripods, in order to make it to the Games and be selected. Two of the boys make it past the trial of the competition and are selected to work for the Tripod masters. Once inside the city, Will gets a chance to live with and see up-close one of the alien conquerors that fly the Tripods. He sees a massive sickly, massive and grotesque creature with long, slimy tentacles. From inside the domed city the boys find the secret to defeating their alien overlords, but must escape in order to spread the word.

Review:

The sequel follows much in the same vein as the first book and the world of the Tripods is well visualized and executed. The way in which the author portrays real-life places in this futuristic world as strange and new is a pretty exciting conception. The aliens, when I was a kid, read like a horror story. But as an adult, they seem much more cliched and predictable than I had remembered. The suspense of the book is kept up throughout, as Will (the protagonist throughout all three books) is nearly discovered to not be capped (how the aliens control the humans) on numerous occasions. A cool, sci-fi book for kids and the third book, while too much of a good thing for me, might be of interest to 'tweens' already invested in the first two books.