Comments on: Interview with Tripods author Sam Youd (aka John Christopher)

By: Eric DeBraal

Eric DeBraal — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 18:03:44 +0000

37 years ago my 7th grade literature teacher introduced me to The White Mountains. Thus began a lifelong passion for SF. After that I devoured SF voraciously for many years, eventually passing 1,000 books. Much of it was mediocre but I definitely got my mind (and my English) stretched. This led to a great interest in general science. And it all began with Samuel Youd and his Tripods, still some of my favorite books. It seems such a small payment for such a large debt but thank you, Mr. Youd. Thank you so very much.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 01:54:37 +0000

I am an elementary teacher whol taught in Long Beach, California, for 37 1/2 years…ending my public school teaching in 1997. I discovered White Mountains while I was teaching 6th grade one year, probably around 1977, but I do not remember exact class. I read it to my class, explaining only the parts the class struggled to understand, but not revealing any plot; they were captivated; we had question /answer sessions each day I read, just a quick follow through to set plot, and conjecture why or who or where…what was significant to the plot; the class got their parents (usually Dads) hooked on it, too, and read at home. I continued through the trilogy before the year ended, and for the next 25 years continued to read those books to my classes, 4th, 5th or 6th. I never tired of them, and waited eagerly to see them get hooked on the plot each time I began each book; especially interesting to them were the travels through deserted cities, and they loved trying to figure out what item were when the boys found something “old” they could not figure out…the typewriter was an especially interesting one…several caught on pretty fast. My own children all read the series in their youth and we always wished there would be a film made, worthy of the fantastic plot. We did discover one year the mini-series of it, but it was not as grand as the books…Great author! Dot S.

By: Daniel Davis

Daniel Davis — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:03:55 +0000

Robin Hood movie is quite good, a bit more historically accurate in my opinion-”"

By: Ben Brooks

Ben Brooks — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:28:50 +0000

Top notch interview. You a lucky man getting to interrogate one of my all time heroes. Thank you both.

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:11:16 +0000

Is there an address to write to Mr. Youd?

By: Delan

Delan — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:03:13 +0000

Great interview with my favorite author. I am a teacher in Oregon and have always loved Youd/Christopher’s work. Please pass on my admiration and thank you for your interview.

By: Rene Schaub

Rene Schaub — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:16:11 +0000

My first love with books was when I stumbled upon the Tripods trilogy and the Lotus Caves in my middle school library. At that time I had an ingrained expectation of authors taking the story back to a certain mundaneness, at some point; but the book never cut my fancy short, which made it feel like a real experience. I wish there was more material like this.

By: Brandon Carter

Brandon Carter — Wed, 05 May 2010 05:02:05 +0000

Looks like this “Robin Hood” movie would be a great movie to watch just like the movie about King Arthur.*’,

By: Mark Hanneman

Mark Hanneman — Mon, 03 May 2010 23:44:32 +0000

I recall as a lad in the late 60′s visiting my local library in Minnesota and finding The White Mountains. The story mesmerized me, and I penned a letter to Mr. Youd who at the time resided on Guernsey Island. Mr. Youd graciously replied and informed me of the two sequels and also put me in touch with a young relative to be my penpal. My parents gave me the trilogy, which I added the prequel to a few years ago. Thank you Mr. Youd for creating such a wonderful story!

By: Deborah Gandenberger

Deborah Gandenberger — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:02:53 +0000

I am one of the US teachers Mr. Youd referenced regarding the permission he gave for photocopies of Dom and Va. I have used this book to teach prehistory in my social studies classes for over 13 years. My students love this banned book and go to great lengths to acquire copies through Used and Out of Print booksellers.

By: William Plante

William Plante — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:54:36 +0000

The City of Lead and Gold arrived today from book seller I found on eBay. It is in very rough shape, marked in pencil and still carrying the library’s checkout card with one name on it. However, this one will get a prominent spot in my favourites section in my personal library for it has, for me, a long history. It was the first book I checked out of the Mississauga Public Library, Ontario, Canada. I was in grade 5 and I believe City of Gold and Lead had come out some time earlier. I was wandering the stacks looking for a book to meet the obligations of a school assignment; go to the library, pick a book, read it, write a one-pager report.

There were three things that attracted me to the novel, two of them on the cover.

The first was the circular patch on the protagonist’s neck. What was that? He’s wearing a helmut of some kind but what is that patch? The graphic caught me.

The second was the background. An entire city of pyramids. Where was that? I knew what cities were like – I thought – but I did not know of any city were you had to wear a helmut and all the buildings were pyramids. I was curious.

The third was the clincher. I distinctly remember opening the book to the end and reading “My name was being spoken, but from a long way off. “Will”".

My name is William although I went by Billy at the time.

This is the book that kicked me into the world of book reading. I don’t remember which books I started reading after The City of Lead and Gold but my reading list tended to be science fiction for the longest time. I still read scifi now and again, but my interests have spread considerably. I suspect that I would have fell into book reading at some place and time but it happened to be in 1970, in a public library with Mr. Youd’s very influential book.

Thank you, sir!

Fond memories – thanks for an interesting interview.

By: The Great Geek Manual » Geek Media Round-Up: April 13, 2009

The Great Geek Manual » Geek Media Round-Up: April 13, 2009 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:09:08 +0000

[...] Interview: Colin Brockhurst interviews John Christopher, author of the Tripods series. [...]