Most Popular Books by John Christopher

A thought experiment in future-shock survivalism' Robert MacFarlane 'Gripping ... of all science fiction's apocalypses, this is one of the most haunting' Financial Times WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT MACFARLANE A post-apocalyptic vision of the world pushed to the brink by famine, John Christopher's science fiction masterpiece The Death of Grass includes an introduction by Robert MacFarlane in Penguin Modern Classics. At first the virus wiping out grass and crops is of little concern to John Custance. It has decimated Asia, causing mass starvation and riots, but Europe is safe and a counter-virus is expected any day. Except, it turns out, the governments have been lying to their people. When the deadly disease hits Britain, society starts to descend into barbarism. As John and his family try to make it across country to the safety of his brother's farm in a hidden valley, their humanity is tested to its very limits. A chilling psychological thriller and one of the greatest post-apocalyptic novels ever written, The Death of Grass shows people struggling to hold on to their identities as the familiar world disintegrates - and the terrible price they must pay for surviving. John Christopher (1922-2012) was the pen name of Samuel Youd, a prolific writer of science fiction. His novels were popular during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably The Death Of Grass (1956), The World in Winter (1962), and Wrinkle in the Skin (1965), all works depicting ordinary people struggling in the midst of apocalyptic catastrophes. In 1966 he started writing science-fiction for adolescents; The Tripods trilogy, the Prince in Waiting trilogy (also known as the Sword of the Spirits trilogy) and The Lotus Caves are still widely read today. Ifyou enjoyed The Death of Grass, you might like John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

Young Will Parker and his companions make a perilous journey toward an outpost of freedom where they hope to escape from the ruling alien Tripods, who capture mature human beings and make them docile, obedient servants.

The fate of Luke—and the civilized world—is at stake in the tumultuous and explosive conclusion to the post-apocalyptic Sword of the Spirits trilogy from the author of The Tripods series. Following the death of his brother, Luke has now ascended to the throne of Winchester. And with the success of his first campaigns he is crowned “Prince of Three Cities,” finally fulfilling the prophecy made by the Spirits years before. Luke knows that the power of the Spirits is nothing more than a hoax to advance the Seers’ plans for a scientific revival. Their deception is the reason Luke has his crown. But as old rivalries and new alliances emerge and chaos sweeps through Winchester, can Luke stop death and disaster from plunging the civilized world into darkness?

In the divided England of the distant future, a recently-orphaned boy flees the sprawling area known as the Conurb for the serene world of the County where the people seem to live a simpler existence.

Traveling through time was just the beginning—now Simon and Brad have to survive a reimagined early America in the second book of the alternative history Fireball trilogy, from critically acclaimed Tripods author John Christopher. When Simon and Brad were caught in the mysterious fireball and transported to the strange alternate world on the other side, they knew their lives would never be the same again. They definitely couldn’t have imagined the dangers ahead, especially when they set sail for Brad’s homeland: the still undiscovered America. The Algonquian territory is hardly the paradise Brad had been promised—or remembered from history class. Winter is brutal, the locals are hostile, and Simon and Brad know they have to escape. But can they? The adventures in store—from Vikings to a completely unexpected civilization—put their will to survive to the ultimate test.

Fourteen-year-old Laurie and his family attempt to flee England when the Tripods descend from outer space and begin brainwashing everyone with their hypnotic Caps.

During World War 2, Hitler's engineers had pioneered an incredible array of futuristic secret weapons, from the Me 262, the first operational jet fighter, to the deadly V2 inter continental ballistic missile. With the Third Reich shattered and lying in ruins, in the summer of 1945, the Allies launched a frantic race to grab what they saw as the justifiable spoils of war. The Americans and Russians in particular were anxious to secure not only the aircraft and the research and production facilities, but also the key German scientists and engineers. This Nazi technology would define the balance of power in the phoney peace of the Cold War era, launching an arms race that shaped our modern world for decades to come. But what of Britain's role in this supermarket sweep? The Race for Hitler's X-Planes tells the untold story of the British mission to Germany.

When Simon and Brad investigate the mysterious fireball, they suddenly find themselves in an alternate world--a world where the unrealized possibilities of the actual world have been realized.

In a future world where civilization has collapsed, fourteen-year-old Ben sets out on a journey to discover his birthright, and meets members of a technologically advanced remnant, who use machines to foster belief in Demons among the people of Ben's homeland.

Will must defeat the Tripods once and for all in this third book of a classic alien trilogy ideal for fans of Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave and Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Shadow Children series. After being held captive in the City of Gold and Lead—the capital, where the creatures that control the mechanical, monstrous Tripods live—Will believes that he’s learned everything he needs to know to destroy them. He has discovered the source of their power, and with this new knowledge, Will and his friends plan to return to the City of Gold and Lead to take down the Masters once and for all. Although Will and his friends have planned everything down to the minute, the Masters still have surprises in store. And with the Masters’ plan to destroy Earth completely, Will may have just started the war that will end it all.

A thirteen-year-old’s expectations of royalty give way to adventure in the first book in the post-apocalyptic Sword of the Spirits trilogy from the author of The Tripods series. In Winchester, roles are clearly defined. Warriors fight battles every spring. Dwarfs make the swords and the shields. Grotesque mutants are the servant class. Seers interpret the wishes and predictions of the spirits. And the Prince is the ruler of the city. Thirteen-year-old Luke has no reason to suspect that any of this will change. It’s been this way for centuries...at least since the year 2000. But things are not what they seem, and soon Luke is thrown into a story of ambition and adventure in the primitive world of the future, expertly crafted by critically acclaimed Tripods author John Christopher.

Rebelling against the monotonous life of the moon colony, two boys go beyond its boundaries and discover a series of caves ruled by a super-intelligent plant-like being.

Two and a half years have elapsed since Brad and Simon went through the fireball. Since then they have travelled more than 8000 km from their starting point. Now, captured by Chinese slavers, the two boys are taken from California to China where they find a nation torn apart by civil war. They learn about the power of the Mind, with its creation of illusions, and finally discover the secret of the fireball itself. Faced with a decision which will affect their whole lives, what will they do? Will they return to their own world, or will they venture on into the unknown?

Long ago, the Tripods--huge, three-legged machines--descended upon Earth and took control. Now people unquestioningly accept the Tripods' power. They have no control over their thoughts or their lives. But for a brief time in each person's life--in childhood--he is not a slave. For Will, his time of freedom is about to end--unless he can escape to the White Mountains, where the possibility of freedom still exists. The Tripods trilogy follows the adventures of Will and his cohorts, as they try to evade the Tripods and maintian their freedom and ultimately do battle against them. The prequel, When the Tripods Came, explains how the Tripods first invaded and gained control of the planet.

Based on declassified wartime reports, this in-depth dossier details the inner workings of the Organisation Todt which not only built the Autobahns, but also Germany's Siegfried Line and Atlantic Wall.

Nobody knows how long it has been since the Tripods came. Nobody remembers life on Earth before they enslaved it. Humans live in scattered farms and villages, kept quiet and obedient by the mind-controlling Caps implanted when they reach their teens. Will Parker's time is fast approaching - but a chance encounter with a madman convinces him that it may still be possible to resist the alien masters. So begins an epic tale of survival and defiance - and Will's journey to the White Mountains. John Christopher's classic dystopian series is available for the first time in ebook format.

When Neil survives a deadly plague and plunges into solitude, he must question everything in this gripping adventure from critically acclaimed Tripods author John Christopher. Neil’s world is shattered when he and his family are involved in a horrible car accident that leaves him an orphan. He is sent to live in a small village with his grandparents, whom he loves but doesn’t really know. Soon, a devastating illness, the Calcutta Plague, begins making the headlines. After killing thousands of people in India in just a few months, the disease begins to spread much farther, quickly sweeping across the world and eventually settling in the same village where Neil resides. The sickness is a strange one, affecting only the adults and none of the children, and soon Neil finds himself an orphan once more. Alone, Neil travels to London in search of other survivors of the plague. There he finds a strange world of fear and suspicion, where friends can be enemies and people will do anything to survive. In this time of strife, amid the excitement and loneliness of his solitude, can Neil find a way to focus on what matters most?

"A massive series of powerful earthquakes on a worldwide scale reduce towns and cities to rubble and plunge the survivors into barbarism. Most of western Europe is dramatically uplifted, transforming the English Channel into a muddy desert, while elsewhere lands are plunged below sealevel and flooded. The protagonist is Matthew Cotter, a Guernsey horticulturalist who finds himself one of only a handful of survivors on the former island. Cotter decides to trek across the empty seabed to England, in the faint hope that his daughter has somehow survived. He finds the situation on the former mainland has descended to barbarism, with competing bands of scavengers preying on survivors. He and his companion, a young boy, finally make their way to the borders of Sussex, where his daughter was staying, only to discover that the land has slipped beneath the sea. Cotter, along with some survivors from the mainland, eventually returns to Guernsey."--Wikipedia.