🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About John Christopher
As a boy, he was devoted to the newly emergent genre of science fiction, and during his teens he even published an amateur magazine, called The Fantast. Sam admired Arthur C. Clarke and Aldous Huxley, at the literarily serious end of the spectrum. He would write later that in the early thirties, they knew just enough about the solar system for its possibilities to be a magnet to the imagination. His imagination, over the subsequent decades, flowed from science fiction and into general novels, medical novels, detective thrillers, cricket novels, gothic romances, light comedies. He got a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation that made it possible for Sam to pursue a writing career, starting with “The Winter Swan” that he published under the name of Christopher Youd.
All Book Series by John Christopher
The Year of the Comet / Planet in Peril
Series opener · book 1 of 18 · published 1955
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is John Christopher?
As a boy, he was devoted to the newly emergent genre of science fiction, and during his teens he even published an amateur magazine, called The Fantast. Sam admired Arthur C. Clarke and Aldous Huxley, at the literarily serious end of the spectrum. He would write later that in the early thirties, they knew just enough about the solar system for its possibilities to be a magnet to the imagination.
Which John Christopher series should I start with?
The best place to start is The Tripods series, the earliest of John Christopher's multi-book series: it opens with When the Tripods Came (1967) and runs to 4 books across 1967–1968, ending with The Pool of Fire (1968). John Christopher's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has John Christopher written?
John Christopher has 36 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1954 and 2012. 10 of them belong to 3 named series — the largest being The Tripods series with 4 books — and 26 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should John Christopher's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. John Christopher's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are The Tripods (1967–1968, 4 books), The Sword of the Spirits (1970–1972, 3 books) and The Fireball Trilogy (1981–1986, 3 books).
How are John Christopher's books organised into series?
This guide splits John Christopher's 36 books into 3 named series and 26 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: The Tripods (4 books, 1967–1968); The Fireball Trilogy (3 books, 1981–1986); The Sword of the Spirits (3 books, 1970–1972).