1. How does Christopher use Ozymandias to explain things the reader must know? Read Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Ozymandias," and discuss why Christopher's choice of name for this character is appropriate. Can you identify any of the other literary references in Ozymandias's conversations with Will? How do these allusions enrich the novel?

2. Some critics have suggested that the original concepts introduced in The White Mountains—Capped human beings living in a semi-medieval society, forced to do the bidding of Masters—left no surprises for the second book in the trilogy to explore. Read The City of Gold and Lead. What contributions does this book make to the trilogy in terms of plot?

In terms of character development?

3. Christopher has acknowledged a debt to H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds for the idea of"Tripods." Read Wells's...