Tomorrow, When the War Began

John Marsden

Mar 1995 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

When Ellie and six of her friends return home from a camping trip deep in the bush, they find things hideously wrong -- their families gone, houses empty and abandoned, pets and stock dead. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in the town has been taken prisoner. As the horrible reality of the situation becomes evident they have to make a life-and-death decision: to run back into the bush and hide, to give themselves up to be with their families, or to stay and try to fight. This reveting, tautly-drawn novel seems at times to be only a step away from today's headlines.

Ratings and reviews

I really did not enjoy this book, at all. I'm not a critic, and I do not mean to write a detailed submission on why I didn't like this book, so here is my honest opinion: For one, the book was boring. The characters were cardboard and the storyline dry. Most of the character's showed little sign of fright or emotion, making them ultra superior and boring. Unrealistic, random romances happened between the characters that led to sappy, romance-esque atmosphere. The action and thriller atmosphere was also bad, for everytime something thrilling happened, like a gun battle, or running sequence, a cheesy and un-funny comic relief, like someone giggling, hampered down the feelings of thrill and action. The dialogue was also bad. Many times in the novel, characters did nothing but talk about what they did that day, often in rambling, one page dialogues. But not all is bad in this novel, for the chapter concerning the hermit and his family was interesting, but no more chapters were anything more than that. In all, this book was boring, cheesy, had rambling characters, and pages that inspired no action or thrill.

That's not to say it doesn't have some good themes - but the author, in my opinion, did not manage to pull it off. What annoyed me most was that the characters were so unrealistic. I don't know - they said acceptable things and all that, but I never found myself connecting with any of them. I still can't differentiate between the characters' personalities. They all seemed to be the same, boring person, with no emotions. I mean, sure, they were labelled as having different characteristics - joking, kind, quiet, graceful - and Ellie expressed her thoughts in long, disconnected paragraphs about the meaning of life. But they were still very 2D. They just never seemed to me to be real people. And to me, good characters are real people. Also, I could hardly bring myself to read about the totally unrealistic, random and sappy romances that were dotted throughout. It seemed the author decided that so-and-so should get with someone, and that so-and-so seemed like a good candidate - and lo and behold, we have a pairing between two cardboard characters you can hardly relate to. It is impossible to see how they relate to each other. Somehow I just wasn't drawn into it. It seemed like a small-scale action story and nothing more. Usually, I very much like books with themes of friendship, loyalty, bravery and even survival. But although the book claims to express these themes, it does so in such a black-and-white manner that I was really not convinced. I appreciate that some people think that this book is one of the greatest books ever written, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I'm just giving you mine. Disagree with me if you will.

I saw the movie first and enjoyed it. I thought it was better than our Red Dawn because the characters behaved more like teens and it had some humor in it. I read the rest of the books and decided to read this one as there seemed to be some disconnects. Glad I did and would recommend for those who saw the movie, this book be read before reading the next one. They are all a light read like Robert Heinlein juvenile series. Some will find the details of farm life described by the author tedious. The characters Fi, Homer and Lee were the most interesting. The book Fi is much better than the movie Fi although the actress Tonkin did a good job. The screen writers did not portray the character well.

About the author

John Marsden’s highly praised series concludes in this thrilling installment that will bring readers to the edge of their seats and keep them there until the last page is turned. John Marsden is one of Australia’s best-known writers for young adults. His work has received critical acclaim and has earned a cultlike following worldwide. The popular Tomorrow series has been translated into seven languages and has sold over one million copies in Australia alone.