The second book in the Tomorrow series written by Australian author John Marsden
Review
As it has been quite a while since I've read this book in the series,
I thought I should read it to continue on from the first book in the
series, Tomorrow, When the War Began. I would have to say that doing
so helped a great deal in my enjoyment of this book.
Probably one of the things that I would disagree on with other people
who have read this book is how the story develops in this novel.
Although there seems to be more things happening, it doesn't really
seem to have the same impact as the story told in the first book
in the series.
This may be due in part to the fact that this book is the second in the series and significant events have already occurred before this story begins.
As most of the characters from the first book are present in this novel, there is obviously not as much emphasis on establishing characters (Major Harvey is a notable exception). This allows the book to concentrate on the development of the existing characters and take them in new directions, such as showing a side of them that was not known before.
As with all the books in the series, Ellie provides the 'voice'
of the novel, which allows the story to be told from her
perspective. Her reactions to the other characters and situations
allow the story to progress more naturally.
I believe the situations that transpire in the book are expressed
very well. This especially contrasts with the first book in the
series, as the characters do not always have things go their own way,
and it is their reactions to these failures that make the situations
more realistic.
In particular, the situation where the group meets up with Harvey's
Heroes, a group of people from a small town named Risdon, and what subsequently
happened to the group is particularly well done.
The language used in this book does seem to stand up a bit more when
compared to the first book. This may be due to the already established
characters and settings.
All in all I would say that this book is a solid edition to the series
and is a good book in it's own right, although it is beneficial to
have read the first book in the series beforehand.
Synopsis
The following contains spoilers about the book
This book does start on a downer as the main character, Ellie, is depressed
because of her friend's reactions to what she had written regarding their
previous experiences.
We also learn more about the characters, especially Chris,
as the group recovers from losing Corrie and Kevin and hopes
to possibly make contact with them again so they can strengthen
their numbers.
Due to Homer's previous life as a hoon, they manage to get into the
hospital in Wirrawee and find out what happened to Corrie. Less successful
however, is their attack on a convoy up a remote back road (they almost
get caught), and it leave Ellie with a dark shadow on her conscience.
Back in the refuge of Hell, they recuperate for a while, then Ellie
convinces the group to find another way out of the valley to see
if they can find anyone else to join up with.
After finding a way down a cliff to the next valley, they stumble onto
a guerrilla unit named Harvey's Heroes.
This group has set itself up like a 'proper' army unit and the people
in it think very highly of themselves. Their leader, Major Harvey, is
also an interesting specimen, who comes across as someone who is taking
advantage of the situation and who doesn't like people questioning his
authority.
I won't give away what happens to the group and Harvey's Heroes,
but it does end badly. The group only just manages to escape themselves
and not without injury.
When the group returns to their campsite, they find that Chris,
who they left behind, isn't there and they become quite worried about him.
Four weeks later, constant rain forces them from Hell so they can
dry their stuff out. While they are sheltering in a shed at Kevin's,
a work party arrives on the property and they decide to move on, but Ellie
decides to risk staying back to gain information from some of the prisoners.
A day or so later, the group decides to go back into Wirrawee to get
more accomplished for 'their side'.
Once back in Wirrawee, the group decides to camp out at Robyn's Music Teacher's
house. As it was raining while they were walking to the house, everyone's clothes
are hung up to dry and Ellie ends up just wearing blankets to bed. Not long after,
Lee comes in (he is also only wearing blankets). I'll leave it to your imagination
what happens after that.
The next night, Ellie and Fi are sneaking around town to check out what has been
going on, when they arrive are Turner Street, where Fi used to live, only to find
that is being used by some enemy big wigs as a centre of operations.
After a group discussion, they decide to spy on Turner Street for as
long as possible. They do this from the bell tower of a church Robyn used
to attend. During the surveillance, Ellie finds out something shocking,
Major Harvey is working with the enemy and staying in a house on Turner
Street.
After they confirm that was really Major Harvey Ellie saw, the group quickly makes
up a plan to attack the houses. This plan turns out to be a failure, but Ellie comes
up with an idea, assisted by Lee, that involves electric timers and toasters...