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The Tomorrow Code

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If there is one book every person should read it is this one

If there is one book every person should read it is this one

The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner
May 2010, Walker Books
432 pages, Paperback
Review Copy
Children's, sci-fi thriller
Cushions: 5
Daggers: 4
Smiles: 3
Tissues: 1
Nayuleska's recommended rating: ♥♥♥♥♥+
Summary from Walker Books
An apocalyptic sci-fi adventure with an ecological twist
Break the code – or tomorrow is history... Teenagers Tane and Rebecca are receiving messages from the future; messages that predict the end of the world. They have only days to decode them before the mysterious Chimera Project will wipe out the entire human race. Can they change the past and save the future?
If there is one book every person should read it is this one. All adults should read it. The thriller element made my stomach drop (yes, my stomach, as in I was so surprised/scared/unsure what would happen I held my breath as I turned the page). And as for the ecological part of it - wow. Talk about a good way to wipe out the human race.
Tane and Rebecca both have different skills. Individually there is no way they could have figured out what the code meant. Together they do break it. But breaking it is only half the battle. What the code says scared me. Especially when obstacles made it almost impossible for them to achieve their task.
I never thought Tane and Rebecca would go sneaking into secret facilities, get guns shoved in their faces, be threatened with death, buy a submarine (trust me, the whole story behind that is really clever and funny). And that's not all the book! That doesn't include the tension when each have to deal with their families who, like every other person on the planet, will be affected by the disaster. Or how frustrating it is when people in power don't listen to them just because they aren't adults.
This book is just so good! It's one I would insist is read in schools everywhere. It will appeal to all ages, and all readers. Definitely one for those liking action and suspense.
Nayu's Reading Corner
July 2010
This book was so good, I couldn't wait until Friday to review it

This book was so good, I couldn't wait until Friday to review it

The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner
This book was so good, I couldn't wait until Friday to review it.
Tane and Rebecca have been friends for forever. Rebecca is the sciency one and Tane is the artistic one, which is why he isn't surprised when the question of time travel arises, Rebecca takes it seriously. Soon they are analyzing gamma ray bursts and there is a message hidden behind the random 0's and 1's. It is the next day's lottery numbers and an ominous end note. SOS. What is happening in the future that Tane and Rebecca would need to send a note back to themselves and can they stop something that has already happened?
This was one smart fun thrill-ride of a book. Set in New Zealand, this is a time-travel dystopian sci-fi with a science twist that really makes the reader think. It is a breath of fresh air to read a story in which America is not the cause of the world's demise. So nice to read a story in which it isn't set in the future United States of America. Even more refreshing is that this is one smart book. Brian Falkner has obviously done his research, creating creatures that are obviously fictional but with just enough truth to make it creepy. Imgaine this scene: Tane and Rebecca and Tane's brother Fatboy have been arrested. As they are trying to explain about how they ended up where they are (winner's of the lottery with a $4 million submarine) a fog rolls in. A fog with something moving within it. Something white and the minute it touches a human being, they disappear. Only their clothes are left behind.
Tane is a brilliantly flawed character. At one point, I was so upset about something that had just happened in the book, I could barely concentrate on work. He is friends with Rebecca, but he clearly likes her as well, and if things don't work out right, he could end up with Rebecca, forever. This may sound good, but spending the rest of your life in a submarine as the last remnants of the human race is not as appealing as it sounds. Rebecca is analytical and yet real, she screams in all the right places and is strong in all the others. And Fatboy. I cannot say enough good things about this Moko (Maori tribal face tattoos) wearing, Harley Davidson riding, brother.
The only drawback for American readers is the setting. Although I loved it being set in New Zealand, I have actually been to most of the places listed in the book and could easily picture them in my mind. Will young US readers be able to do the same thing? Perhaps they may need a map, but if that is the books only flaw than that isn't so bad.
WARNING: This book does not end all neat and tidy, but it will leave you thinking.
Children's Atheneum
August 2010
Exciting and thought-provoking

Exciting and thought-provoking

New Zealand author Falkner makes his U.S. debut with a book that resonates with a Down Under accent. With a tautly constructed plot, this fast-paced and all-too-realistic thriller asks both protagonists and readers to consider the implications of humankind’s exploitation of the earth and its possibly catastrophic repercussions. Tane and Rebecca, 14-year-olds living in Auckland, receive coded messages from their future selves, warning about an apocalyptic event that only they can prevent. As they decipher the clues and race to take the right steps to save lives, readers are swept into visions of ecological disaster and a planet fighting back. With puzzles aplenty, codes, computers and a submarine called Mobius, this technothriller offers gearhead ecowarriors everything, including a hugely satisfying ending. Character development does not take a back seat to plot, however; told largely through Tane’s eyes, the narrative creates a believable and sympathetic cast of characters, both main and supporting. Exciting and thought-provoking, it will raise awareness of serious issues as it entertains. (Thriller. 10 & up)
Kirkus Reviews
September 2008
Falkner crafts a solid thriller for his U.S. debut

Falkner crafts a solid thriller for his U.S. debut

Three young New Zealanders square off against a biological apocalypse in this terrifying sf page-turner.
Starting with the notion that “quantum foam” might be a key to sending messages back through time, Tane, his friend Rebecca, and his older brother Fatboy discover a series of coded transmissions from their own future selves: a set of lottery numbers, circuit diagrams for a transmitter, and ominous warnings about
a “Chimera Project.” That last turns out (they discover too late) to be a scientific experiment gone wrong that produces an opaque cloud of deadly organisms designed to detect and kill all human life. Falkner crafts a solid thriller for his U.S. debut, in which immunology, ecological depredation, and Maori culture all play significant roles. Though he doesn’t resolve every time paradox (such as where those circuit diagrams originated), his tale hangs together well enough, and features an open ending that will leave
readers waiting with fingers crossed.
John Peters, Booklist
September 2008
The Tomorrow Code is clever sci-fi for 12 to 15-year-olds

The Tomorrow Code is clever sci-fi for 12 to 15-year-olds

* * * *
The Tomorrow Code is clever sci-fi for 12 to 15-year-olds. It is fast-paced and exciting, similar in parts to Matthew Reilly's writing. The prologue is set in Alaska when a Bioterrorism Response Force raids a science unit, but the scientists have disappeared, leaving only clothing. Teens Rebecca, Tane and older brother, Fatboy, seem to receive a message from the future which they download and decode from the NASA satellite. This is almost credible in the context of (what seem to be) scientific descriptions of a gamma ray burst and quantum foam. They interpret an apparent SOS from themselves in the future and the Superball (lottery) numbers, which enable them to buy a mini submarine. The author develops the plot incisively; they meet a scientist studying rhinoviruses on an island and are caught up in the sinister mist that is enveloping New Zealand. The writing is fluid, incorporating codes and patterns, and lateral puzzles solved by creative Tane. Rebecca, another interesting character, easily solves the exacting science conundrums. Ideal for individuals and the school market, this novel surprises with a denoument that emulates the mobius strip motif played with by the author throughout.
Joy Lawn, Bookseller+Publisher Magazine
September 2008

Brian Falkner

The Tomorrow Code