Tomorrow series


The Tomorrow series is a series of seven young adult invasion novels written by Australian writer John Marsden, detailing the invasion and occupation of Australia by a foreign power. The novels are related from the first-person perspective by Ellie Linton, a teenage girl, who is part of a small band of teenagers waging a guerrilla war on the enemy soldiers in the region around their fictional home town of Wirrawee. The name of the series is derived from the title of the first book, Tomorrow, When the War Began.
The books in the series were originally published from 1993–99, by Pan Macmillan, and have been reprinted sixteen times. A sequel series, The Ellie Chronicles, was later published from 2003 to 2006. The follow-up series concerns itself largely with the attempts of society and the protagonist to regain a normal level of functioning in the face of the psychological damage sustained during the war.
In the original series the identity of the invading force is never specified, which is most likely by explicit intent of the author. In the sequel series the invading force is specified as a coalition of highly populous Southeast Asian nations, who see the vast underdeveloped spaces and natural resources of Australia as a way to tackle their human overpopulation problem, and the series features multinational colonies of enemy civilians being set up in conquered territory. Few parts of the war outside Ellie's immediate perspective are covered; the reader is not informed exactly how much of the country is under enemy control, though a radio broadcast early in the series confirms that several major coastal cities and much of the inland area have been seized by the invading forces. How well the war is going for the Australian military is not covered, however, it's strongly implied that they suffer heavy losses.
Tomorrow, When the War Began and its sequels are one of the most popular and critically acclaimed series of novels aimed at young readers in Australian literary history. It has sold over 3 million copies in Australia and has been translated into five languages.

Books

Ellie Linton goes out camping in the bush for a week with her friends Homer, Lee, Kevin, Corrie, Robyn, and Fiona 'Fi'. They find a way into a large, vegetated sinkhole in a remote area of bush the locals call "Hell", and camp there for the week. During this time they see large numbers of planes flying through the night without lights, and though it is mentioned in conversation the following morning, they think little of it.
When they return home they find that all the people are missing and their pets and livestock are dead or dying. They come to realise that Australia has been invaded and their family and friends have been taken prisoner. Avoiding capture by enemy soldiers in their hometown of Wirrawee and picking up one of their school friends Chris, the group return to Hell. After short period of recovery they start making plans to fight back.
Over the course of the first three books in the series, the group succeeds in destroying a bridge that leads into Wirrawee, an enemy convoy, several houses that are being used by the enemy as a centre of operations, and a nearby strategic harbour. However, Corrie and Chris are killed during this time. After the harbour raid, the surviving members of the group are eventually captured and placed in a maximum security prison in the nearby city of Stratton. During an air-raid by the Royal New Zealand Air Force the group escapes but Robyn is killed while doing so. They encounter a downed RNZAF pilot and arrange to be evacuated to New Zealand.
Book four, Darkness, Be My Friend, takes place several months later. The group is trying to live a normal life in New Zealand with other refugees, but are haunted by their memories of the war. They are approached by the New Zealand Defence Force, who are seeking Australian guerrillas to act as guides for saboteur units that are being dropped into occupied Australian territory. The group returns to Wirrawee accompanied by a platoon of New Zealand troops. However the New Zealanders go missing while on a mission to destroy Wirrawee Airfield. Alone behind enemy lines once more, the group decides to attack the airfield themselves but a combination of poor planning and bad luck causes them to fail, but they manage to return to Hell.
Soon after, through sheer luck, the group find themselves perfectly positioned to attempt another attack on the airfield. This time they succeed and manage to destroy a majority of planes on the airfield. After the attack, the group find their way to Stratton. There they encounter a tribe of feral children, who have been living on the streets and hiding from enemy troops since the war began. The group rescue five of the children who have been captured by an enemy patrol and escape back to Hell, where they look after them. During this time strained relationships are mended and the soul-destroying effects of the war are tempered by a chance to do something positive. However, this period does not last. A patrol ambushes the group near their base and after defeating their attackers in a prolonged firefight the group realises that they are no longer safe in Hell and make contact with New Zealand immediately.
They discover that the war is entering its final days and that groups of partisans like themselves are being asked to cause as much chaos behind enemy lines as possible while New Zealand and its allies launch an all-out offensive. The group arranges for the feral children to be evacuated to New Zealand and are provided with plastic explosives to carry out their task.
The group attacks a service station frequented by enemy convoys but are separated in the aftermath. Ellie is shot in the leg and taken prisoner. While interned, she discovers the location of her mother and father. She escapes and is reunited with her mother whom she stays with until news breaks that the war is over – Australia signs a peace treaty with the occupying power, resulting in the formation of a new nation on the continent for the invading forces and settlers.
It transpires that Wirrawee is on the Australian side of the border. Ellie, her mother and her father return to their farm and, like all the other survivors of the war, begin picking up the pieces of their lives.

Characters

The group

;Ellie Linton: The main protagonist and narrator of the series. Ellie was born and raised on a cattle and sheep farm not far from the edge of the country town of Wirrawee. She is loyal to her friends, to her family, she loves the Australian bush and the life on the land. Ellie prides herself on being the strongest member of the group. Nevertheless, she is often scared and uncertain of her actions and tries to hide what she perceives to be these moments of weakness from her friends.
;Corrie Mackenzie: Ellie's best friend since childhood. It was Corrie who first suggested going on a camping trip into Hell. Corrie was shot and mortally wounded at the end of the first book. Corrie's death affects the group deeply, especially Ellie who eventually comes to terms with the loss in book four, Darkness, Be My Friend.
;Homer Yannos: Ellie's neighbour and close friend. Homer is forceful and domineering and has trouble dealing with other strong personalities. Prior to the war Homer appeared to be a wild and irresponsible boy. The war reveals him to be a strong leader. However, on occasions where he is not in control Homer reverts to his immature ways. As the war progresses he gradually relies on Ellie to get the group to safety. A romance starts to blossom between Homer and Fiona as the war goes on.
;Fiona 'Fi' Maxwell: Fiona had a sheltered upbringing before the war. Fi was shown early on to be the least physically capable of the group. Despite this Fiona manages to find the courage within herself to complete the tasks she has been set, though she rarely takes an active role in planning the group's attacks. Fiona becomes Ellie's confidante after Corrie's departure and acts as the most rational member of the group after Robyn. She develops a slow romance with the wild Homer.
;Lee Takkam: Prior to the war Lee was a studious, somewhat lonely boy. During the war Lee demonstrates an aptitude for violence, a tendency to act impulsively and a strong desire for vengeance, especially after finding out his parents were killed. He develops a relationship with Ellie.
;Robyn Mathers: A friend of Ellie and Corrie's with really strong held religious beliefs. Robyn is calm under pressure and is a capable leader. She regards herself as a pacifist and refuses to participate in any activities where she will be required to directly take a life. Despite this she is convinced that what the group is doing is right and enjoys the adrenaline rush that being in dangerous situations gives her. She eventually is killed in an act of heroism in book three, Third Day, The Frost, where she blows herself up in order to kill Major Harvey once and for all.
;Kevin Holmes: Corrie's boyfriend, Kevin fancies himself a tough guy but is shown to have difficulty handling high pressure situations. Kevin is separated from the group at the end of book one, Tomorrow, When the War Began. When he is reunited with them again near the beginning of book three, Third Day, The Frost, he is shocked to see how brutal the war has made his friends. His knowledge of explosives enables the group to successfully attack the Cobbler's Bay harbor.

Others

;Major Harvey:A former school deputy principal who was once in the Army Reserve, Harvey is introduced as the leader of Harvey's Heroes, a group of adult partisans. It is later revealed that Harvey was working with the invaders and that the Harvey's Heroes organisation was established to deliver would-be resistance fighters into the hands of the invaders. As such he plays as a primary antagonist to the group.
;Colonel Finley:An officer of the New Zealand Army's Intelligence Corps. Finley supervised the group's recovery and well-being during their time in New Zealand, and later becomes their de facto commanding officer when the group returned to Wirrawee.
;Gavin: A young deaf boy who was part of a gang of war orphans, led by a dictatorial boy called Aldo, living in Stratton since the war began. Of the children the group rescue, only Gavin had occupied a position amongst Aldo's inner circle. Being used to a position of power, Gavin immediately establishes himself as the leader of the children. He initially doesn't trust Ellie and her friends but soon comes to feel affection and respect for them.