The Tomorrow Code

Jan 10, 2009 GirlwiththeBraids rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Teenagers Tane and Rebecca have been friends since anyone could remember. Rebecca has the highest grades in the class, always looks her rock-star best, and everyone admires her. But sometimes Rebecca feels no one can understand her. Her father’s dead and her mother is wasting away in front of the television. Tane begins to have more-than-a-friend feelings about her, but Rebecca doesn’t notice a thing. One day, Rebecca comes home to a note on her door from the government saying they are taking aw...more

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Jun 02, 2013 Daniel Ernandes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was written very well. It was very difficult to put down, and I couldn't wait to get to the next page. I liked the plot device, as I have never seen any other like it, not to mention the progression of events throughout the entirety of the novel. An excellent premise, a shocking realization of the truth, and the main characters' harrowing journey through the infectious battlefield that their world has been transformed into makes an excellent read. Another thing making this book good wa...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Maythavee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have never read anything like The Tomorrow Code before. It was a fantastic read, I really enjoyed it. The thing that was different from most books that I have read is the setting of the book. The Tomorrow Code is set in Auckland, New Zealand. I never read a book that was set in New Zealand before so it was very interesting to me.

The characters were well-written. Tane and Rebecca are very interesting characters. They are very different from each other but they are best friends. Tane’s strength...more I have never read anything like The Tomorrow Code before. It was a fantastic read, I really enjoyed it. The thing that was different from most books that I have read is the setting of the book. The Tomorrow Code is set in Auckland, New Zealand. I never read a book that was set in New Zealand before so it was very interesting to me.

The characters were well-written. Tane and Rebecca are very interesting characters. They are very different from each other but they are best friends. Tane’s strengths are in art and music whereas Rebecca’s good with science and maths. I like how they both contrast and balance each other out: Tane being the creative one (always thinks out of the box) while Rebecca is the scientific one. The tension between them also affected the overall tension of the book because their actions can affect the future, no matter how small that action is. The love triangle between Tane, Rebecca and Fatboy (or Harley, Tane’s older brother) was a nice touch as well.

I also get to learn about native Australian culture as well because Tane and Fatboy had Maori heritage, they often refer to their culture so I had to do a little bit of research about their traditions since I have never heard of it before so it was really cool to learn about it.

The plot of this book is wonderfully written, a combination of ICT, biology, a little bit of physics with a smidgen of time travel thrown in for good measure and you get one hell of a plot! Every chapter is filled with suspense and tension as Tane, Rebecca and Fatboy race to save Auckland (and the world) from a terrible ‘virus’ breakout. Towards the end of the book, the pace gets really fast, filled with action that made me held my breath with anticipation.

The one problem that I had with this book was when the characters are explaining the science and logic behind certain things, I felt like I was reading a textbook. I got lost quite a few times with the explanations and had to reread the parts to make sure that I understood what they were trying to tell me. Overall, I adore The Tomorrow Code! I recommend this book to everyone because it tackles problems that human beings are facing today but made it much more fun to read about.
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Dec 12, 2012 Eden rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a decent read, although it wasn’t the most attention grabbing or entertaining. It did give you a lot to think about though. I liked how it contained a unique situation. However, I found some characters a little stereotypical and predictable. But, many parts were well thought out and well written. I can relate the book to my life because of the ages of the characters and how they must overcome the obstacle of their dependence on parents. They couldn’t drive, and had to avoid the wat...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, crime, favorites, paranormal, sci-fi, suspense, young-adult

The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner was such a great book, the author is an absolute genius. It was something wild and different that you haven't seen before. A guaranteed fun read. At first I gave the book 4 stars, but then I thought; "What could the author improve about this book?" and I couldn't name a single thing. So I changed it to 5 stars, for this amazing book.

It is about Rebecca and Tane who are best friends. They have known each other since birth, being family friends. Rebecca is extrem...more The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner was such a great book, the author is an absolute genius. It was something wild and different that you haven't seen before. A guaranteed fun read. At first I gave the book 4 stars, but then I thought; "What could the author improve about this book?" and I couldn't name a single thing. So I changed it to 5 stars, for this amazing book.

It is about Rebecca and Tane who are best friends. They have known each other since birth, being family friends. Rebecca is extremely smart and she knows almost everything there is to know about science. They are both only 14, and so Rebecca always impresses with her smarts. Tane is more of an art guy, who loves creative thinking. With those combinations, this duo is now relied on to save the world. One day they decide to try and catch signals sent from the future, just for fun. They didn't think it was going to work, but when they decoded a series of 1's and 0's they suddenly noticed that something was wrong. The world was going to go under. But they didn't know how, when, where or even who. Can they save the world?

The book captures the reader more intensely page after page. I insisted on finishing this book in one day, it was so impossible to put down. The adventures of Rebecca and Tane change your perspective of the world and how things work, it is that impressive.

Now to one thing that I really wanted to talk about; the ending. Most books have a crappy ending, and that is just the way it is. It is hard to write a good ending, as all authors and amateur writers know. But not Brian Falkner. The ending of this book was so magnificent, I almost wanted to cry. The ending makes so much sense and yet leaves the reader to think on their own. It is a short ending, pulling a fast stop to the story. It may sound like this is bad, but in fact it makes the story so much better. The ending is probably one of the reasons that I gave it 5 stars, not 4. This book deserves so much more attention and love than it has gotten, it should be a blockbuster like Twilight or The Hunger Games. There is just so much to it, it would also make a great movie.

Yes, make this book a movie! Love it!(less)

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Aug 11, 2012 lafon حمزة نوفل rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I have never understood the passion and jealousy characters exhibit. Maybe it's because I've always been pretty ambivalent when it comes to relationships. I've never really felt the need to be with someone else. Or maybe because God damn it, they are just over-reacting and need some help from a psychologist. Your world is dying and you send your brother out when you are the one warning yourself not to?! Makes no sense. Certainly I wouldn't want Tane as a brother.
Now that my irritation with Tane...more

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Mar 06, 2012 IndyPL Kids Book Blog rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Start this book when you have a nice block of time because you won’t want to put it down. The action starts very close to the beginning and is non-stop to the very end. This is an action movie blockbuster on paper.

Tane and Rebecca receive a mysterious coded message. What first appear to be random numbers turn out to be the winning numbers in the lottery! Who sent them the prize-winning numbers? Why didn’t the person just play the numbers themselves?

More messages come. Tane and Rebecca realize th...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Theresa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Basically, Tane and Rebecca manage to crack futuristic codes, supposedly from their futuristic selves and realise they are the only ones who can stop all of mankind from being wiped out...

Was glad to find a book set in NZ and the idea of having messages embedded in gamma rays was a good one which could have led to an epic novel but the execution didn't do it justice.
The writing was basic, the end lame and the characters shallow (especially Rebecca who's smart - but in a know-it-all, "never wron...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Allyson O'malley added it · review of another edition

What would you say if you could talk to yourself as you were six months ago? In Brian Falkner’s The Tomorrow Code, that message brings news of the end of the world. The novel offers a fast paced and exciting story line, with likable characters and a message that we have to take care of our earth. The only problem I had with it is that it was difficult to look past the flaws in the scientific reasoning. Overall, the book was a great read with very few criticisms to point out.
When New Zealand te...more
What would you say if you could talk to yourself as you were six months ago? In Brian Falkner’s The Tomorrow Code, that message brings news of the end of the world. The novel offers a fast paced and exciting story line, with likable characters and a message that we have to take care of our earth. The only problem I had with it is that it was difficult to look past the flaws in the scientific reasoning. Overall, the book was a great read with very few criticisms to point out.
When New Zealand teenager Tane and his best friend Rebecca begin to wonder if there might be a way to send messages between the past and present, they build a transmitter radio to pick up gamma rays. They receive messages from their future selves, warning of a biological disaster that will wipe out all life on earth if they don’t do anything to stop it. Eventually, the question comes up: should they stop it? I found the theme of ‘do humans deserve to be here if we’re destroying our home’ to be interesting, and got me thinking that maybe we are doing more harm than good. “It would be a shame when this was all gone. He knew it was coming. The developers with their tractors and bulldozers would be here one day… One day this [forest] would be something he would tell his grandkids about, and they’d laugh, he thought, unsure whether to believe him” (Falkner 112). Tane knows of the wrongs that the human race is doing, and when it’s up to him to decide whether to save us all or let us perish, he considers all of his options. His thoughts lead the reader to really consider their purpose, and make you want to be more environmentally conscious.
I was bothered by the fact that the science behind the message sending was impractical. Falkner’s idea was that messages could be sent back in time through tiny wormholes in the quantum foam in binary form that would then need to be decoded. It irritated me because it quite simply isn’t possible. Even the theory of quantum foam itself isn’t proven, let alone sending gamma messages through it. The assumption that anything could be sent through a wormhole would only make sense in the context of general relativity, which doesn’t make sense because general relativity doesn’t even take quantum foam into account. The only possible way the two could coexist, which would be too long an explanation to write about here; would destroy anything you could try to send through the wormhole. Plus, even if this was possible, it makes even less sense that two teenagers would be able to achieve it by building a radio out of scrap metal. It was hard to look past these inconsistencies, but with imagination it is only a little bit of a bother.
With many enjoyable scenes, interesting characters and thought provoking questions, The Tomorrow Code is a book that I would highly recommend. Even if you’re not into science, or not an environmentalist, just about anyone can find a way to relate to this book. I enjoyed every minute of reading it, and was so tied up with it that I couldn’t put it down!

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Nov 22, 2011 Gideon Nelson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The Tomorrow Code" is, overall, an okay book. The sciences behind the entire plot are intriguing. Sadly, everything plummets from there.

The writing itself is merely decent. The narrative is no award-winning masterpiece; it's quite simple and two-demensional. It improved between the dull beginning and action end, but I was unimpressed.

The plot started off stagnant, emotionless, and-let's face it-boring. I was halfway through the book before I was truly interested. The beginning had a weird effec...more

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Oct 29, 2011 Rich rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a review, so there is spoilers..

Good premise, and alot of action, but goes down hill in second half when plot becomes ridiculous.

The Tomorrow Code is a young adult apocalypse novel about two kids in New Zealand who stumble across information from the future that the world will end soon. Like The Di Vinci code, action and plotting hide several large plot holes. This is a time travel story where two fourteen year-olds get information from the future sent by their future selves. It is never...more This is a review, so there is spoilers..

Good premise, and alot of action, but goes down hill in second half when plot becomes ridiculous.

The Tomorrow Code is a young adult apocalypse novel about two kids in New Zealand who stumble across information from the future that the world will end soon. Like The Di Vinci code, action and plotting hide several large plot holes. This is a time travel story where two fourteen year-olds get information from the future sent by their future selves. It is never really explained how they discover how to send messages, and the whole thing is circular, they get messages from the future telling themselves how to build a machine to send messages back in time, so they do which allows them to send their past selves this knowledge (They actually name a sub they buy Mobius as this concept is called a Mobius strip) Neither of them have the technical know how to construct it and a friend builds it for them in the past..so how they know how to build it to tell their future selves in a plot hole big enough to drive a truck through. It also is unstated what makes them of all people so special to be placed in this Mobius strip, they are fourteen although the girl Rebecca seems to have alot of knowledge way outside the norm for a young girl. (the author gets this out of the way by stating she is a genius.) Its reminiscent of "Groundhog day" but end of the world style. But unlike Groundhog day, where the main character is pulled into the Mobius because he is a jerk and must see true love, there is no explanation for why these to kids get sucked into the loop. Its a big missing piece.

Also, the environmental message is laid on very thick and beats one over the head. The girls human self loathing/hatred (thinks we all should die) is good for the plot, but comes out of left field. A fourteen year old isn't that fatalistic without explanation, and the book doesn't invest the character with the motivation to make her views a natural outgrowth of her character.

The threat to humanity, when it presents itself, is rather absurd (we are powerless to fight an enemy that can be destroyed by..water, huh?) Although not having enough firetrucks handy when it gets out is understandable and was a good action scene and the sense of action and lost cause hopelessness of being out gunned and out manned was a page turner, wouldn't the rest of the world easily stop the threat once they had more time to prepare?

For young adults, its a decent read, especially for teenagers who like end of the world yarns. It has a chaste love story with two brothers competing for the girl and the kids are of course smarter than all the adults. However, for adults, once the "big reveal" in the second half of the book is sprung, the plot holes may make this a slog. However, I did read the whole thing, which shows the book is a page turner and is action packed. The New Zealand setting was different and I enjoyed the cultural flavor the setting provided. But the absurdity of the plot and the ham-fisted environmental message had me skimming the last hundred pages just to see how it ended. (less)

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Sep 14, 2011 Crazyjamie rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Tomorrow Code is one of those books that I discovered by browsing a bookshelf in a shop, read the back of, found the blurb to be quite interesting, and bought there and then. No consideration, no drawn out thought process, just a purchase on instinct.

The blurb in question reveals a book with a promising, if not entirely original premise. Tane Williams and Rebecca Richards are close teenage friends that, through a combination of Tane's creative mind and Rebecca's brilliant intellect, find th...more The Tomorrow Code is one of those books that I discovered by browsing a bookshelf in a shop, read the back of, found the blurb to be quite interesting, and bought there and then. No consideration, no drawn out thought process, just a purchase on instinct.

The blurb in question reveals a book with a promising, if not entirely original premise. Tane Williams and Rebecca Richards are close teenage friends that, through a combination of Tane's creative mind and Rebecca's brilliant intellect, find themselves in receipt of a cryptic message that reveals the upcoming winning lottery numbers. What's more, this message appears to have been sent from the future, by Tane and Rebecca themselves, and is the first in a string of messages that warns about something that, ultimately, looks an awful lot like the end of the world.

This book shows a lot of initial promise. Tane and Rebecca are interesting characters that interact very well together throughout the book. The book moves at a decent pace and hooks the reader with a combination of plot developments and Falkner's writing style, which at times is skilful enough to develop suspense in itself. The initial mystery of why the messages have been sent and what exactly they are warning Tane and Rebecca about is intriguing and keeps the pages turning.

Unfortunately those early standards aren't quite maintained as the book goes on. Once the 'threat' is revealed the plot struggles to keep its momentum, and eventually peters out into action sequences that are just not nearly as well written as the earlier sections.

That is not to say that the Tomorrow Code is a bad book. Far from it. Overall it was enjoyable, and the ideas within it are interesting and display a degree of originality. The science of the book is well explained, helping the reader to engage with the principles that the book uses. It also kept me sufficiently interested that I finished it in a handful of sittings. But its early promise does not follow through to the book's conclusion, resulting in a novel that is worth a look, but isn't going to set the world on fire. (less)

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Sep 05, 2011 Sva rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Tomorrow Code was about best friends Tane and Rebecca, who have an idea that someone from the future could’ve built a machine that sends messages to the past and they need someone to receive them. Don’t ask me how they thought of that. So they get this software program and start receiving messages from their future selves.
But the messages are kind of disturbing because they say that the world has ended and their past selves have to stop it from ending before it can happen.
Tane and Rebecca d...more The Tomorrow Code was about best friends Tane and Rebecca, who have an idea that someone from the future could’ve built a machine that sends messages to the past and they need someone to receive them. Don’t ask me how they thought of that. So they get this software program and start receiving messages from their future selves.
But the messages are kind of disturbing because they say that the world has ended and their past selves have to stop it from ending before it can happen.
Tane and Rebecca do their best to follow the instructions but they’re too late. Apparently Planet Earth has decided that humans are diseases and so it releases antibodies to kill them all off. The antibodies are these gigantic slugs that have humanlike faces. If one touches a human, the human instantly dissolves. It has a lot of gross details. Completely disgusting. So Tane and Rebecca know the situation is out of hand and that there is nothing they can do, so they escape New Zealand in their submarine. It’s the end of the book and Tane and Rebecca are at the bottom of the sea in their sub and they know above them humans are being dissolved by humungous slugs.
Tane turns to Rebecca and says, “Let’s use the time messaging device we built in our free time to send our past selves different messages than our other future selves sent us so we can save the world.”
Rebecca agrees.
The end.
Some parts were pretty good, but by the end I was thoroughly disgusted and depressed.
There was a little romance, but it was basically a waste of time. Tane was the main character and he was in love with Rebecca but I’m not sure why. But then Tane’s older brother, Fatboy (yes, Fatboy) asks Rebecca out and they become boyfriend and girlfriend. Oooh love triangle! Tane is obviously super jealous.
One day he gets a message saying don’t let Fatboy go to the evil lab. If you read between the lines it means if Fatboy goes, he’ll probably die or something. Tane goes to warn Fatboy, but he sees Fatboy and Rebecca kissing. And it turns out Rebecca was kissing Fatboy because she was breaking up with him. For guess who?? But Tane doesn’t know that so he’s super mad and doesn’t tell Fatboy.
That made me really repulsed by Tane. He basically chose to kill his brother just because he was jealous!
Of course, Rebecca finds out and gets really mad at Tane. I think he more than deserves it. So I’m really ticked off when later (with Fatboy right next to her!) she tells Tane that she was wrong to be angry and she understands that he was just hurt. Then she kisses him.
Seriously Rebecca? You forgive him that easily? Well, I kind of understand because she wasn’t sure she would ever see him alive again.
So that's it.(less)

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Jun 05, 2011 Karen Ball rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

New Zealanders Tane, Rebecca, and Tane's older brother Fatboy have discovered messages from the future -- from their future selves, which have been encoded in gamma ray bursts and recorded by NASA. The Twitter-like messages are in binary code (all ones and zeroes) and include the winning lottery numbers, meant to give them enough money to complete the rest of the directions which include buying a six-man submarine and survival equipment... in case they can't stop the Chimera Project. A research...more

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Apr 17, 2011 Sabrina *The REAL Princess* rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Sci-fi lovers and tree huggers

I dearly wish there was an option to give a book a half-star rating. This book deserved more than the 4 stars given although it did not reach the 5 star rating.

The Tomorrow Code was much more than I expected. I expected some science fiction novel about winning the lottery but then some time paradox occurs messing up time. Or some other mumbo-jumbo that involves a grandfather occurance* of some sort. *grandfather occurance means when by changing the past, the future is completly altered. It mean...more I dearly wish there was an option to give a book a half-star rating. This book deserved more than the 4 stars given although it did not reach the 5 star rating.

The Tomorrow Code was much more than I expected. I expected some science fiction novel about winning the lottery but then some time paradox occurs messing up time. Or some other mumbo-jumbo that involves a grandfather occurance* of some sort. *grandfather occurance means when by changing the past, the future is completly altered. It means that if you go back in time and kill your grandfather, then when you travel back to your time, you would not be born.

Spoiler Alet: This book completly successed my expectaions. It was about more than winning the lotto. It was about saving the world. Although it was a science fiction novel, I found the sci-fi a perfect amount. Just enough to satasify my Star Trek antics and not too much for me to throw the book out the window in frusturation. Rebecca and Tane, two seemingly normal teens think of the idea to create a transmitter that encryptes NASA messages from gama rays to get a message. The idea comes from Tane who belives that perhaps someone from the future is sending them messages. Well, they were. At first, it was a LOTTO number making the two, and Tane's older brother Fatboy (real name Harley), instant millionares. But then more instructions come instructing them to spend the money on an extravagent submarine and to use this submarine to stop some Chimera project. The kids follow the messages but do not fully realize what is at stake. Mankind. Soon enough though, people are dying. And fast. But what makes it mysterious is that they are dying of... mist? Witnesses are spotting apparent 'white snowmen' which are dissolving humans. But could this be the Chimera project? And is the future of the world really on the shoulders of 3 teens? End of spoiler alert.

This book was great and the message within it was also worth learning. We must take care of our Earth. We live here and the Earth is not our home but more like it is OUR responsibility to take care of the Earth. In the book, it included that the Earth is more complex than we may think. Some think the earth is just like a big lump of rock that was conviently placed near the Sun to allow life. But what if it is more? Earth has many eco-systems in it. We have many complex organs. The Earth got global warming. We get fevers. Perhaps we are more similiar to the Earth than we may think. Spoiler: We have antibodies - correct? They get rid of infectious viruses that can harm us. Have we not hurt the Earth in more than one way. Pollution, killing trees etc. And if we ARE similiar to the Earth and if, in a way, we are a virus to the Earth, does Mother Nature have a way of curing itself? Spoiler end.

This book had everything. Enough romance and jealousy to fill my teenage girl love and plenty of action and suspense. I felt myself shocked at so many parts, gasping in class and reading still at 1AM in a desperate attempt to finish the entire book. My only criticm was that some parts were a tad boring and complex that I had to skip pages. Other than that though, I have to applaud the author for a fantastic job. I have not reviewed books in quite some time although I felt the need to review this amazing book so others will feel compelled to read it as well. (less)

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Jan 02, 2011 P.M. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Tane and Rebecca, best friends from birth, are lazing around looking up at the stars when Tane asks about time travel. Since Rebecca is a certified science genius, she gets into a technical discussion with him about the Grandfather Paradox or the idea about traveling back in time and killing your grandfather. But, if you do that, you will never be alive so you can't travel back in time. This discussion leads to Rebecca's idea to look for messages in gamma ray bursts detected by NASA. Rebecca's s...more

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Nov 15, 2010 Tim Lindner rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Tomorrow Code written by Brian Falkner is a science fiction book and is all about the end of mankind on earth.
The main characters, Rebecca and Tane, are two normal teenagers, who attend a high school in Sunnyvale, New Zealand. One day they think about the possibility of sending messages back from the future to the past. When Rebecca's house is about to be sold and she and her mother seem to need to move, Tane and Rebecca make an unbelieveble discovery. It seems that someone is sending messa...more The Tomorrow Code written by Brian Falkner is a science fiction book and is all about the end of mankind on earth.
The main characters, Rebecca and Tane, are two normal teenagers, who attend a high school in Sunnyvale, New Zealand. One day they think about the possibility of sending messages back from the future to the past. When Rebecca's house is about to be sold and she and her mother seem to need to move, Tane and Rebecca make an unbelieveble discovery. It seems that someone is sending messages from the future engraved in gamma-radiation to them and it is not even any person from the future, it is Tane and Rebecca themselves. At first sight they don't even know what to do with those strange written messages, but soon they discover that the first of all contains lottery numbers. But they are not able to enjoy their 6 million dollars very long because the very next message alarms them with an S.O.S. code.
All the following messages contain information about a project named 'The Chimera Project' and that they have to stop it or it will have a fatal outcome. Unfortunetly all their tries and trouble they put into stopping the project fail and everything that could have gone wrong does so. A mystic fog rises over New Zealand and with it some strange creatures, which adds up to the end of the eintire population of New Zealand. The only survivors are the two teenagers. The only way they see to save the world and change the future is to send back messages in time and warn themselves to prevent all the happenings.

I really liked the book because it kept me reading almost the entire time and it never got boring to read. As soon as one mystery was solved there was another thing coming up that made me feel like I need to know what's going on next.
I would recommend the book to everyone who likes science or is at least interested in it, because it tells a lot about the human immune system and also about physics. But there are also a lot of other things going on in the story like love and a bunch of other feelings. All in all it is a book to read for everyone. It makes the reader feel like the characters, always having a little clue what's going on, but also not knowing anything. (less)

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Sep 11, 2010 YA Reads Book Reviews rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Auckland, New Zealand. A city with a population of 1.3 million. 25th December. Already, 50 000 people have just vanished into a mystery white fog. They were never seen again. Their town was surrounded by white fog which defied gravity and wind, with whispers of ‘snowmen’ coming from the very few survivors. No one who goes in, comes out. No electrical transmissions can find their way through the storm, and nothing New Zealand authorities do can seem to stop the fog.

Imagine that you’re the only on...more Auckland, New Zealand. A city with a population of 1.3 million. 25th December. Already, 50 000 people have just vanished into a mystery white fog. They were never seen again. Their town was surrounded by white fog which defied gravity and wind, with whispers of ‘snowmen’ coming from the very few survivors. No one who goes in, comes out. No electrical transmissions can find their way through the storm, and nothing New Zealand authorities do can seem to stop the fog.

Imagine that you’re the only one who knew this was about to happen. Imagine that you’re the only one who has a chance of stopping it from happening again. Imagine that you had discovered a way to receive messages from the future and no one would believe you. Imagine that the fate of the civilization of the world could rest on how quick you can crack the code. Everything is stacked against you, you’re a teenager still in school, not old enough to be considered seriously, you have a mother that is only interested in the next episode of her favorite soap opera on TV and every minute that goes past is another death that could have been prevented.

This is Tane and Rebecca’s reality. Months earlier, Tane and Rebecca discovered a way to read messages that were transmitted through time. Messages coded and hidden in gamma ray bursts that are recorded by high-tech NASA space equipment, only you invented and discovered the program to read these messages. The messages that are decoded spell out a bleak future for live on earth. Receiving instructions from their future selves, Tane and Rebecca face a race against the clock to try and get the New Zealand and International military and bio-medical forces to listen to them. Every instruction that they have followed from these coded messages has been correct. From winning the lottery as a test, to breaking into NASA’s top-secret internet files, each step brings you closer to either saving humanity, or watching it descend further into chaos and destruction. Whispers of the Chimera Project that must be stopped, cryptic instructions for a device to send information to the future and juggling sudden millionaire status are just some of the issues that Tane and Rebecca have to deal with on a daily basis.

And this is only the beginning.

The Tomorrow Code is Brian Falkner’s first young adult novel, with three children’s novels being published prior to this. The style of writing and the way in with Falkner deals with some difficult concepts is remarkable. When talking about science, quantum foam and biology, it is easy to get lost in the technical terms, yet Falkner allows the reader to sympathise with either of the two main characters. Rebecca is the brains, the science and math whiz who more often than not is the one talking and explaining the technical jargon while Tane is the creative soul and often, like me, doesn’t have a clue what Rebecca is saying, yet somehow works it out in more simple and creative terms. Rather than subtracting from the plot, this actually adds to the sense of urgency and mystery of the novel. In all, I liked this novel, it captured my interest from the beginning and it was an easy read that I didn’t have to struggle through. The characters were interesting, plot well developed and style captivating from the first page to the end.(less)

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May 06, 2010 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A kids book? In the book description on Amazon.com this book is targeted to 9-12 year old. Between the concepts, vocabulary, and the way the humor is (and the unnecessary swearing), I'd say teen.

Because this is written in New Zealand, British words and phrase are found instead of US ones (e.g., car park vs parking lot). That, and descriptions & locations, etc. are all good for cultural expansion, or just general interest.

As often happens, when playing with the concept of time, it is arguable...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Meaghan R. (YA-aholic) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reading-challenge

so far so good. really fast paced.
i enjoy the diagrams interspersed in the pages.

but what reading level is this? i picked it up in YA, but i'm think it leans a little more towards MG...

so there are quite a few odd phrases, but i think that that's from the author being from New Zealand.
i also had a fit when i saw the word "possom"
however, in Australia, it is possom, and is a completely different species from the American opossum.

there were quite a few fragments grouped together where it would hav...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Josh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

the book the tomorrow code is about these two kids name tane and rebecca who are really smart kids and thay walked and tane says "do you think time travel is possible," then rebecca says no that is impossible so then tane things that maybe someone from the future is sending a secret message threw a radio and rebecca thinks sbout it and she says "if they are then how can we get nthe massage so they think and they say if you biuld a reciver that would get the message but they think they go to tane...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

The book is about a smart science geek named Rebecca and an artsy boy called Tane. They have been best friends since birth, they were born on the same day and have done everything together! But what if somehow, the future you's have send you a message. S.O.S. What do you do then? Obviously, something is very wrong. As they slowly uncover the secret messages, they they also discover the devastating truth. Can they stop the end of the world?

I loved it. I loved getting the clues and discovering the...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Karolinde (Kari) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, sci-fi, teen-lit, middle-level-books, must-read-again

I really don't even know where to begin. Tomorrow Code is one of those books that yanks at your mind and really makes you think. It is also the kind of book you really want there to be a sequel, but know that somehow that would ruin it.

In a nutshell, Rebecca and Tane discover mysterious coded messages from the future. These messages allow them to win the lottery, but also set them on a course to save humanity.

There isn't really time to truly develop characters in the book. Yes, they do change, b...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Corinne Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am constantly on the prowl for quality YA Dystopia novels, and this one fits the bill. This strange little book boasts a wonderful combination of traits, and it is that combination that makes it special.

Tane and Rebecca have been friends for literally all their lives, and when you know someone for 14 years, you tend to share a special kind of friendship ESP. That is especially true in Tane and Rebecca's case; despite their differences, they always seem to be on the same page. When Tane concei...more I am constantly on the prowl for quality YA Dystopia novels, and this one fits the bill. This strange little book boasts a wonderful combination of traits, and it is that combination that makes it special.

Tane and Rebecca have been friends for literally all their lives, and when you know someone for 14 years, you tend to share a special kind of friendship ESP. That is especially true in Tane and Rebecca's case; despite their differences, they always seem to be on the same page. When Tane conceives an idea to transmit messages back through time, it only seems like a passing thought at first. But when the pair actually acts on the idea and decodes a pattern found in a burst of gamma rays, Tane's idea comes to fruition in a startling way. The messages are actually warnings from the future, warnings of the end of the world itself. Tane and Rebecca must swiftly act before the real terror - a mysterious and lethal mist containing apocalyptic horrors - arrives to end it all.

So here we have a story that starts out focusing on time travel, quantum physics, and message decoding. This portion of the novel is just as interesting and enthralling as the later more action-packed bits, which is a credit to the author's style. From the more cerebral decoding section the story lurches almost jarringly into a suspenseful espionage scene, then morphs into the action-packed thriller it is for the rest of the book. There is also a love triangle subplot going on, although since it drives much of the action it can hardly be called sub-anything.

If written sloppily, such a vast tangle of genres could get overwhelming. But Falkner pulls it off. The breakneck pace of the story is gripping, and nearly everything that happens feels as organic and expected as it is shocking. The enemies that eventually materialize out of the mist are absolutely horrifying. Falkner's style is minimalistic in a way that makes it almost poetic, which is wonderful for brief, but striking descriptions of all these horrible things.

By no means is The Tomorrow Code perfect. The ending was a bit of a let-down, (view spoiler) But overall, this a unique and well-done piece of YA literature.(less)

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Jun 30, 2010 Anthony Eaton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What I love about Brian Faulkner's YA (whatever that means - don't let it stop you reading this book, even if you're 50) science fiction is that he actually *knows* his science. It's what I've heard referred to as 'hard' sci-fi, in that it's solidly based in the reality of the here-and-now.

The Tomorrow Code is a great example; there aren't too many books which use, in a fictional context, such a clever and accurate application of advanced physics while, at the same time remaining accessible. The...more

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Dec 02, 2008 Sally rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed so many things about this book. First of all it is a true science fiction for middle school and young adult which is sometimes hard to find. I loved the particle physics and all of the science involved. It was fun to imagine time travel that may be possible. I also enjoyed that it took place in New Zealand. It really took the book to an interesting cultural level.

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Oct 15, 2008 Lynn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Taut and exciting plot with intriguing clues sent from the future. A sf puzzler with a possible scenario and likable and interesting characters. Two young people receive coded instructions from the future and the survival of the world may depend on the solution. This suspenseful book will be perfect to hand to the Alex Rider readers and the Uglies fans.

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Sep 14, 2011 Tyler-j Tuiala rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a really awesome book. This book fits into "A book written by a New Zealander" space on the Bingo Board. Brian Falkner (The Author of The Tomorrow Code) once came to my Intermediate school to talk a little bit about himself and his books. It was really interesting and fun to listen to. We had a competition and I was fortunate enough to win this book, which is when I decided to read it.

I like how it combines Science Fiction with the Action/Adventure, Mystery and Suspense Genres. It was v...more

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May 01, 2010 Shantell rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: awful-books

The basic idea of sending messages through time was interesting and intriguing, which is why I continued reading even after realizing the main character was an environmental activist (and as such, impossible for me to relate to). However the environmentalist themes grew more and more pronounced as the book progressed culminating with the main character trying to decide whether or not the pestilent human race was worth saving from complete destruction! This book is filled with ridiculous anti-hum...more

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Dec 17, 2011 GSGS rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hmm... this was an OK book, I guess.

It was set in NZ which is probably the first of its kind that I've read XD It was an interesting setting, and it's a pity more books aren't set there.

The charries sort of seemed a bit cardboard-y, which a few flashes of humour ("Is it yellow?") however I could overcome that.

I didn't really like how the book started up with time travel but didn't really continue down that path, just ended up a biological end-of-the-world, global-warming-morals book. Seriousl...more

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