The Day After Tomorrow

by Whitley Strieber

The planet is warming up and as the ice caps melt, the great currents of the oceans shift and the Northern Hemisphere is plunged into a new ice age. One scientist has the key to turning back the clock of global warming. But as Western civilisation succumbs to blizzards and tidal waves and the population of the Northern hemisphere begins a mass exodus south, mankind's only saviour is making a lonely, terror-filled trip north. To a New York disappearing under snowdrifts hundreds of feet high. The city where his son was last heard of.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure, Media Tie In, Action, Mystery

249 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

American writer best known for his novels The Wolfen,The Hunger and Warday and for Communion, a non-fiction description of his experiences with apparent alien contact. He has recently made significant advances in understanding this phenomenon, and has published his new discoveries in Solving the Communion Enigma.

Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the blockbuster film about sudden climate change, The Day After Tomorrow.

His book The Afterlife Revolution written with his deceased wife Anne, is a record of what is considered to be one of the most powerful instances of afterlife communication ever recorded.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

When this disaster movie hit the cinema early in the 21st cinema there was a lot of arguing if this could ever happen a sudden Ice time reclaiming the planet Earth. Being a climate change denier was much easier then as it is today. The scenario of this movie and the abrupt change of climate was perhaps not as plausible but it made good visual entertainment.
With disaster movies the strength lies in the spectacle which if all is done well is done through the eyes of certain intelligent individuals, completed with the usual cliches added.
This book ticks all those boxes and delivers a decent story with Whitley Strieber they got a decent enough writer who does deliver.
The book tells the story of the movie and not a lot more, it is a novelization after all. Which is a genre which I do enjoy, having recently acquired a set of 10 such novelizations I will undoubtedly visit this medium even if I love a good movie.

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW inspired my list, 5 Snowy Literary Escapes from this Summer of Climate Change Horror http://tinyurl.com/h6ca8ca Taking the "chill" in "chill out" seriously! #BeachReads

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This almost reads like a transcription of the movie. Either the author worked really carefully with the film's developers, or this is one case where the movie stayed true to the book. There was very little (if anything) that was different about the book, though I liked getting abit more insight into the characters. I'm usually disappointed after reading a book that had been turned into a movie (when I've seen the movie first), but in this case, I was satisfied.

[Sanara♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is interesting but I really hated the writing...sorry to say, but it was just terrible. The author kept jumping from one scene to another which was just annoying. I would have liked this book a whole lot better if the writing wasn't so patchy.
This book had a few more details than the movie, that were interesting to read but cause of the terrible writing, I prefer the movie.

[Asuka0278 · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is so much geologically and scientifically WRONG with this book/movie that it's laughable.

[Harmony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this right before the movie came out, and in comparison to the movie, this book was so much better. I give this "5 stars" because I still remember quite a lot about the book. I guess you could say it left an impression.

[Frank_nasch · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to know the bizzare (but inaccurate!) effects of global warming, this book is for you. Great entertainment, lousy science. But worth to read...? Without any doubt!

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Propaganda

[Amy Webster-Bo · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really enjoyed the book, it was better then the movie, though when i was reading, i could picture the characters and who they were in the book. good read, i have enjoyed the books i have read by him

[Carlotta* · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the movie for the father/son relationship and it was nice to get to know a little better the characters, especially Jack and Sam, thanks to the book.
There are a couple of scenes described that were not seen in the movie.

My favorite quote, which I consider amazing.
«Then Jack Hall was crossing the room, he was walking toward the filthy kid with the ridiculous excuse for a beard on his face, and Sam was walking toward him, and then their arms came around one another, and the blood of the Halls sang joy to the world, and maybe even the good God above smiled that this love of father for son had defied the worst storm in ten thousand years to declare: I am a love beyond death, and I'm stronger than death, and when we part, it will be in my time, when I say the day is come for the old man to step into memory, and the young one to lift up his own son.
There was crying, then, before the fire, in the devastated city, beneath the hard blue sky of a new day».

[Christine (KizzieReads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part, it was exactly matching the movie. There was one storyline that was completely kept out, but it didn't really take away from the main story. One of my fave movies, so of course I loved the book version!

[SpookyxSpice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Essentially the movie put down into a book format. We do get small moments of extended conversations and characters not mentioned in the movie but it didn't add anything new or differ from the movie.

There were repetitions of the storm that froze the mammoths instantly that didn't need to be constantly repeated. I definitely enjoyed the end of the world weather descriptions.

As I understand it, Whitley Strieber wrote a different book and that was what the film was adapted from. That he then adapted it back into a movie novelisation is an odd choice but it definitely made me want to rewatch the film.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a reread for me. I originally read this book right before the movie came out. I even found my old movie stub in the book!

This is a good novelization however I wish that it extended a bit more as it was a bit of a carbon copy of the film itself. I do like the added information that was included; I just wish there was more. It did give me the feels in several scenes which I did enjoy.

Overall I would give this novelization a 3.5 if I could.

[Oli · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75✨

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read and a different look at the future than many I have read, I think people should pay attention and take care of our planet and found this novel a thrilling suspense into what may happem

[Matthew Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was almost following everything in the movie. Which is why I like it so much. The Day After Tomorrow is my most favorite movie of all time. Roland emmerich's other movies like 10,000 B.C. and Godzilla weren't really good, but The Day After Tomorrow was the best film ever. The book has all the feelings the movie gave and I was glad to read this.

[M&rcu$ #u+chin$ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book and the movie. The movie is better because it seems to have more action. I say it is non fiction because this could actually happen.

[VeruFru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Naprosto ujizdim na filmu, takze precist si knizku (jakmile jsem zjistila teda, ze je knizka) sem musela! ... Jedna se pouze o sepsany scenar, ale zase to ma neco do sebe... Miluju ten pribeh ❤

[Patty Abrams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big storm. A second ice age. Good movie too.

[Adam Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 / 5 for 'The Day After Tomorrow' by Whitley Strieber

This is a novelisation of the 2004 movie, based on the movie's screenplay, and with that in mind, this review is more a review of Strieber's telling of the story, as opposed to a review of the actual story itself.

On the whole, I did enjoy this book. It is a short and reasonably punchy telling of the film's story. Strieber writes in brief scenes, focussing on quite a large cast (especially for a book that's less than 250 pages long) and these short, and excitingly written, sequences do keep you turning the pages. It's a very moreish book - you want to see what happens next, or catch up with your favoured characters, and it was, in all fairness, a swift and pretty thrilling book.

It goes without saying that the actual science of this sudden mini ice age is all a load of old nonsense. There is very little basis in any kind of scientific fact and the global climatic changes that occur in this book take place impossibly fast, but that's ok - it's a novel version of a blockbuster movie. So while it is technically sci-fi, that term is used in its loosest form. Strieber does his best to make it all sound as logical and plausible as possible and, given the screenplay he has to work with, he does a fairly good job.

Character-wise, I liked Jack Hall, and Dylan and his gang, and that's about all. All of the other characters seemed to blend into each other - no characterisation, no unique voices. Characters were introduced, just to be killed by the cold on the next page. I get that the impact of this sudden ice age needs to be seen and it needs to be powerful, but for such a short book there are just way too many throwaway characters. Strieber's dialogue was pretty enjoyable, despite the fact that most of the incidental characters sounded the same.

The story progressed in a plausible and logical manner and the excitement ramped up nicely - the whole book was pretty exciting, but, to be fair, the second half was genuinely thrilling. Strieber's descriptive sections give you a really good sense of how this sudden whiteout would look and feel.

In my opinion, the end came quite suddenly and inexplicably. This dreadful, planet-wide storm system, which could last for weeks or even months and usher in a new ice age, just suddenly got better? In the space of a couple of days? Really? I know it's not really Strieber's fault, but what a way to quick-finish a story.

A bizarre negative that I found, was how early chapters had either 'damn', 'damned', damn well' or 'dammit' in every other sentence. Literally, damn well every other damned sentence, dammit! This was really off-putting and confusing. Does Strieber love the word 'damn'? Does he get paid extra for every version of 'damn' he can get in? Did he want to write with raw passion, but wasn't allowed to actually use real swear words? I don't get it. The 'damn' issue truly was bizarre. Then, about a third of the way through the book, it just stopped. Almost like a proofreader has told him that he's saying 'damn' too much, so he stopped, but he didn't bother going back to de-damn the earlier chapters. So weird. Unfortunately, an issue like this stops the reader in their tracks and pulls them out of the story, to question what the actual fuck is going on.

On the whole, an exciting sci-fi / disaster / thriller, albeit with nonsense science, characters that mostly sound the same, and a bizarre over-usage of the word 'damn' in the first third. But I'd still recommend it, as it was good fun. I'll definitely be reading more Strieber.

3 / 5

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started out wanting to give this a lower rating because I didn't realise that it's a novelization of the movie- I thought it was the other way around until I did a bit of research.

I really, really hate books which switch point-of-view repeatedly, and this one does it every few paragraphs, without warning- my Kindle copy did literally nothing to denote a point-of-view change other than "paragraph break", which made it even more jarring. On top of that, literally all the characters have generic names like "Jack" or "Sam" or "Lucy"- there's even a Latinx character called "Maria"- with just as generic surnames like Hall and Jones, so I was more than halfway through the book before I could begin to keep the characters straight.

That said, knowing this is based on the movie rather than the other way around makes all of this somewhat forgivable. I read the whole thing in less than 48 hours, so I can't really give it less than four stars. Post-apocalyptic fiction is my favourite genre, and outside the irritating point-of-view changes, this is extremely readable.

However, I'm delighted to learn that the science says that the events in this book won't happen, because it is scary as h*ll. The movie that this book is based on is based on an Art Bell/Whitley Strieber collaboration book called The Coming Global Superstorm, but I'm not reviewing that book, I'm reviewing this one. It's fiction, so I can call on "suspension of disbelief" to deal with the bad science and not downrate it for that reason.

[Eesha Sajid · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
Note to future self: Do NOT sleep with air conditioning on and to the max right after reading this. seriously.
i liked the movie and i am partial to Gyllenhaal (Sam) who comes forth as the protagonist in the plot. The book, however, puts lime light on Jack Hall instead of his teen age son and i liked this even better. Movie adaptation turns the story into a coming-of-age, survival adventure. With Jack at the helm, its shows fidelity to the actual genre: Sci-fi.
it could do better on the writing front. Nationalism shinning through a global emergency was not a favorable feature for me.
Also, there are a number of characters with no major or minor share in the story line. They are essentially being used as props. The book could really do better with lesser focus on them and more on the family dynamics/scientific front.

[Crimelpoint · Rating 2 out of 5]

Książka jest napisana na podstawie scenariusza filmu o tym samym tytule.
Kierowana jest głównie dla fanów filmów katastroficznych.

Pisanie powieści na podstawie filmu nie jest według mnie dobrym pomysłem. Niektóre wydarzenia zostały dosłownie przeniesione z filmu do książki. Różne dialogi, czy sytuacje były identyczne, więc można mieć wrażenie deja vu.

Momentami w książce przeskakiwaliśmy na drugi koniec świata, tylko dlatego, że w filmie została ukazana taka, a nie inna scena. Przez co trochę ciężko czytało się tę książkę.

Mimo, że bardzo lubię film "Pojutrze" oczekiwałam od tej książki czegoś więcej. Nie spodziewałam się tego, że powieść ta będzie dokładną kopią filmu.

[Dave Warawa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Massive climate change grips the world and threatens its very existence. While written in 2004, this book was long before its time. It has some very remarkable likeness to what is happening in the word currently as some countries embrace global warming and some stick their head in the sand. It actually is a very scary omen that details the possibilities of government disregard and neglect. I found this to be one of the factors that drive me to continue to read the book faster than I usually do.

[Christopher Dodds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so enjoyable to read as it delved deeper into the story of what happened to Jack and his son as well as the other people trying to survive and it really went into detail which was great about the storm on the people it hit and the people who were also trying to rescue. Even though I'd seen the film and knew the ending to it I didn't know if the same characters would make it, overall I really loved reading this book the characters were well fleshed out and complex and really cared for each other.

[LJ McIntosh · Rating 2 out of 5]

On some element, it does elaborate details from the movie however as it is a novel it leaves no excuse of the missed opportunity for the author to develop this story into more detail through character interaction, development and intensity of the plot.

Felt like the author merely polishd the corners of an art piece where there was ample room for growth.

Scenes change and skip very frequently, all in all culminating to an unsatisfying ending. There was no real threat if you had already seen the film, you know how it'll end.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly I was left disappointed with this one. I knew it was the screenplay novel adaptation of the movie, but I still had high hopes for it. There were some differences, but not much and not worth mentioning. Overall it stayed true to the movie which was fine, but it wasn't enough to hook me. The movie is one of my favorite natural disaster films of all time so I really had a lot of high hopes for the novel version.

I do have the nonfiction book that the movie is based on so I have high hopes for that one as well, but now I'm not so sure.

[madmadmadiee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pamätám si, ako som mala rada ten film. Videla som ho asi 5 krát. Potom som úplnou náhodou našla knihu a tešila som sa, že sa možno dostanem k postavám hlbšie.

Nope.

Kniha by bola fajn, keby ostala iba pri katastrofických klimatických zmenách a ich dopade na ľudstvo. Dokonca by mohla byť ešte lepšia, ak by sa venovala vnútornému svetu postáv.
Keby, keby, keby.

Namiesto toho som dostala síce sci-fi príbeh, ale v kombinácii s emotívnymi monológmi. Beriem, že niekde by sa hodili, no pchať ich pomaly do každej kapitoly mi príde veľa.

[Sarah Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very patchy the way it was written. I don't know how else to describe it. It jumped from one scene to another rather quickly and some of the language could have been written better. However it was a quick read and I got really into it. I never saw the movie and the allure of whether the human race would survive kept me quickly turning pages until the end.

[Alex Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who think the movie is true to this book, I just wanted to point out and clarify, the screenplay for the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" was based on the BOOK, "The Coming Global Superstorm", by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber. THIS book [The Day After Tomorrow] is a "novelization" of the movie. That's why the movie and book are almost identical.