I am all for a good apocalyptic wasteland story and had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately it missed the mark for me. It was a lot of work to read - lots of unexplained slang and random action scenes that didn’t make sense. At one point, I thought maybe it was a sequel to something that I missed (it wasn’t) - just too much going on. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

Tomorrow’s Children offers a thrilling and imaginative journey through a pocket of post-apocalyptic New York, unlike anything seen or imagined before. In this contained world, where gang codes dictate survival and peace is precarious, the story unfolds with grit, humour, and immediate engagement. Initially, the world-building details may seem murky, but they gradually sharpen as the narrative progresses.

The story itself is a complex web of intrigue, with conflicting interests and intertwined personal journeys for the prominent characters. Superhuman abilities and philosophical reflections add depth, hinting at larger-scale goals beyond initial assumptions.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Tomorrow’s Children is a fantastic (and fantastical) ride taking place in an established pocket post-apocalypse, of all places. It’s New York like you’ve never seen and imagined, a contained world where people live and die by gang code and peace is a tenuous concept at best. It’s gritty, funny and immediately engaging, with the world-building details muddy at first but coming into sharper focus as the story unfolds.

And what a story! A real web of intrigue, conflicting and overlapping interests and (rather intertwined) personal journeys for the prominent characters, peppered generously with mentions of superhuman abilities and poignant philosophical comments made as if in passing - all of which ends up being for a much larger-scale goal than you would assume at the beginning.

I suppose it should come as no surprise that Polansky impressed me once again. I loved all the big and little things that make this story so compelling - it might actually be my favorite of his as of now.

Thank you to #angryrobotbooks and Netgalley for an advance copy. An absolute delight.

Welcome to tomorrow’s Manhattan Island. At some point in our future, the air (here, at least – who knows about further afield?) has become polluted with ‘the Funk’. Some people sniff just a little of it to get high, others find themselves warped and mutated by it. Get too enveloped in the stuff, and it’s a messy death. And yet others say that the Funk tells them the future…

Cut off from the outside world, and prevented from going more than a few stories high, Manhattan is now a jigsaw of gang-run neighbourhoods. In an unknown number of generations, written language has disappeared – replaced by emoji-text – and technology is both scarce and failing. Rat forms a large part of most people’s diet. All in all, a lovely place – which only makes it all the more strange when, for the first time in centuries, the island gets a … tourist?!

This is not an easy book to get into, as the reader is thrown right in at the deep end of altered language (are you walking the phalt this dim?) and new social norms. It is, however, high action – there’s something incredibly cinematic about the opening assault on a gang’s high rise home turf, by a misfit band wielding swords as well as some ‘boom’ (ie guns). Led by ‘The Kid’, the first part of the book follows their trail of destruction through the city, all the while wondering what exactly their game even is, never mind where it’s leading us.

The action really doesn’t let up, either, jumping scene to scene between different characters (with regular pithy footnotes passing comment as well as helping keep straight who’s who), different gangs, different parts of the city. There is *such* a lot going on here! Factions upon factions, and then the individual-level scheming, and really you just have to let yourself get swept along. Before too long, I was totally caught up in the plotting and weirdness, and wondering how all the pieces might fit together.

If I had to liken this to anything, it might be Escape from New York populated by the residents of Mad Max’s Barter Town (sans Thunderdome). Only, the Funk adds an otherworldly element, giving some people mental powers even as it traps and damages the population.

We never find out what caused the Funk, or what the rest of the world still looks like but we do get a satisfactory – imo – conclusion to the story, which is always a good thing! Along the way, I did grow to love the imagination and sheer ‘otherness’ of the read compared to most things I’ve stumbled across. Sure, the emoji stuff was highly irritating, but thankfully there’s not too much of it, and it sits alongside several interesting little nods to how a society in might adapt over centuries of isolation.

Not the most immediately easy of reads, but very worth sticking with. I enjoyed this a lot.

I so wanted to love this book, everything about the premise spoke to me but I just could not get into the story, develop a bond with the characters or understand the dialect. Now either I was just not bright enough to truly keep up or this was too large an attempt to be smart that didn’t translate.

We’re introduced to many new characters in each chapters all of whom speak in a new dialect but there’s no ability to understand what they are discussing. The use of emojis as their way of writing sounded so promising but in reality I had absolutely no idea what they were meant to tell me and I trudged and waded through chapters of this book completely confused and unmotivated.

Spoiler alert *

Within just a few sentences of the book we’re subject to something that personally I could have done with a trigger warning for..I’m all for artistic license but I struggled with the graphic description of animal abuse. I can completely appreciate why it was there, they world it’s painting but it was too much for me personally and left ne dreading that another scene like that would be written.

Ultimately I ended up DNF’ing this book. I still believe the premise and idea for this book sounds fantastic and enjoyable. Perhaps the published version will contain a dictionary for the slang, a description of what the emojis mean and a map to help immerse the reader but without it I couldn’t continue.

really fun dystopian tale in the wreckage of what used to be New York City, which is a really gorgeous way to set it up. and it was so fun!

This book is…quirky

I think that’s the best way to explain it. There is a lot happening with little to no explanation and the setting is interesting. The use of emojis was an interesting concept as we see the way text has evolved and the god like status that celebrities are held to.

On the whole I would say it was an ok read.

Thanks NetGalley for the Arc

This book is full of too many silly names, made up words, and over the top weirdness for me. I couldn't take it seriously at all and it just felt like a chore to get to the end.

DNF @ 30%

This book felt very weird to me. I'm a fan of sci-fi and post-apo settings, and am usually excited to figure out the new tech and new customs the authors come up with.
However, this book missed the mark in my opinion. The main problem comes from the language: D. Polansky invented a futuristic slang and **committed** to it. Problem is, it's not intuitive, it felt forced, and i quickly got annoyed at how much effort i had to expand to understand the precise meaning of basic words. To me, it detracted from the atmosphere instead of adding to it, and created a big distance between the reader and the characters.
I also didn't like the little bit of plot I got to see. It was very disjointed and kept jumping from character to character without letting me get attached. I barely saw each POV twice in those 30% i read, how am i supposed to care for anyone?

Overall, a disappointing read. There were some nice elements and ideas i would have liked to see developed, but the writing was such a chore to wade through that i couldn't bother.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Review - Tomorrow's Children by Daniel Polansky

I quite enjoyed this book as something different, edgy and fast paced. In a near-future New York, one of its main islands has become separated by an ever-present supernatural fog ('the funk') from the rest of the world. Because of this isolation, over time its own distinct society has developed, structured around gang-like clans held in a balance of power, homebrew religious sects and a need to survive. This strange location is disrupted by the arrival of an outsider, and what follows is a violent, often amusing, rapidly paced romp filled with lots of action and snappy dialogue.

The story begins with the death of a local clan boss and many of his followers, which disrupts the power balance. A hardened veteran, Gillian, is chosen as the Sheriff to investigate the disturbance. We are also introduced to a varied group of characters during the course of her investigations and manipulations. The Kid is a chain-smoking, tough but mysterious hitman and soldier, whose relationship with Gillian is eventually revealed. Swan is a virtually blinded, drunken samurai-type fighter, who despite his weaknesses and world-weariness is nevertheless seemingly invincible. Maryland Slim is an extravagantly portrayed underworld figure, probably the strongest in the novel. He is lecherous, scheming and overweight, but also a telepath who can wage psychic war on others. There are a number of other interesting side characters, including Nelly the cat lady, who can use the viewpoints of cats' eyes for spying, and Dade and Ariadne the tunnel dwellers, whose own society is vividly imagined. And Ael is another swordsman, whose ridiculous obsession with becoming the very best sparks one of the most rollicking sequences in the book.

One of the religious groups, the Honey Swallowers, is framed for wrongdoing and a climactic battle ensues. While this is developing, Gillian and The Kid must deal with the King of TriBeCa, a mysterious leader of mutants who also wields strange powers over the funk. This fading King is trying to acquire a young boy, Newton, who he believes is the heir to his powers. Meanwhile, the outsider, Mr Simpson, who has been pulling strings behind the scenes, tries to kidnap several of the psychically talented people of the island in a violent attack.

The story is strongest when its merely enjoyed as violent, fast paced romp. It is darkly funny at times and many of the goings-on are coldly absurdist in tone, which certain readers will enjoy. The social norms, dialects and odd vocabulary of the island's residents are elaborately imagined. There are many startling incidents you'll encounter while reading (which is definitely a worthy achievement in any current book). The chapters are short and are structured with small sections within them. This is a neat example of "show me, don't tell me" storytelling, and once you can piece together the connections between the sections and the story being told, you can appreciate some clever achievements.

I didn't really mind the use of emoji symbols in the text. Perhaps it has a deeper meaning, regarding the degeneration of future people's language. But I did ask myself: if there's not much electricity available, how would anyone use emojis to communicate with each other on a powered device?

I could also see some influences or similarities between this book with other works: the kind of amoral "ultraviolence" like in A Clockwork Orange; a weird future with unusual residents like in the Viriconium series; and the future street culture with its mannerisms as Gibson's Sprawl trilogy. And action scenes reminiscent of what you'd see in the Mad Max movies, or any pumped-up Hollywood blockbuster.

There were a few things that didn't quite settle in the mix, however. Like some other readers, I found the beginning difficult to get into, with the many characters we're introduced to and the unfamiliar slang to understand. The dystopian story with its characters inclined to instant violence lacks an emotional heart; it's not a world I could imagine really living in. And some of the female characters weren't rounded or that convincing; I found them a bit too tough and unemotional. But all these flaws can be set aside, as mentioned, if you take the story for what it is: a darkly amusing tale with much action, as long as you don't think about it too deeply.

Thanks to Angry Robot books and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Goodreads review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6189815860

Blog post:
https://toomanyfantasybooks.blogspot.com/2024/01/review-tomorrows-children-by-daniel.html

DNF at 60%

This premise is super interesting but it jumps around so much that I can't get invested in anybody, and it's a very pretentious writing style. Will probably not try this author again for awhile.

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the opportunity to read an advance digital copy of this interesting book. At first I was totally into the snappy pacing, dialogue, and potential. But a few things kept making me put it down then struggle to want to return. First the number of characters introduced without much clarifying them in my mind. The story did not settle easily on a clear protagonist or even polyprotagonist (my own word). Second was the dialect. At times it was fresh and energizing at other times it was contrived and tedious. Hat's off to Daniel Polansky for creating a vibrant, edgy world, though!
3.75 stars

"From Hugo Award nominated author comes a high-octane post-apocalyptic romp set in the ruins of Manhattan.

Tomorrow, the funk descends on Manhattan, a noxious cloud which separates the island from the rest of the world and mutates the population. Some generations on, the surviving population exists amid the rubble of modernity, wearing our cast-off clothing, worshipping celebrities as dim gods and using emojis in place or written language. The Island exists in a state of uneasy peace, with each neighborhood an independent fiefdom, protecting itself with scrap metal spears and Molotov cocktails.

But something new has come to the Island, the first tourist in centuries, and this uneasy equilibrium is about to shatter..."

Apocalypse tourism. Yeah, that seems about right. Look at Pompeii...

Thank you to Angry Robot, Daniel Polansky, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of Tomorrow's Children in exchange for an honest review.

I do not know how I feel about this book. In some aspects it was great. But in many other aspects, I was just confused. This story takes place in post-apocalyptic Manhattan, which is surrounded by something called the funk. The concept itself sounds good. However, the clearest explanation of what is going on comes from the summary on the back of the book. It should not take me until the last 10 chapters to know that the apocalypse took place 6-7 generations ago or to know random details about the society. Readers are thrown into the middle of the action with a large cast of characters and there never is an explanation about what is going on or what the society is. The language is different and while using emojis as writing is a cool idea, there was never a footnote or an index that actually told you what the emoji word was. I will say, that having the footnotes to clarify what was what and who was who was really helpful. There is a part of me that wonders if listening to the audiobook if/when it comes out will help me to make more sense of what is going on. However, first I need to decide if I actually want to know what is going on. This might just be the case for a book that is not my cup of tea and that is okay. I will say, that people should give this book a chance themselves rather than relying solely on reviews because what does not work for someone just might be another individual's favorite book of the year.

Sorry I just could not connect with this book .I hope other readers enjoy it more than I did .I was disappointed that I didn't enjoy it more

Tomorrow's children :

Tomorrow's Children is set in a post-apocalyptic New York, destroyed by the funk, a sort of mortal mist.

Let's start with the positive; I think the world building is pretty original, I love that they developed powers which make it kind of sci-fi/ urban horror fantasy vibe ? The history of the gangs was well made, the fact that there's still capitalism and social classes was really funny to me (in a good way).
That particular post apocalyptic setting is also pretty original, since it's not directly post apocalyptic but many generations after the end of the world.
The writing in itself is fluid and simple, the author is certainly a man of action more than words and its ok, although I think he really nailed the individualisation of the dialogues.

BUT, there is also some negative points : I think the world building would have been clearer with a map ? I've never been to New York so trying to make sense of the different gangs and neighbourhood was hell, I quickly abandoned the fact that I will understand what TriBeCa is ! I also thought that emoji replacing words, and in such that everybody was illiterate really sounded silly to me, knowing that I think knowing how to read is a need that even parents in post-apocalyptic era would learn to their children (I know they're approximately the 4/5 generations after the mist but still), moreover since they don't have phones how do they know about it ? My last criticism would just be taste and colours ; I think there's too much characters and it drove me out of the story since I wasn't able to know any and was confused 90% of the time.


Summary : Very original ideas, characters and setting. Although, some details frustrated me ( illiteracy with use of emojis instead and too many characters for my liking).

I had such trouble with this one. With the jargon and the prose, I never got very engaged in the story or cared about much of anything happening. I pushed through thinking I’d hit a stride at some point, but sadly never did. In truth, it should have been a DNF.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest reviews

I’m not sure I actually *liked* this book but once I’d cracked the first quarter, it became a compelling read nonetheless: not an easy book to get into. I liked the concept and its grit but there was no one character that really stood out to me. I dont think this is Polansky’s best work. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

There is a trap in writing fall-of-man, post-apocalyptic fiction, and that trap is future slang. You might be willing to work out quite how much technology or knowledge may be lost, but accurately predicting the change of language is really tough and leaves you open to something not reading well. Not everyone can write A Clockwork Orange, and that's not exactly a breathless read. Tomorrow's Children, a story of post-apocalyptic gang warfare on the island of Manhattan is full of both devoluted slang, and evolved language, some of which makes sense, some of which is clumsy, and some which seems willfully obtuse. Asphalt becomes phalt, and now just means the ground. I can see that, its linguistic path follows a pretty standard route. But how "night" becomes "dim", and "day" becomes "bright" seems less clear, and that's a pity because Polansky sticks to that one religiously. Mix that up with Manhattan neighbourhood slang (Stuy for Stuyvesant Park, the Ef-De-Ar) you'd hope the prose style wasn't too stylised just to make it accessible. Unfortunately, the prose style is florid in places.

For a New York native, this might grab you like the tales of London gangs of Borribles did me as a kid, though that was always very readable. Instead, there is this tale of multiple gangs starting a war while something tries to reconnect to the mainland all while the mysterious "funk" 9which caused the apocalypse) closes in. And cute gags and short Vonnegutian chapters notwithstanding, it didn't really connect to me at all.

I greatly enjoyed most of Daniel Polansky's books and was eager to check this one. I'm glad I did, but it's a daring one. The first half of the book throws readers into a post-apocalyptic world and introduces lots of characters. It's really difficult to get into and get the full grasp of what's going on. Things do connect later in the story, and it becomes interesting. Still, when I crack a book open, I want to feel immersed as soon as possible and not have to force myself to read 150-200 pages to get a sort of compensation for the effort later on.

In summary, it's a challenging book to get into and appreciate.