Tomorrow Series

Tomorrow Series

The Tomorrow series is a series of seven young adult invasion novels written by Australian writer John Marsden, detailing a high-intensity 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 2003–06. 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.

The invading nation is never specified in the books; in fact, no nation in the world meets the criteria laid out in the series, most likely by deliberate intent of the author. Likewise, no 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, or how well the war is going for the Australian military.

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 literature history. It has sold over 3 million copies in Australia and has been translated into five languages.