Book Review: Tomorrow's Children by Daniel Polansky

A bunch of fighters headed by a mysterious kid, who calls himself the Kid, break into a building that houses the leader of a violent gang called the I's and take him out. The time is 'Tomorrow' and the place is the island of Manhattan, which is cut off from the outside world by the spread of a toxic mist called 'funk'. Their deed shakes the island, which is now practically ruled by local gangs but administered by a 'Council' with the help of an army of 'Force'. The council reinstates Gillian as the sheriff, who begins her mission of hunting the Kid and his gang with the help of her ragtag team of apostates. All this happens in the background of the arrival of a tourist from the outside world, with nefarious intent. 

When 'Tomorrow's Children', the post-apocalyptic novel by Daniel Polansky, begins, it definitively states what to expect by showing us a man hunting a dog to abduct her puppies. Which civilization, other than a deeply degenerative one, would kill its dogs for food? The novel continues its journey at a breakneck and frantic pace, like a rollercoaster operated by a psycho who doesn't care if the safety of its passengers is on. I got a review copy of the book from its publisher, Angry Robot, through NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback. 

There are many elements in this novel that I normally don't like. The entire book is very visual in its style, like a movie script. If you try to find an equivalent for its style, you will inevitably end up comparing it with movies like those made by Tarantino or Guy Ritchie. The prose is very basic. The characterization is nonexistent. Their motivations, backgrounds, and mental states are provided as footnotes at the end of the chapters. It bombards the reader frequently with new characters and situations, providing only the bare minimum of information. Overall, the exposition part is mostly done away with unless it's essential. 

But the writer assembles these precise elements for his stylistic choice of narration and somehow manages to deliver a shocker of a novel, which is explosive while reading and provides enough food for thought after putting it down. The intentional threadbare style makes it lean and mean, packing enough punch to knock its reader out occasionally. Even the footnotes about the characters, which shocked me at first encounter, turned out to enhance the black humor of the plot. The new characters, who suddenly pop out in the narrative in a seemingly random manner, fit into the narrative seamlessly by the end. 

The novel depicts a bunch of people who are still clinging to the remnants of what their 'Ancestors' left for them, even when they are dead, decayed, or bastardized. For food, they prepare the same recipes, substituting ingredients for what's available, like rats or dogs. Buildings, infrastructure, gadgets, and equipment are all decades old, decrepit, and worn by overuse. They lost many words in their language, which they substituted with made-up words. Thus, firearms became 'booms' and swords became 'cutters'. There are fanatics who believe famous celebrities from their forgotten pasts are deities, and we find cults who worship Beyonce and BTS like gods. This, I believe, is a pertinent statement on religion. 

The island in this novel reminded me of the post-colonial situation of many third-world countries. It shows what depravity and exploitation can do to a closed system. Even the rampant systemic corruption is generated due to the abandonment of the outside world. When the world tries to get access again, we find that it's not out of empathy but for a chance to exploit them again. 'Tomorrow's Children' by Daniel Polansky makes serious statements on the present depravities and future challenges for humanity and decides to bury them deep inside kitsch for mindful readers to excavate.