Murder committed in a murdered world, and what seems at first a simple and straightforward case takes strange twists and dark turns. As agent Ben Travis struggles to solve this baffling mystery, he stumbles on more than just an answer. Ben discovers a truth as well, a truth concerning the ultimate fate of all surviving humanity. But, can Ben survive long enough to tell it?

Tomorrow's End is set in a near future that is apocalyptic in nature. The Earth lies in ruins with terrible pollution as a result of too much population. The air is not only unfit to breathe, but seriously dangerous as well. It kills if one is too long exposed to it. Unpurified water is toxic. Plants are rare and only a few still struggle to exist in nature. Storms are now super storms, deadly and powerful. Humans, vastly reduced in numbers, live in sealed communities, the Ecosystem. They are governed by computers, because people no longer trust themselves to be in control. Under the influence of this computer government, humanity is dividing into two groups, the "Names," and the "Numbers," with the "Numbers" being genetically altered to be nearly perfect. They strive to be like living computers.

Ben Travis, an Ecosystem policeman, is a natural and flawed human, a so-called Name. His partner is "Perfect Paula," a Number. Together they try to keep the peace in their sealed apartment complex. This is no easy task, because prejudice between the two human factions is now at an almost fever pitch. Paula and Ben are just as biased toward each other about this as everyone else seems to be. But the two must do their jobs and somehow get along together as members of the police force.

One day, they answer a computer call to attend a death. It appears to be a suicide, but Ben suspects otherwise, although he has no concrete evidence to support his contention. He pushes to investigate, while Paula is quick to dismiss the death for just what it appears to be. Information comes to light that convinces Ben there is more to the death of Doug MacDougall, a collector and seller of now rare plants, than just mere suicide. Ben believes it to be murder. Worse, the motive seems to be a sinister one with implications for all of humanity. Together with the reluctant Paula, Ben strives to find the answers and the culprit. Along the way, the two peace officers explore their developing relationship with each other.

Tomorrow's End, by Davie Henderson, was a big disappointment for me. The book went terribly astray almost from the very beginning and had an entirely unbelievable ending to it. This came as a surprise, because there is no doubt, in my personal estimation, that Davie Henderson is good at creating characters, for he does this well in Tomorrow's End. I felt for all of the characters and identified with the novel's hero. The author, Davie Henderson, also seems accomplished at developing his story's universe in depth, as well as building a solid foundation for a good plot in Tomorrow's End.

On the face of it, this plot seems an excellent idea for a story and it is, but Tomorrow's End deviates from this intriguing premise almost immediately and constantly throughout most of the novel. As a reader, I only had short snatches of the actual story between long and what appeared to me as thinly-disguised political tracts proclaiming the evils of the modern world when it comes to pollution, its dangers, and consequences. These polemics are incorporated by the author, Davie Henderson, into Tomorrow's End by using pages-long excerpts from fictional diaries of dead citizens, those destroyed by humanity's excesses of pollution. These diaries, found outside the Ecosystem habitat, and along with various journals also discovered there, all acted to slow the story down to a pace that absolutely dragged for me. Added to this, as a contrast to show what the world was once like, Tomorrow's End also includes more fictitious and pages-long segments of travelogue articles written by a Calum Tait, a long-dead travel writer. He describes how the world used to be -- beautiful, green, and full of life. There is also a young teacher who lectures us at length while teaching her pupils about the recent history of the world and what led to its current state.

All these interjected excerpts from diaries, journals, travelogues, and history lessons, acted to "tell" me as a reader what was going on, rather than to have Davie Henderson "show" me. Instead of actually happening in real time, I had to learn about most events by second- and even third-hand, thus distancing me from the story. This approach, combined with the length of those various inserts, made me lose almost all interest in the actual tale.

There were other major flaws for me as well. As just one example, Davie Henderson creates a world in Tomorrow's End where surviving humans use a strict recycling system in the Ecosystem habitats, as in the need to reclaim even tiny scraps of paper. So, I couldn't help repeatedly wondering why so much in the way of still recyclable items were left untouched in the abandoned cities and towns nearby. Thousands of houses seemed abandoned in their entirety, along with all their contents still in situ, including everything from collections of books, CDs, entire diaries, some barely used, furniture, implements, tools, and all sorts of things. In such a destitute world, would not teams of protectively dressed people go out to fetch these items when they are so close at hand, so easily reclaimed? Even Paula and Ben do this on their own, as do many other citizens who like just to collect things. But there seems no systematic attempt to retrieve this seeming treasure trove of items. In a resource poor world, I had to ask, why not?

The conclusion of Tomorrow's End astonished me, but not in a good way. Without giving anything away, I have to say that Davie Henderson actually uses a deus ex machina to wrap up the story with a suddenness I found sadly disturbing and utterly disappointing. As a reader, it made me feel thoroughly cheated. Thus, the ending for me was too quick, too pat, way too easy, and so just too unbelievable. So, although Tomorrow's End by Davie Henderson had some good concepts, a great idea for a plot, and believable characters, it just came across as having an incredibly preaching aspect to it and an awfully unsatisfying end. Although Tomorrow's End makes for a fine warning about the dangers of pollution, I cannot recommend this book as science fiction.

Reviewed By Rob Shelsky
© June 2008