Children of Tomorrow

by J.R. Burgmann

Children of Tomorrow is an episodic saga, a sweeping history of family and friendship, spanning multiple generations and geographies across the twenty-first century.

This web of characters struggle, both individually and collectively, through a time of unprecedented, escalating change. Beginning in 2016, Arne Bakke witnesses the historic devastation of that summer's bushfires across the ancient wilderness of Tasmania. Elsewhere, Londoner Evie Weatherall witnesses extreme climate events in her travels. They each see a dangerous future forming. When their paths collide in Melbourne, Australia, where they are both enrolled in a PhD, they and their group of close friends are set on course to witness and struggle together against the coming century, an age of great individual and planetary loss.

Children of Tomorrow depicts an all-too-real future history, rushing on at an unstoppable speed and fracturing the lives of its many characters, the effects of which ripple throughout subsequent generations and the earth they inherit.

'With echoes of Kim Stanley Robinson, James Bradley and Richard Powers, JR Burgmann provides a lyrical catalogue of the terrifying crises to come. If you're waiting for a hero to save us, Children of Tomorrow is a timely reminder that climate change is caused by a complex network of people, and that collective action and diverse approaches are our only way out of this.' —Jane Rawson

'a pre-emptive elegy to our world as it spins through the 21st century into what could conceivably be the human race's endgame… This novel doesn't pull its punches but does, ultimately, nail its colours to the mast of that most persistent and valuable of all human hope.' —Paul Dalgarno

Genres: Fiction

Audible Audio

Published March 14, 2023

Reviews

[Sean Birkett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel surprised me. It starts out describing the familiar discourse of future climate change catastrophe and quickly descends into it's reality. Beautifully descriptive. If you have climate change on the mind, do yourself a favor and read this book.

[Ariel Desrochers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completely engrossing and complex, this novel paints a picture of what is yet to come. I did find myself questioning the actions of characters in a world where they are hyper aware of the continuous change around them. I also wanted to get to know them more. A very entertaining book!

[D.M. Cameron]

There's some beautiful writing here. Haunting and frightening. An important read. (please note I don't partake in the star rating system).

[Ian Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children of Tomorrow is a story about the importance of family and friendship in a world that is collapsing. J.R. Burgmann tells the story of Evie and Arne, two scientists who are witnessing the destruction of the natural world. Despite the loss around them, Evie and Arne fall in love and start a family. Unfortunately, the family’s bliss is interrupted by an unimaginable catastrophe which has a profoundly negative impact on the family.

As time passes, the planet continues to warm, species become extinct and ecosystems collapse. As Arne and Evie’s kids grow up, their daughter Jasmine shows a keen interest in all that has been lost. Jasmine grows up to be influential with her peers (the Greta generation) and leads her followers on the next big climate strike. Jasmine’s brother Raph, on the other hand, descends into a world of climate change denial and conspiracies. Raph spends much of his time in the echo chambers of the deep web, putting a strain on Raph’s relationship with his family. Ultimately, both children drift in the world disconnected from their parents and loved ones.

As the decades pass, the reader witnesses that the power of family and friendship prevails and despite all of the hardship, love and community help us hold on to hope.

J.R. Burgmann truly spoke to me through his writing. Being a parent of children from the Greta generation, this book really hits home. While we endure a summer of unprecedented wildfires in Canada, I can only imagine how my children will feel growing up in a world that will lose so much. This book has reinforced the importance of getting my children outside to enjoy nature while it’s still here. It is a reminder that when they are older, my children will look back at my actions now. I want them to know that I did everything in my power to help protect their future.

Despite the state of the world, this story gives me hope that my children can grow up to be healthy, happy and cared for despite the losses they are likely to experience. It has also reminded me to live in the moment and appreciate the time that I have to spend with my family and friends.

[Maree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an environmental warning sheathed in such beautiful prose. This follows a group of researches in the bush of Tasmania watching bushfires destroy protected old forests. We then track each of this group as they go forth fighting climate change around the world. This is somewhat grandiose. These environmentalists are heroes each and every one of them. They are rockstars, Government advisors and social media influencers. They have enough money to travel anywhere in the world and make startling discovers wherever they go. A bit fantastical but I found myself hanging on hoping for some good news. The ending is to be expected but don't ask me how anyone finds something to eat when plants and animals are destroyed. A terrifying warning.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really enthralled by the first half of this book, but then skimmed the rest as the story widened too much and lost its close perspective. The characters we had followed in the first half fell totally away and I had no idea why they made the few choices they did that we as readers learned about. The first half, though, was very moving in the way the characters always had the earth's deterioration on their mind and saw the world's suffering so deeply. It was very affecting. I wish the second half of the book could have been that good.

[Katie Snell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a terrifying and realistic view of the earths future if nothing is done about climate change. There characters were a little hard to connect to and some of the plot lines were dropped and not picked up again.

[sam ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5