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The Tomorrow Seed by Andrew Butcher
01/07/2008 . Source: Eamonn Murphy 
pub: Atom/Little Brown. 387 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-904233-96-1. Buy The Tomorrow Seed in the USA - or Buy The Tomorrow Seed in the UK  check out websites: www.atombooks.co.uk and www.littlebrown.co.uk
'The Tomorrow Seed' is the third volume in a series of novels about a plague that kills all the adults in the world, leaving those eighteen and younger at the mercy of the evil Scytharene. The aliens unleashed the plague and now want to take all our teenagers away to be slaves. Had they but asked they could have taken all the teenagers away with our glad consent but I suppose they didn't know. The Scytharene are essentially Nazis who think that war is glorious and the strong should exploit the weak.
In the last book, there were two good Scytharene, a happy couple with the modern liberal values of a twentieth century Science Fiction writer, who wanted to help the Earthlings in their struggle. Only one is left now, Dyona, a female. Her exalted rank and ancestry mean that her loyalty is unquestioned, she thinks, so she can scheme to bring down her own kind.
At the start of 'The Tomorrow Seed', Travis and his loyal band are looking for more enclaves, military bunkers of the kind they found occupied in 'Slave Harvest'. Sadly, they find an empty one but establish radio contact with another group of survivors.
The Paragons are teen-age genius scientists cooped up at a secret bunker in Oxford. Making their way to that seat of learning, Travis and friends find two boys and a girl who have led secluded lives doing research for the government. The Paragons are very clever indeed but have some personality defects which will complicate the plot later. Although they are extremely annoying, they have found a way to defeat the Scytharene, so Travis needs them.
The story was vastly entertaining and the characters were well defined and interesting. They continued the personal development that had been a pleasing feature of 'Slave Harvest'. New characters are introduced as Travis tries to unite the street gangs of London against the aliens. The drama is played out against the evocative backdrop of our British institutional buildings and famous landmarks.
I do have one niggle with the writing: said substitutes. It might be boring to write 'he said' or 'she said' when presenting dialogue but good writers do it or find not too awkward ways round it. One very awkward way round it is to use what James Blish called 'said substitutes' such as 'he grinned', 'he chortled' and so on.
Andrew Butcher uses said substitutes that might have Blish rising from his grave in Oxford and stalking Dorset to find him and batter him to death. Sneering and sighing are kids stuff. These people have gritted, gloomed, loured, soothed, simplified, pursued anxiously and even self-diagnosed (!!) their lines of dialogue. They could have just said them, Andrew. Really.
That SAID, I enjoyed the series very much. 'Time Of The Reaper', the first book, wasn't brilliant but the two follow-up volumes exceeded my expectations. They are not especially sophisticated or subtle but here is a good adventure story, clearly told in easy to read prose with interesting characters and pleasant touches of humour, too. I enjoyed it.
Eamonn Murphy
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