Our poor heroes aren’t so plucky and full of bravado anymore, not since Corrie was shot in the back and Kevin took her to the hospital. But the gang decide they can’t sit around forever: they need more supplies for living in Hell, and they want to see if Corrie’s OK, and they need to take some action against the army that invaded their land, took over their homes, and took their families prisoner.This book is much slower than Tomorrow, When the War Began. Our teen heroes are despondent, depressed and dejected. They crave adult company so they can go back to being kids. They want the stupid war to be over. There’s a lot of sitting around being bored and then trying to plan the next operation because really, what else are you supposed to do? They end up going for a look on the other side of Hell, leaving Chris behind because he’s in an alcohol-fuelled depression and they don’t have the wisdom, patience, or fortitude to look after him when there are bigger issues like how are they going to help Australia win the war?When they do come across a group of adults and are thrown back into the roles of untrusted delinquent children, they realise they are much braver and smarter than their so-called ‘grown-ups’ and decide to take matters into their own hands. They’re still a smart bunch of kids, and their domestic terrorism if fuelled by the basic boyish knowledge of how to destroy things.Character progression is not so much the focus of this filler book as character studies – each character has their own view on murder and killing in wartime. While the character don’t so much change over the course of the novel, their individual characteristics are solidified. Ellie, Lee and Homer become murderers while Fi is targeted for rape and Robyn holds on to her religious belief to guide her. Eventually they all come around and manage to decide that they need to do whatever it takes to cause trouble for the invaders-turned-colonisers because the war’s not over and the tide may be turning.Ellie and Lee take their relationship further, and there’s a lot of angsting about that, too. Homer and Fi seemed to have cooled right off. As for Robyn, well, she wouldn’t do anything if it were the end of the world, would she? And as for Chris… I mean, it’s excellent being inside Ellie’s head, she’s such a realistic character and her narration really sucks you in and makes you believe you’re living and breathing what she’s experiencing. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that she’s ‘writing’ all this down as her own story, especially when she manages to quote page and page of perfect dialogue, but that’s a suspension of disbelief that has to be employed under the circumstances.Like I said above, this is really more of a filler novel. Sure, in the end our heroes get a move on and cause the destruction suitable for the climax, but it’s after a lot of running for their lives and debating murder in wartime. It’s still a good book, just a bit of a surprise after the nearly non-stop action of the first book.
The Dead of the Night takes place not too long after the events at the end of the first book, Tomorrow When the War Began. It has been a couple of months since the invasion of Australia and the group of committed teenagers decide that they've had enough of sitting around waiting for something to happen and instead band together to change their dire situation.The Dead of the Night contains many of the familiar elements we came across in the first book - action, adventure, survival, and a little romance, but I thought it was much more powerful in some ways as we have got to know each character. I think character development is always an exciting thing to read about because it enables the reader to really feel as if they are part of the story and watching as the characters grow and change. People can change, especially if they've gone through something as life-threatening and horrific as these teenagers have. In The Dead of the Night, every character does something they never thought they'd do, something that alters the way they see themselves, in particular Ellie and Fi - the two most contrasting characters. In this sequel, the group come across adults who have set up camp for themselves, much like the teenagers have in Hell. The way they are treated by this new group of people really highlights that we are reading about teenagers, teenagers who wouldn't usually be experiencing the things they have been. It made the entire situation seem much more horrifying and I wondered whether it was true to life - in an invasion, would young people be seen as a help or a hindrance?The Dead of the Night is as dramatic as ever and threw the group into warfare, with lots of bloodshed. We again see each character deal with the ethics and dilemmas of war, and see them wondering just how far they should go to protect themselves. I feel like we're about to go on even more of adventure with Ellie and friends in the next book, The Third Day, The Frost.Thank you Quercus for providing this book for review!I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.
What do You think about The Dead Of Night (2006)?
This book is part of a very popular Australian young adult series. It's about teenagers trying to survive and fight in their now-occupied homeland. It was published in 1994...pre-Harry Potter.I may be wrong about this, but I think back then adults were more likely to be marginalized in YA and children's literature. I think they were often shown as being useless and/or antagonistic. In this book, the adults seem to be either captured victims or villains. The kids have to pick up the pieces and save the day. This is different from the Harry Potter war in which both adults and teens fight bravely and effectively.The books a mixture of action, tragedy, and romance. There's some very sad and painful moments. The book's written in first person—narrated by Ellie. The idea is that the book is her actual journal. She goes into great detail personal detail about everything, which makes me wonder how she has so much time to write during a war. Well, actually I think there's a lot of downtime. You blow things up, then you take a break and write down all the conversations you've had that day. When I think of it....it actually makes sense. They have no electricity. No TVs. No Twitter, Facebook or GoodReads to distract them from their daily writing quota.
—Dina Roberts
**check out my review for Tomorrow, When the War Began for my take on the series as a whole** This book started off slowly, almost too slowly after the shocking finale of Tomorrow. I was about to get worried, and then BAM it knocked me on the ground and punched me in the face.This book is a life-ruiner. You thought Tomorrow was shocking? Yeah right. This book begins to really dig into the major effects the war is having on these kids. Innocence is gone. Everything from the introduction of “Harvey’s Heroes” and on is pure madness and grief and numbness (which continues the rest of the series). Oh, and sex. There’s a bit of that, too. Just a smidge.And I’m sorry, some people might consider it a writing cop out or something , but I dearly love how uniquely each character seems to handle and react to the horrific situation they’re in—from their personal ideologies (involving war and killing) to how they emotionally cope (self-destruction, grief, etc.). I love that just for the variety and the interactions and philosophical debates and conversations.
—Jessica
boof - reading these quick books to cleanse the brain-palate before diving into proust4 means i get awful far behind in my reviewing! i am really liking this series, which is fortunate because i have once again done the thing i do, which is to buy all seven before reading the first one. dumbass. (untruth: book six is in the mail on its way to me - somehow out of print and hardish to get. but i got.) dunno - i like where this series is going, and from what i gather about twilight and some other teen books i have seen panned on this site recently, it offers up an alternative to wispy helpless female lead characters. this girl isn't superhero-badass, just believably resourceful and intelligent enough to figure out what needs to be done, and doing it without wondering what the boyfriend will think, or what will happen if her hair gets mussed. and she isn't particularly likable, which is refreshing - she does all sorts of unheroic things and thinks petty thoughts - and i think that is a good thing - too many books for youngsters have this unrealistic golden-child character - it is totally off-putting.all of the characters are well-drawn, and i enjoy the range of skills and behaviors they exhibit; they are very realistic teens responding to a horrifying situation.there are several good plot progressions here - a couple of things i did not see coming, and the way they are becoming acclimated to their new reality is wonderful - a nice slow burn thing happening here. sex, death, and slaughtering lambs. australia can definitely take care of itself.this is the most boring review i have ever written. sorry if you are now asleep.
—karen
