Tomorrow Was Beautiful Once, by Amy Orrell
18 Mar 2025The Book
Synopsis:
Jack can only choose one future…
2150 – time travel has accelerated climate change and set humanity on the brink of destruction. As a Person of Mixed Era Origin with the ability to recall parallel versions of time, British historian, Jack Elliot, seems the perfect candidate to travel to the past and prevent the advent of time travel.
The catch? Success means Jack will cease to exist.
Critically injured when he arrives in the past, Jack’s life is saved by Maddie, a second-generation immigrant and resistance fighter, who mistakenly believes he’s connected to the disappearance of her sister, Suraya.
Jack’s denial soon unravels with the discovery that Suraya can lead him to his father – the man who robbed him of his mother – and that they are all searching for the inventor of time technology.
What begins as a fragile alliance soon puts their feelings and their missions to the test. Jack’s won’t be the only life affected by his sacrifice, but does he have the right to decide who should live and who should die – and will it be worth it for the futures he and Maddie hope to create?
My Review
Tomorrow Was Beautiful Once is a Sci-Fi novel written by Amy Orrell, and published by Elsewhen Press. A smart and clever storyline that makes an excellent use of timetravel and changes in possible timelines to weave a compelling plot which also tackles over some current problems such as climate change, inequality and how technology is used in favour of the money.
Jack, as a Person of Mixed Era Origin, is the perfect candidate to travel to the past and prevent the invention of time travel, which has accelerated problems such as climate change; however, success means his death. After a difficult landing in the past, Jack is saved by Maddie, a resistance fighter and whose sister, Suraya, is disappeared; soon Jack discovers Suraya can lead him towards his father, starting a fragile alliance with Maddie while they look to find and destroy the time travel technology. All their effort are put towards creating a better future even if that means sacrifices.
While Jack is the main character, and honestly, having to take a decission as difficult as his results in a great narrative device, I couldn't avoid getting sucked into Maddie's arc; not only we have a fierce and brave female character, refugee in a country that despises immigration, but how she's fighting against everything just to keep her younger sister safe. It is really interesting to see how Jack doubts about what he should do to get the best possible timeline, and how Orrell twists it even more to play with the morale dilemma in the most intense section of this book.
Time travel is a difficult beast to tackle in many stories, but I think Orrell has achieved a smart solution to avoid plotholes; the future changes, but most of people can't perceive it, and only people of Mixed Era Origins can sense those changes. Using this kind of Sci-Fi story, we also have an opportunity to examine some current themes such as climate change and the immigration movements that are created as a result of it, the rise of far-right ideologies and how capital puts benefits over keeping the enviroment.
Tomorrow Was Beautiful Once is a great Sci-Fi novel, a fast-paced story perfect if you want a compelling and well-written proposal about time travel, thought-provoking moral dilemmas and excellent characters. A great debut for Amy Orrell.
The Author/s
Amy Orrell
Amy grew up in a family of artists and writers where discussions about dragons and leprechauns flowed into debates on the existence of extraterrestrial life or the probability of time travel.
Painting was Amy’s first artistic calling — her artworks focused on narrative art — but the complexity of the stories she wanted to tell demanded something more, and naturally led her to writing.
Amy likes to write thought-provoking science fiction, fantasy and thrillers, delving into her characters’ emotional lives whilst delivering fast-paced thrills, twists, and turns.
In pursuit of balance, Amy also writes Motherland meets Bridget Jones style rom-coms, because it’s important to laugh, even if it’s at yourself.
Amy lives in Norwich, in the East of England (which, contrary to popular opinion, is not flat) with her husband, two children and writer’s support cat.