"If Tomorrow Comes"

Nancy Kress's many books include over two dozen novels, four collections of short stories, and three books on writing. Her work has won six Nebulas, two Hugos, a Sturgeon, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Kress’s work has been translated into two dozen languages, including Klingon, none of which she can read.

Kress applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, If Tomorrow Comes: Book 2 of the Yesterday's Kin Trilogy, and reported the following:

Below is Page 69 in its entirety. Noah Jenner’s eyes are “oversized” because he, born on Terra, has had himself altered to look more like World’s inhabitants. The point of view is Dr. Salah Bourgiba, a physician from Terra:

…cause there. If you have any labs left standing, we might be able to synthesize more.”

Jenner’s already oversized eyes went wider. “You brought vaccine?”

Lieutenant Lamont said, “That’s not our mission. Our mission is to establish relations and return to Terra,”

Salah stood. He was aware that beside the young Ranger, he was short, a little bit flabby, old. He said, “We can’t go home, Lieutenant. There is no means to go home. Vaccines are our mission now.

“We have to save as much of this planet as we can.”

Page 69 is not typical of If Tomorrow Comes in that it is a chapter end and contains only 4½ short paragraphs. However, it is typical in that it contains a reversal of my characters’ expectations, of which the book has many. It also hints at what will be a growing, important schism between two factions on the planet World: military and scientists. I don’t usually write military characters, having no direct experience, but for this book, I researched for a long time, wrote the book, and then hired an Army Ranger to go over it and point out anything I got wrong. He was very helpful.

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The Page 69 Test: Tomorrow's Kin.

Writers Read: Nancy Kress.

--Marshal Zeringue