Comes the Night

By Isobelle Carmody

Reviewed by Jamie Willis

Isobelle Carmody is the internationally acclaimed and bestselling Australian fantasy author of The Obernewtyn Chronicles and The Gathering. She has written forty books and won countless awards, including the Children’s Literature Peace Prize, the CBCA Book of the Year Award, and the Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction (Young Adult category).

Isobelle’s latest novel, Comes the Night, is a standalone young adult fantasy. In 2070, Will, 17, lives with his father in Canberra, which has been domed to protect inhabitants from the dangerous environment and public unrest. Government bulletins are mandatory, educational and career tracks are determined based on public needs and history has been revised to suit the political agenda. Citizens are closely monitored by drones, home hubs, phones and watches in exchange for their safety.

Yet Will doesn’t question his controlled life until a recurrence of an old nightmare leads him to relocate the high-tech kite gifted from his late uncle, Adam. Adam was fond of creating hunts for Will to complete and it seems he left one last challenge. With his best friend Ender and her genius, unpredictable twin sister Magda, Will must embrace his newfound dreamwalker abilities and follow Adam’s clues to uncover the secrets in the alternative dream dimension. As he does, he encounters dark forces which threaten not only his dream self but the waking lives of everyone he loves.

Will and Ender are intriguing, complex characters. Will struggles with the loss of his uncle, pressures from his mum to choose his career and his growing attraction to his best friend, Ender. Ender is concerned about government surveillance and her difficult relationship with her sister. Magda is brilliant, though lacks social skills and is prone to violent outbursts. Her likeness to a neurodivergent stereotype is hopefully unintentional.

With intricate worldbuilding, Carmody paints a dystopian setting which seems an eerie possible reality. Dreamwalkers add a compelling fantasy element to the unsettling mood which is reminiscent of movies like The Matrix and Inception. Comes the Night explores themes of technological advances, climate change, government control and media bias and provides many discussion opportunities. With its at-times complex scientific descriptions, the novel will appeal to sci-fi fans 13+.

Allen and Unwin Children 2024

Isobel Carmody