I'm jaded. I must be. So many raving reviews for this book, but all I saw were its flaws.

I wanted to like this story of an immortal dog looking for his immortal owner, travelling through the courts of Europe meeting all the big names. But the questions about the plot kept piling up. Just a few of them: How exactly does the alchemy work? And how did the brothers come up with the idea to use it on themselves? Why does Tomorrow the dog-protagonist have to be a vegetarian? (goes against his nature) Why can Tomorrow see better than he can smell?

Who doesn’t love a charming dog story?? This was a thoroughly enjoyable read, easy to digest and utterly brilliant.

Tomorrow tells the story of a 217-year-old dog and his search for his lost master. His adventures take him through the London Frost Fair, the strange court of King Charles I, the wars of the Spanish succession, Versailles, the golden age of Amsterdam, 19th century Venice and the Battle of Waterloo.

I enjoyed the story.

I was given this book from netgalley - thank you to the publisher and author!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The idea behind the book, the idea of an eternal life is one that I find fascinating and have read in books like ‘How to Stop Time’ and ‘The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August’ the factors that made this unique were the fact that it’s told by a dog and that rather than coming into the 20th or 21st century, this book focusses on the 17th to 19th.

The dog, unnamed until the end, has been given an elixir for eternal life by his master and so follows him around the courts of Europe until he is lost or abandoned in Venice. He lives as a street dog for 127 years and how this happened to him, his life with his master and the conflict with the main villain are told alternately. It is so carefully plotted that we learn just enough to keep us guessing and intrigued.

The characters and their motivations are well realised; the fact that the story takes place in Italy, France and Germany as well as Great Britain makes it intriguing and the authors use of language make this a particularly fascinating book. I really loved that we got to meet a few people like Byron, Mozart and Wellington; seeing them through the dog’s eyes. The love between the dog and his master is captured beautifully. We all love our pets but just imagine how much love we’d have for them and they us if they lived forever rather than 15 years or so? The author made sure he was aware of the dog’s limitations so it seemed fairly believable, despite the living forever thing.

As with books of this type, we’re asked to consider the benefits of extreme longevity versus the pitfalls of losing others along the way, the question being do we really want to live forever? These ideas and themes are well examined and the ending is perfect. Not rushed or wrapped up too quickly but in a way that fits in with the characters’ personalities.

The only slight issue I have with it is the fact the writer is unsure about the date of the Black Death! Making the characters influenced by it but not born until 70 years after.

I would thoroughly recommend this to people who enjoy magical realism and all the recent time travel/immortality books. You’re in for a treat!

A fabulous fantasy tale for dog lovers and history lovers alike.

I'm not sure why any review should be 100 characters long. I would never read one that was as it would be sure to contain spoilers and I would not want to read any spoilers. I like to pick up a book and find out what is happening myself and not be prejudiced by another's view of it. Now I know that some do but like I said previously, I would be very angry to read a review BEFORE I read the books, and afterwards we may not think the same about it.

It took me a while to get into this book, but I loved it. A well-written and compelling story, and a very unusual idea, which works extremely well. I will definitely be recommending this.

If you mashed up Flush and Orlando, and sprinkled it with something dark and melancholy, you might get something like this. It's the story of a dog, told from his point of view, the undying pet of an undying man. Dibben really shows you the sadness of carrying on, the endless losses, the damage to one's soul. I enjoyed it very much.

Thank you, NetGalley, for letting me read this one.

Tomorrow is a fantasy story of a loyal dog who is searching Europe in the 1700s and 1800s searching for his former master Valentine. Both the dog and Valentine are immortal, and the story explores the pitfalls of remaining at a constant age while everyone around the characters get older. I can see why, due to this aspect of the book, some will not enjoy it. However, for me, it was just the right combination of fantasy and exploration of love, loyalty and heartbreak to produce a wonderful read.

Dibben masterfully brings together a host of historical periods in such an interesting and dynamic manner that I couldn't put the book down! I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a unique and intriguing fantasy story!

This is a really charming and heart warming story and in places a little bit heartbreaking. It’s a really original and a well told tale, and really is just a beautiful book. It is quite haunting in its way too as you travel through some quite dark times in history but the book always has heart.

The story is told by a 217 year old dog as he searches for his lost master. His travels take him across Europe as he waits to be reunited with his master and along the way he makes some powerful observations on the behaviour of humans.

TOMORROW

‘A person who keeps dog will lose many in their lifetime. I was a dog who lost people. Time took from everyone and everything I’d ever fallen in love with. But I was sure, in the very core of me, one day my true master would return. for if I was alive, surely so was he.’

This novel is told from the point of view of a dog, Tomorrow, who tells us the story of his life with his master Valentyne. Both are immortal. Beginning in 1602, and although partly told in retrospect and memory, the timeframe of the novel spans 217 years. We learn part way in that the dog has become separated from his master, and spends 127 years waiting, just where he was told to, in the hope that Valantyn will return. During this time he befriends others characters - I particularly like his street dog friend Sporco - and sees major events in history unfold.

This is a heartwarming novel, yet also full of tragedy. Viewing life though a dog’s eyes will tug at your heart strings, however this is not twee or mawkish at all. The skip back through memories style really works, and the dog’s notions and experiences of war, peace, life and loss will stay with you a long time.

Unusual and magical: 4 stars

Thank you to Penguin U.K./Michael Joseph, Damian Dibben and NetGalley for the ARC of TOMORROW.
Wonderful, truly moving and beautifully written. Highly recommended.

It may take a while to get into this story but please persevere. I promise you, it is and will be worth it in the end.

This is told from the point of view of Champion. An immortal dog who has lived for 217 years. He has spent the last 100 years searching for his master who he was separated from in Venice.

The periods of history that are captured in this book are bought to life very well.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
Firstly I must say that this book is beautifully written, and unusual, it wasn't particularly to my taste.
The protagonist is a 200+year old dog named Tomorrow. The book is written entirely from the dogs point of view. The are many descriptions of historical events and a lovely cameo of Lord Byron. It's a very very long book and takes an age to plough through it. I did enjoy it in part, though I am not a big dog fan and this may have clouded my overall view. I wouldn't wish to give this book a low score as I can appreciate its merits, but I wouldn't want to read it again or seek out any other books by this author.

I was immediately drawn to this title because the plot sounded like a mixture of two of my favorite books: Woolf's Orlando und Auster's Timbuktu. What I got was a wonderful story of friendship and loyalty. Seeing all these historical events through the eyes of a dog was a treat and it gave everything a lot more colour. Yes, sometimes there is a bit of historical name dropping but the beautiful plot easily made up for this. The reader is taken through storms, battlefields, ports, dungeons - all in the company of an endearing old soul in canine form. Dibben enchants by creating a magical world. A stunning book on love, loss, and courage.

My request for this book was largely based on three aspects - the beautiful cover, the comparison to The Night Circus and the intriguing premise of the book. Although I read a large amount of crime fiction, I do love a cleverly put together historical novel, especially if it has a whimsical element. This is what I hoped for with Tomorrow.

I regret to say that I read about a third of it and lost interest. In those pages there was little that held my interest. The narrative seemed too fragmented and confusing and the pace was just too slow for me. I'd like to believe that it does pick up momentum and becomes more interesting and engaging, but I couldn't find that in the first section of the book. I generally try to persist in reading and give a book a decent chance to hook me, but sadly this one didn't succeed.

That being said, it's been given rave reviews, so I suspect it might just be a matter of taste.

Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for the review copy. As I haven't finished it, I don't really want to give it a star rating, but since the system requires me to, it'll be a neutral 3.

This is a very original read - I loved the view point of the dog, and the historical details. It was easy to get drawn into the story, and the descriptions were beautifully written.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK for this e-copy in return for my honest review. A sweeping story of a 217 year old dog and his search of his master. Such a beautiful story. I really enjoyed this magical tale.

I’m not sure how I felt about this book if I’m honest. I’ve been thinking on my review all day. I enjoyed it, I just didn’t love it which I thought I would. The dog I felt so empathetic for, what a character, and it was heartbreaking at points.

I think I just didn’t like his master, and I don’t think the dog deserved him?

It is a good read though, don’t let my review put you off, I just don’t think it was for me but i don’t know why!

My thanks to Netgalley for the copy

Thank you publisher and Netgalley for my copy.

I regret to inform that this ain't it. When you are writing a historical fantasy from a pov of a character from that era you don't write it like history book . As if our narrator is aware that people are gonba read it hundreds of years later. The writing is beautiful I will admit . But I am a little bit weary of first person PoVs . And the fact that the narrator is a doggo isn't halping at all.
Dnf at 28% I might come back later and finish it , if I did I will inform and change my review .

Tomorrow by Damian Dibben is an unusual book of a type I've never read before. It's kind of a historical platonic love story between an immortal(ish) dog and his immortal(ish) owner ranging from medieval times to the nineteenth century across Europe. The whole story is told in the voice of the dog, whose name is Tomorrow, and I found this a really interesting perspective. There are more references to smells than I am used to, but this really helped get a sense of time and place, especially in some fairly gruesome battle scenes.

The story was engaging and also provided food for thought. Is immortality desireable? Can you love someone fully even though they are certain to die before you do? Why do people keep fighting wars with each other?

A recommended read for people who like dogs and enjoy a bit of magic attached to real history.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.