Hughes has a natural writing style, which sustains all her novels. When writing her book The Tomorrow City, Hughes developed an awareness of two halves of her mind: the right brain (imaginative, holistic, in touch with one's dreams and subconscious) and the left brain (linear, logical, from which comes language, without which stories cannot be written). From this understanding of how to tap into her right brain came Hughes's ability to construct a story which would be of interest, make sense, and mean something important to the reader.

Hughes focuses on character to a great extent in this novel. The character of Guardian is clearly derived to a great extent from the character Spock (created by producer Gene Roddenberry and actor Leonard Nimoy) on the classic television series Star Trek, broadcast in 1968-70 when the author Monica Hughes was raising her own children.

His impassive face...