Reviews

Leveraging a sci fi telling of aliens colonising the earth was a super clever way of building empathy for the Māori experience of colonisation in NZ. A compelling, engaging read.

reidfrancis's review

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

rosydaysjpg's review

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informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

ginabarclay's review

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emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

valsira's review

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challenging funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

andicbuchanan's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The "alien colonisation of Earth as a metaphor for colonisation within Earth" subgenre is far from new. There are still excellent works being published in this space (Clare G. Coleman springs to mind). Tīhema Bakers _Turncoat_, though, manages to explore it in a way I haven't really seen before.

It's the story of a young, idealistic human who decides to change the situation for his people by working within the system (if you feel like the two survivors in a horror movie have just decided to split up, then yup). I understand it's heavily based on the author's own experience. It's very clever and at times very funny - I think I actually yelped at the projection of New Zealand's most iconic symbol. And at the same time, it's underscored by not just a profound sense of loss, but the sense that its human characters and societies have lost even the ability to comprehend that loss, or to know what they have lost (has been taken from them, to be more accurate). You realise the parts that are so wonderfully funny are only so because they are misunderstandings or ideas divorced from their context. Because so much has been taken from the humans of the story.

There are parts that are brutal and actually quite harrowing. Physical violence, deprivation of the necessities of life, absolutely feature, as do the repeated blows of having your name mispronounced. But it also makes you stop and imagine: in a world where things like road-trips, chips, rick-rolling, all sit in isolation as half understood concepts, and everything that might connect them is gone and you don't even know what should be there, how do you even process that devastation?

Turncoat is unsubtle because it needs to be. While the first part was, as I've said, clever, I don't feel it came into its own as a novel until maybe 2/3 of the way through. What happens to those closest to Daniel, and how he deals with it, takes it up separate notches. There are no easy answers or solutions. This might be a novel about someone trying to find a solution, but it ends up being one about how the problem runs deeper, and across more areas of life and ways of being, than most are prepared to acknowledge.

nclovelock's review

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emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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