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A review by rachhenderson
Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman
4.0
It's hard to write a review of this book without giving too much away so I'm going to keep this very vague.
The early part of the book put me in mind of an Australian [b:Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West|394535|Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West|Cormac McCarthy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453995760l/394535._SY75_.jpg|1065465]. The settler groups hunting Natives seemed very similar in personality to some of the characters in Blood Meridian, and there were occasional bursts of similarly horrendous violence. (Strangely I haven't found many other reviews that mention the violence. My tolerance is usually high, but this pushed me, so I'm surprised at the lack of comments from others).
I found Blood Meridian exceptionally boring. The first half of this book wasn't that bad, but it was still slow.
The second half went somewhere I wasn't expecting, and raised some interesting issues. The author's note mentioned that she was inspired by [b:Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies|1842|Guns, Germs, and Steel The Fates of Human Societies|Jared Diamond|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453215833l/1842._SY75_.jpg|2138852] and I could definitely see that. She went a step further in clearly postulating that the reason Europeans came to have guns is because people and animals evolve and develop technology only to the degree required to live with their enemies/predators and never develop beyond the necessary. This was also stated in [b:Project Hail Mary|54493401|Project Hail Mary|Andy Weir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597695864l/54493401._SY75_.jpg|79106958], so it was interesting to read it twice in as many months. Project Hail Mary was published after Terra Nullius, so I wonder whether [a:Andy Weir|6540057|Andy Weir|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1382592903p2/6540057.jpg] had read it?
Anyway, clearly it gave me a lot to think about, and I do think it's very important work to highlight exactly how horrendous the British were to Australia's native population. But it was a little slow.
3.5 stars rounded up because of how important it is that we promote the work of indigenous authors.
The early part of the book put me in mind of an Australian [b:Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West|394535|Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West|Cormac McCarthy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453995760l/394535._SY75_.jpg|1065465]. The settler groups hunting Natives seemed very similar in personality to some of the characters in Blood Meridian, and there were occasional bursts of similarly horrendous violence. (Strangely I haven't found many other reviews that mention the violence. My tolerance is usually high, but this pushed me, so I'm surprised at the lack of comments from others).
I found Blood Meridian exceptionally boring. The first half of this book wasn't that bad, but it was still slow.
The second half went somewhere I wasn't expecting, and raised some interesting issues. The author's note mentioned that she was inspired by [b:Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies|1842|Guns, Germs, and Steel The Fates of Human Societies|Jared Diamond|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453215833l/1842._SY75_.jpg|2138852] and I could definitely see that. She went a step further in clearly postulating that the reason Europeans came to have guns is because people and animals evolve and develop technology only to the degree required to live with their enemies/predators and never develop beyond the necessary. This was also stated in [b:Project Hail Mary|54493401|Project Hail Mary|Andy Weir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597695864l/54493401._SY75_.jpg|79106958], so it was interesting to read it twice in as many months. Project Hail Mary was published after Terra Nullius, so I wonder whether [a:Andy Weir|6540057|Andy Weir|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1382592903p2/6540057.jpg] had read it?
Anyway, clearly it gave me a lot to think about, and I do think it's very important work to highlight exactly how horrendous the British were to Australia's native population. But it was a little slow.
3.5 stars rounded up because of how important it is that we promote the work of indigenous authors.