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A review by smitchy
Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman
4.0
"Jacky was running. There was no thought in his head, only an intense drive to run. There was no sense he was getting anywhere, no plan, no destination, no future. All he had was a sense of what was behind, what he was running from. Jacky was running.
The Natives of the Colony are restless. The Settlers are eager to have a nation of peace, and to bring the savages into line. Families are torn apart, reeducation is enforced. This rich land will provide for all.
This is not Australia as we know it. This is not the Australia of our history."
Pretty intriguing, right? I thought so too, so when this one came in I jumped on it.
I found Terra Nullius a fascinating read and not your traditional sci-fi offering. It will make you think. It will hit a nerve. And it might possibly reach a different audience that other books dealing with similar topics (race / colonialism / indigenous vs. settler / cultural destruction) won't reach.
Terra Nullius is a story of our past wrapped in the story of a possible future: The settlers have come and they have changed everything. The people of this land find themselves dispossessed, enslaved and scattered. It is two generations since the settlers came and old ways have been lost. Thriving communities are smashed and the last free people are barely clinging to survival. If the new diseases don't kill them then the fire power of the settlers surely will. Under the guise of "help" children are removed and "educated" for a life of service and usefulness in the homes and businesses of the settlers. And for some reason those children and their families have completely failed to see what a boon this is to their future.
Jacky was one such child: Now an adult he is one the run. Refusing to stick around for yet another beating, he has only a few clear memories of his time before the school and he is running home.
Then there is Johnny Star. He was convicted back home of a minor crime and given a choice - prison or being a soldier in the colonies- sickened by the violence toward the natives he becomes a deserter, but surviving in this dry land is harder than expected.
Bagra is Mother Superior at the native school - she is certain that what she does is god's work - even if the children die as a result.
Rohan, a Sergeant charged with hunting down the runaway Jacky and trouble making outlaw Johnny Star, is a settler who relishes his job and is determined to capture them dead or alive.
Esperance is one of the last free Natives. Living in a group of fellow survivors lead by her grandfather (a survivor of the initial invasion) she is scared the apathy and despair of her fellow free people will doom them all.
Told in turns from various view points, both native and settler, a story builds of greed, arrogance, desperation, anger, fear and a conflict that is ridiculously one sided.This isn't just about an invasion; it is about the complete and total destruction of a culture and a people so thoroughly smashed as to loose all hope of survival.
(Next bit has a spoiler so read on at your own risk!)
My major issue with the story is the "reveal' takes a bit too long. You are over half way through before it becomes clear that this isn't a story about Australia's colonial past but a story about a futuristic alien invasion affecting not just Australia but the entire world. Any sci-fi reader would be wondering why they found it in the fantasy section and not in literary fiction - I'm afraid that that alone might cause people to put the book down before it becomes clear.
However I think Terra Nullius is great, and a worthy winner of the of the black&write fellowship. I highly recommend to teens and adults alike and I think it is one that will appear on the Australian curriculum before too long.
The Natives of the Colony are restless. The Settlers are eager to have a nation of peace, and to bring the savages into line. Families are torn apart, reeducation is enforced. This rich land will provide for all.
This is not Australia as we know it. This is not the Australia of our history."
Pretty intriguing, right? I thought so too, so when this one came in I jumped on it.
I found Terra Nullius a fascinating read and not your traditional sci-fi offering. It will make you think. It will hit a nerve. And it might possibly reach a different audience that other books dealing with similar topics (race / colonialism / indigenous vs. settler / cultural destruction) won't reach.
Terra Nullius is a story of our past wrapped in the story of a possible future: The settlers have come and they have changed everything. The people of this land find themselves dispossessed, enslaved and scattered. It is two generations since the settlers came and old ways have been lost. Thriving communities are smashed and the last free people are barely clinging to survival. If the new diseases don't kill them then the fire power of the settlers surely will. Under the guise of "help" children are removed and "educated" for a life of service and usefulness in the homes and businesses of the settlers. And for some reason those children and their families have completely failed to see what a boon this is to their future.
Jacky was one such child: Now an adult he is one the run. Refusing to stick around for yet another beating, he has only a few clear memories of his time before the school and he is running home.
Then there is Johnny Star. He was convicted back home of a minor crime and given a choice - prison or being a soldier in the colonies- sickened by the violence toward the natives he becomes a deserter, but surviving in this dry land is harder than expected.
Bagra is Mother Superior at the native school - she is certain that what she does is god's work - even if the children die as a result.
Rohan, a Sergeant charged with hunting down the runaway Jacky and trouble making outlaw Johnny Star, is a settler who relishes his job and is determined to capture them dead or alive.
Esperance is one of the last free Natives. Living in a group of fellow survivors lead by her grandfather (a survivor of the initial invasion) she is scared the apathy and despair of her fellow free people will doom them all.
Told in turns from various view points, both native and settler, a story builds of greed, arrogance, desperation, anger, fear and a conflict that is ridiculously one sided.This isn't just about an invasion; it is about the complete and total destruction of a culture and a people so thoroughly smashed as to loose all hope of survival.
(Next bit has a spoiler so read on at your own risk!)
My major issue with the story is the "reveal' takes a bit too long. You are over half way through before it becomes clear that this isn't a story about Australia's colonial past but a story about a futuristic alien invasion affecting not just Australia but the entire world. Any sci-fi reader would be wondering why they found it in the fantasy section and not in literary fiction - I'm afraid that that alone might cause people to put the book down before it becomes clear.
However I think Terra Nullius is great, and a worthy winner of the of the black&write fellowship. I highly recommend to teens and adults alike and I think it is one that will appear on the Australian curriculum before too long.