Terra Nullius in Aussie Readers

Jul 10, 2017 PattyMacDotComma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-and-new-readers, fiction, science-fiction, australian-author, indigenous-first-nations, arc-netgalley-done, fantasy-folk-myth-super-magic

3.5★ (rounded up for a promising debut novel)

“The Settlers would be afraid of the bush, of the deep woodland, so different from their Home. That would be the safest place for him in whatever tangled, green and brown, scratchy and dirty, trackless and untidy scrub he could find.”

That’s Jacky, absconded and on the run.

“A sun like that, heat like that – it bleached the entire sky yellowwhite, nothing like the blue sky one was used to from Home. It was that sky that was a warning, the yellow light a ...more

41 likes · Like · see review

Sep 10, 2017 Brenda rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-release, arc, dystopian, own-read, aussie-authors, sent-by-publisher, reviewing-by-request, indigenous, speculative-fiction

Jacky was terrified but determined not to be caught again. The Settlers were brutal with anyone caught running away – they were brutal anyway. At best, he’d be thrown in jail, and worst, a bullet in the back. But he was so hungry; he could find water, brackish though it might be – but finding food without a weapon was nigh on impossible. Stealing was his only option, but with stealing came immense danger.

Sister Bagra, Mother Superior of the mission, was charged with educating the Native childre ...more

25 likes · Like · see review

Jan 28, 2018 Lia rated it really liked it

Shelves: australian, female-authors, available-cnl

I am rather numb now.
A speculative colonisation story that is more than the reader initially imagines.
Set in the near future and we see another wave of colonisation.
I cannot say anything else without spoilers.

The writing was so taut. So compelling.
I was torn between devouring the book in two sittings and being terrified of where the story was heading.

I will definitely pick up anything else Ms Coleman writes.

10 likes · Like · see review

Feb 05, 2018 Glaiza rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, speculative-fiction, australian-author, indigenous-main-characters

A very powerful look at dehumanisation and otherness as a part of colonisation. Also, did not see the SF twist coming until the very end.

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2019 Louise rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-club, australiana, dystopian-post-apocalyptic

2nd read in 18 months. Still good!

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 26, 2018 Jyv rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction, did-not-finish

I found the first half of the book boring. I skimmed it. Then you get to the "reveal" but by then I didn't care anyway. I found the writing a bit laboured and repetitive. I skipped to the end and I think I saved myself some more boredom and ennui from an unsatisfactory ending. ...more

Like · see review