The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf (The Tribe, #1) in Aussie Readers

Jul 23, 2014 Glaiza rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult-fantasy, australian-author, indigenous-main-characters

I enjoyed the creative worldbuilding which was tied to beliefs about the post-apocalyptic earth. I also loved the diverse characters and their individual attitudes towards navigating the political tensions around their abilities. Fans of Obernewtyn should check out this young adult futuristic Australian adventure (I must read the sequels.)

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Sep 19, 2012 Marg rated it really liked it

Shelves: aww2012

Set three hundred years in the future, Ashala Wolf's world is one that is very different from now. There had been an environmental catastrophe that caused the world's geography as we know it to be transformed. The population of the world has in effect scaled back from the reliance on technology all in the hope of maintaining the all important Balance in the world. For the powers that be Balance is quite easy to define. Anyone who is 'normal' is part of the Balance. Anyone who shows any sign of h ...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Anne Hamilton rated it really liked it

Shelves: australia-nz, ya

Normally I'm not a big fan of dystopian ya but The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf came highly recommended, so I thought I'd give it a chance.

The name ferret in me sniffs something in it but I'm not sure what yet. Ashala Wolf aka Ashala Ambrose with a friend named Ember: hmmm.

And hmmm again. I just want to tuck this away for future reference.

It's hard to say anything about the plot that doesn't give too much away. Ashala is the leader of 'The Tribe' - a group of Illegals, all children - who survive ...more

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Nov 19, 2017 Tien rated it really liked it

Shelves: australia, australian-author, fantasy, young-adult

TBA

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Jan 09, 2014 Stephanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2014, aww-2014

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is the first book in Ambelin Kwaymullina's post-apocalyptic/dystopian series, The Tribe. The series itself is marketed as YA fantasy, and while this book does technically fit into that category, I believe it would miss a lot of readers who would otherwise enjoy it.

There's a lot to like about this book. There's an originality to the world that Kwaymullina creates, even though she uses often standard tropes in its creation. An ecological disaster - never fully defi The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is the first book in Ambelin Kwaymullina's post-apocalyptic/dystopian series, The Tribe. The series itself is marketed as YA fantasy, and while this book does technically fit into that category, I believe it would miss a lot of readers who would otherwise enjoy it.

There's a lot to like about this book. There's an originality to the world that Kwaymullina creates, even though she uses often standard tropes in its creation. An ecological disaster - never fully defined, but implied to have come about because of mankind pillaging the world through greed, and upsetting the Balance - has changed the face of the world. People, too, have changed, with many developing powers - some can cause earthquakes, others can shape the sky to forms they wish, others can read thoughts, to name just a few examples. Those who have powers are tightly controlled by the government (where control equals living in a detention centre), lest they upset the Balance and cause another apocalypse. Those who flee are Illegals, and hunted.

Ashala Wolf is the leader of the group of Illegals who live as the Tribe. This is the story of her interrogation in a detention centre.

It is a fantastic story: Ashala is a fascinating character, as are the other characters we see over the course of the book. What we see of the world is intriguing: we see the giant lizard saurs, and pieces of the Firstwood. And while this isn't like to bother many of the YA target audience, sometimes, reading this as an adult reader, I found it frustrating that we *only* get to see these hints. I feel as though Kwaymullin has actually developed this world (which does feel very much like a post-apocalyptic Australia, though Australia itself in this future does not exist), but we don't get to see *enough* of it. I do hope that more of the worldbuilding will be revealed over the course of the series.

The structure also didn't quite work for me. It feels very much the debut novel it is, as Kwaymullin reaches to peel back the layers of story and truth in a fashion that *almost* works. I actually found myself having to check several times over the first third of the book that this was indeed the first book in the series, since so much was referred to but not explained. It's nice not to see huge infodumps, but there could have been some more backstory explained.

Overall, this is a start to a very promising series by an Australian author, and an extremely accomplished debut. I've really only deducted a star for the structure that didn't quite work for me, and I would recommend this whole-heartedly. I know that if I'd read this as a fifteen-year-old, I would have been dreaming of running away to join the Tribe. ...more

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