Name: Terra Nullius
ISBN: 9781618731517

Claire G. Coleman

In the near future Australia is about to experience colonization once more. What has been learned from our past? A daring debut novel from the winner of the 2016 black&write! writing fellowship.

Terra Nullius

“Coleman’s timely debut is testimony to the power of an old story seen afresh through new eyes.” —Adelaide Advertiser “In our politically tumultuous time, the novel’s themes of racism, inherent humanity and freedom are particularly poignant.” —Books + Publishing 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 the Australia we know. This is not the Australia of the history books. Terra Nullius is something new, but all too familiar. Shortlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize Indie Book Awards and Highly Commended for the Victorian Premiers Literary Awards, Terra Nullius is an incredible debut from a striking new Australian Aboriginal voice. 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. Claire G. Coleman is a writer from Western Australia. She identifies with the South Coast Noongar people. Her family are associated with the area around Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun. Claire grew up in a Forestry’s settlement in the middle of a tree plantation, where her dad worked, not far out of Perth. She wrote her black&write! fellowship- winning manuscript Terra Nullius while traveling around Australia in a caravan.

a novel

Gillian Rose

2.5 stars.

This was just very much not for me. I understood why the story was told the way it was and the whole point was to make me uncomfortable, but it was too much. I was cringing a lot because it felt racist, and again that was the point, but it wasn't a very satisfying story either.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE STELLA PRIZE 2018 Highly Commended in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017 Longlisted for the ABIA Matt Richell Award for New Writers 2018 Longlisted for the Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction 2018 Shortlisted for the Aurealis Award for a Science Fiction Novel 2017 Nominated for Ditmar Award Best New Talent 2018 'The truth that lies at the heart of this novel is impossible to ignore.' - Books+Publishing 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. This TERRA NULLIUS is something new, but all too familiar. This is an incredible debut from a striking new Australian Aboriginal voice.

Jamieson

The next war will be about resilience and survival, culture and art. When that war begins you will discover you are not well-armed. You have no art, your stories have no power.”


This just didn't work for me. I feel like the entire first half hinges on surprising you with a plot twist which wasn't surprising to me because I realised what was going on early, and it just didn't have a writing style that drew me into the story. That said, I did like the parallels Coleman drew between her story and the colonisation of Australia. I also thought the influence of other media such as The Rabbit-Proof Fence or Benang was obvious, but in a way, I found interesting and enjoyable in its homage.

I don't think this is a bad book, it just didn't work for me. But if you like science-fiction and you're looking to read more books by Aboriginal Australian's (Coleman is Wirlomin-Noongar) than maybe consider this. I definitely think this could be a great book for people who don't know much about the colonisation of Australia or the government treatment and policies toward First Nations Australians

This book is timeless. It's the past, present, and future of not only Australia but all colonized lands. Everything about it is a very necessary gut punch.

Alexia

This one was quite hard to get into, but it is worth the effort because of the twist that shifts the reader’s perspective, but mainly because of the important message the author wants to convey.

Jo H

3.5*... I think.

Months down the line (Nov 2018) I can say that I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, and in a way that's a problem for me as I don't think that stories of extreme oppression of various groups of people are to be enjoyed so much as to be learnt from. I appreciated the twist of this tale and the tightness of the writing, but I have to admit to not feeling in tune with any of the characters, in some ways I found them as dry as the environment they were in and I'm not sure why. I am troubled by this, but maybe it's because I haven't read too much fiction of the more 'literary' variety so far. 

The majority of what I did feel reading this book was rage, the reminder that yet another group of people had their home and their landscape stolen from them, and their families, their very peoples, stripped of their culture and in many ways their lives. The colonisation of Australia (and New Zealand) and it's lasting effects on the indiginous communities of those lands tends to get forgotten in the scheme of things worldwide, and that is almost as much of a travesty as it happening in the first place.

Isabella

SHORTLISTED FOR THE STELLA PRIZE 2018 Highly Commended in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017 Shortlisted for the ABIA Matt Richell Award for New Writers 2018 Shortlisted for the Aurealis Award for a Science Fiction Novel 2017 Longlisted for the Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction 2018 Nominated for Ditmar Award Best New Talent 2018 'Artfully combining elements of literary, historical, and speculative fiction, this allegorical novel is surprising and unforgettable' - starred review, Publishers Weekly 'The truth that lies at the heart of this novel is impossible to ignore.' - Books+Publishing 'a skilfully constructed pastiche of colonisation, resistance and apocalyptic chaos with parallels that sit unsettlingly close to home' - The Big Issue 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. This TERRA NULLIUS is something new, but all too familiar. An incredible debut from a striking new Australian Aboriginal voice. 'A delightfully duplicitous noodle-bender that flips the script on the Indigenous Australian survival narrative.' - Kirkus Reviews