Terra Nullius (2017)

by Claire G. Coleman

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297	16	94,262	(3.52)	22
Fiction. Literature. HTML:NPR Best Books of 2018 "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. .… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 16 (next | show all)

The extremely draggy, slow beginning made this one hard to immerse into. The concept is amazing, I feel, but clunky slow dialogue and dire repetition let a strong concept down. On the one hand I can see why this book is so necessary, especially in Australian literature, which is why it gets the rating it does, but on the other this was perilously close to a DNF the entire way through. (

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PiaRavenari | Aug 4, 2023 |

I found this a very interesting and satisfying allegorical tale - about “terra nullius.” While the story line at first appears obvious, for me that became more about appearance than reality as the author avoided going to the obvious places.

What does it mean to settle a place where the local population is regarded as so inferior to the settler, that the locals are seen as animals rather than as people? How do they - settlers and locals - live their lives?

This becomes a tale of freedom and oppression. As a political allegory its character depth is barely more than two-dimensional. So it is an easy (yet uncomfortable) and thought-provoking read. (

)

Tutaref | Aug 11, 2022 |

When we first begin reading this book, we may think we are reading a tale of early 20th century Australia where natives are subdued and controlled by "settlers." Their children are taken from them and brought to orphanages to be trained as servants for the settlers, with tragic consequences.
But no, this is science fiction, not historical fiction, and it is science fiction being used to comment on European colonization of other parts of the world in centuries past. Its twist is what brought so much hype to this book, and I was really looking forward to reading it. Although the premise was clever, when all is said and done, the execution is not special. In fact, at times, it devolves into simply a "chase" novel, with an evil settler/tracker chasing an escaped native servant and constantly being outwitted (or maybe the author was trying to evoke the Ned Kelly legend.) Episodes of near-capture and narrow escape became repetitive and went on much too long.
I don't NOT recommend the book, but I do think it is overhyped.

2 1/2 stars (

)

arubabookwoman | Aug 6, 2021 |

In a harsh landscape a hard conquering race enslaves a tattered remnant of the native population. Bleak and mostly not very interesting. OK, so it is aliens treating humans as Europeans treated native Australians. That was probably bleaker, but at least real, this isn't even consistent enough to convince. And the viewpoint changes suck. (

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quondame | Apr 29, 2021 |

This is science fiction as it's supposed to be: a story that shows us with plenty of punch, who we are as humans, what we have done and what we might do again. It's a story that puts a fresh perspective on colonisation and as such should be read by pretty much everyone. I deeply appreciate the way it makes us feel what it really is like to be the Native, the one who is colonised by others - it is time, and long past time, for literature to be used for that end. I personally have so rarely come across it, especially in the context of Australia.

That's not to say there aren't faults to the novel - there are first-time author problems which I'm more than willing to forgive for the sake of what this novel is doing. The worst of these faults was the repeated tendency to belabour the comparison between the story and our true history - making direct comparisons in so many words. While the action was happening I was nodding in deep appreciation of how it all relates to our history, but then the author would go ahead and explain it, destroying all the subtlety and my participation in the story. Other things too could have done with a more thorough editing, but these things are in no way a reason to avoid this book: I highly, highly recommend it.

ChocolateMuse | Aug 21, 2020 |

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▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Aurealis Award (Finalist – SF Novel – 2017)

Australian Book Industry Awards (Shortlist – Matt Richell Award for New Writer – 2018)

BookTube Prize (Octofinalist – Fiction – 2019)

Indie Book Award (Australia) (Longlist – Debut Fiction – 2018)

International Dublin Literary Award (Longlist – 2019)

MUD Literary Prize (Shortlist – 2018)

Reading Women Award (Shortlist – Fiction – 2018)

Stella Prize (Shortlist – 2018)

Distinctions

NPR: Books We Love (2018)

Notable Lists

Guardian Australia ultimate summer reading list (Sci-fi and fantasy)

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2017

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Epigraph

'They were standing on the shore one day,
saw the white sails in the sun.
Wasn't long before they felt the sting,
white man, white law, white gun.'
-'SOLID ROCK', GOANNA

Dedication

For Lily
Always

First words

Jacky was running.

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▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Literature. HTML:NPR Best Books of 2018

"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.

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