AustLit

'It is hard to review a novel when you don’t want to discuss two-thirds of it – not because it is not worth discussing, but because doing so risks undermining the genius of the novel’s structure. The blurb of Claire G. Coleman’s début makes clear that the novel is ‘not [about] the Australia of our history’, but for the first third of the novel, this is not readily apparent.' (Introduction)

'As some recently published works have shown, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytellers are continuing to embrace fiction-writing as a vessel for speaking truth to power. Constantly branching out into new genres—experimenting, fusing, transforming—there’s a noticeable increase in First Peoples speculative fiction being published in Australia.

With each line across the page, the colonial grip on the continent loosens. Fingers unclasp, story by story. Not all of these stories are from deep time—some are reimagined or even newly born—but they all carry power. Story-trails weave across paper and screen towards a common destination: truth-telling.'  (Introduction)

'Terra Nullius is terra nullius, but not as we know it. It’s colonisation, this continent, time, place, Country, race – but not quite as we know it. Terra Nullius is a work of speculative fiction written by Claire Coleman, a Noongar woman whose people have seen – and survived – the apocalyptic moment for hundreds of years. It is a story, exactly as we know it. No speculation required.' (Introduction)

'Post-apocalyptic dystopias are generally seen as warnings, demands to change course from an untenable now. These stories are canaries, choking on the future outcomes of contemporary oppression and the inequality endemic to western societies. But what about those peoples and cultures who have already survived colonial invasion and brutality, for whom apocalypse and dystopia are not speculative threats but a historical reality? Those whose homelands have been termed “Terra Nullius” or “Nobodies Land” by an invading force, and have thus been defined out of existence? These are some of the central considerations for Indigenous Australian writer Claire G Coleman, a member of the Noongar nation.' (Introduction)