Terra Nullius is a 2017 speculative fiction novel by
Claire G. Coleman. It draws from Australia's
colonial history, describing a society split into "Natives" and "Settlers."
Judges of the
Stella Prize called Terra Nullius "an arresting and original novel",[1] while a reviewer for the Sydney Review of Books described it as "a cleverly multiplicitous text" and "an ambitious mirror for settler Australia".[2]
^"Terra Nullius". thestellaprize.com.au. The Stella Prize. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
^Alison Whittaker (29 August 2017).
"Not As We Know It: Terra Nullius". Sydney Review of Books. Writing and Society Research Centre. Retrieved 13 August 2021. Terra Nullius is a cleverly multiplicitous text. The reader is an observer who must sit between two apocalyptic colonial moments (one ongoing, one possible) – analogising the latter to better appreciate the former. ... It is an ambitious mirror for settler Australia – by no means prophetic, but revelatory.
^"Terra Nullius (starred review)". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz LLC. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2021. Artfully combining elements of literary, historical, and speculative fiction, this allegorical novel is surprising and unforgettable.
^Gary K. Wolfe (26 November 2018).
"Gary K. Wolfe Reviews Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman". Locus. Locus SF Foundation. Retrieved 13 August 2021. Coleman is not at all interested in being subtle about drawing these parallels, nor does she need to be: she gets her point across with powerful, disturbing, and often extremely violent portrayals of the subjugation of a native population that can't help but echo history.
^"Book Reviews (subscription required)". Antipodes. 33 (1). American Association for Australian Literary Studies: 166, 167. June 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2021. While the outset of the book begins in a world with which we may be more familiar, the story swiftly transforms into a science-fiction sort of future in which the tensions between colonizers and colonized are explored from a distinctive perspective.
^David Knight (26 September 2017).
"Book Review: Terra Nullius". The Adelaide Review. Opinion Media. Retrieved 13 August 2021. Terra Nullius is a powerful, sobering piece of writing that makes us face an Australia we try to forget, but should always remember.
^"Terra Nullius". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media LLC. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2021. A delightfully duplicitous noodle-bender that flips the script on the Indigenous Australian survival narrative.
^Faye Chadwell (2018).
"Terra Nullius". Library Journal. Media Source Inc. Retrieved 13 August 2021. If there's one weakness, it's the deluge of characters to accommodate. Otherwise, this promising first novel, ..., demonstrates Coleman's promise as a creative storyteller.