FICTION
liar test
Ambelin Kwaymullina, text, $24.99
In her previous novels, Ambelin Kwaymullina has explored themes of grief, colonial history, violence and filial love through the lens of a young First Nations heroine. In his latest, first installment of the Silverleaf Chronicles, liar test it is based on his keen observation of the lasting legacy of matriarchal connections.
It combines fantasy, sci-fi, thriller and First Nations folklore to transport readers into a world of corruption and deceit, using the framework of treacherous gamified challenges popularized by books like Veronica Roth's. divergentby James Dashner The maze runner and, of course, by Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games.
Told candidly through the eyes of 15-year-old orphan Bell Silverleaf, the book is a fine example of contemporary Indigenous futurism and the ways in which it can reflect the horrors of Australia's colonial past.
Bell reemerges as “the girl no one has seen in years” to take on The Queen's Test, a series of cruel and senseless challenges designed to destroy its participants and ultimately crown the winner as ruler of the land. But the land no longer belongs to Bell's ancestors: the Treesingers, a peaceful population of people, are mocked for being “nature worshippers”.
Years ago, they were violently overtaken by the Risen, who have developed the land into a city-kingdom called Radiance, built of “shining stone” (you can imagine something shiny and hard) and ruled by the high priest Alasdar, the man in charge . for kidnapping Bell when she was 11 and imprisoning her ever since.
Unbeknownst to him, Bell is a Treesinger with a special power: she comes from a family of memory walkers, people with the power to revisit moments from their past and experience them as if they were happening in the present. It's an enigmatic force that Bell must keep secret if he has any hope of survival.
She is one of seven girls selected to participate in the test, which has its own sacred texts that foreshadow the results: “Seven shall come / Two shall die / Two shall sleep / Two shall serve / One shall rule.”
Trials see participants battle monster tentacles that explode from the ground and giant worms that drag them into holes. It involves faith challenges, where participants must trick a spiritual entity into believing in them: “You've got to look more confident,” Bell urges an allied participant as they kneel and pray. “Show that you really mean it.” They have to get better at lying, that is, deception as their only survival strategy.
