Liar's test by Ambelin Kwaymullina

Liar’s test looks to be the first in a new series by Palyku woman Ambelin Kwaymullina, author of the dystopian The Tribe series: The interrogation of Ashala Wolf (2012)  and The Disappearance of Ember Crow (2013). The new series, The Silverleaf Chronicles, is more mythology/fantasy than dystopian and may draw in a new cohort of readers.

Bell is descendent of the Treesingers, a people connected to the trees and the natural world, a people overruled by the arrival of the Risen, ‘enlightened’ followers of foreign gods, suppressing the original inhabitants and setting up a structured class system of knights at the top, traders, crafters then workers, with Treesingers without any status at all. This is where readers may draw parallels with colonial history and the oppression of Aboriginal people, but the world that Kwaymullina creates is not one for easy comparisons, and veers into a completely fantastical world of magic and ordeals, a new voice in the speculative fiction genre.

Bell becomes one of seven girls to undertake the Queen’s Test, a quest that includes a Treesinger for the first time, each girl vying in challenges to determine the next ruler of the Risen Kingdom. Bell has to hide her inner thoughts and emotions, maintaining a deception, in order to succeed. In the process she learns more about herself and her ancestors, and has to step up as a leader.

The world-building is rapid and complex, and sometimes it feels like one just has to trust that it will come together eventually. There are many amazing adventures, changing identities and multiple realms of experience. It is a complex and changing world, that fantasy readers will probably revel in. Note that this is Book 1, so for readers who enjoy this book, there will be more to look forward to.

Teaching notes are available at Text Publishing.

Themes: Fantasy, Quest, Deception, Self-belief, Inequality, Resistance.

Helen Eddy