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The Old Lie by Claire G. Coleman: what it is about, and who it is for
A space war novel that turns out to be about something much closer to home. Claire G. Coleman's second book follows soldiers, a fugitive and a prisoner on both sides of an interstellar war, and asks what Australia learned from the last time it sent people to fight for an empire.
The Listening ShelfUpdated 3 October 20262 min read
This page once held an earlier review by a different writer. This is a new page: a plain guide to the book, written from the book itself and its publisher's record, not a personal verdict.
The short answer
The Old Lie (Hachette Australia, 2019) is Claire G. Coleman's second novel. Earth has joined a vast alien Federation in its war against the Conglomeration, and Shane Daniels, a fighter pilot, and Romany Zetz, a soldier, are among those drawn in. As the separate stories of five characters converge, the novel's parallels with Australian history come into focus. It is for readers of thoughtful science fiction and anyone interested in how fiction can retell history.
What it is about
The publisher's description is deliberately spare: "Shane Daniels and Romany Zetz have been drawn into a war that is not their own. Lives will be destroyed, families will be torn apart. Trust will be broken. When the war is over, some will return to a changed world. Will they discover that glory is a lie?"
The novel opens with five apparently unconnected people: a fighter pilot flying for the Federation, a soldier who has left her family to fight, a fugitive, a prisoner, and a man who is the subject of a Federation experiment. Their links emerge slowly, and much of the book's force comes from what the reader works out before the characters do. The title echoes Wilfred Owen's First World War poem "Dulce et Decorum Est", which calls the idea that it is sweet and fitting to die for your country "the old Lie".
Who wrote it
Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar writer whose family's Country is on the south coast of Western Australia. Her first novel, Terra Nullius (2017), also used a speculative frame to tell a story about colonisation, and has its own place on our dystopian shelf. The Old Lie asks, in the author's words, "what we have learned from the past".
Who it is for
- Readers who liked Terra Nullius and want more of Coleman's approach.
- Science fiction readers who are happy to be patient: the battle scenes are vivid, and the connections between the strands come together gradually.
- Secondary and adult readers looking for Aboriginal-authored fiction that is not set in the past.
How to hear or borrow it
Nathalie McLean reads the audiobook, about ten and a half hours. Brisbane City Council Libraries' Libby catalogue held 54 copies when we checked, so it is one of the easiest books on this site to borrow free.
Common questions
What is The Old Lie about?
An interstellar war in which Earth fights for a powerful Federation, told through five characters whose stories connect, with deliberate parallels to Australia's colonial and military history.
Where does the title The Old Lie come from?
From Wilfred Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est", which calls the claim that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country "the old Lie".
Is The Old Lie a sequel to Terra Nullius?
No. It is a separate novel, though it shares Coleman's use of science fiction to examine colonisation and its legacy.