Blog Tour: The Tribe series by Ambelin Kwaymullina

Today I am super excited to welcome Ambelina Kwaymullina back to my blog as part of the blog our to celebrate the release of The Disappearance of Ember Crow, the second book in The Tribe series. Last time she was here, Ambelin wrote an awesome guest post on diversity. This time, I got the opportunity to ask her a few questions!

I originally found the first book in The Tribe series when I was specifically looking for a spec fic book by an Aboriginal woman writer. My search was was much harder than I expected it to be as I could find very few books that fit into those criteria. How difficult was it to sell this series to a publisher?

Not difficult at all – but I went to the right publisher. I knew some of the people at Walker Books, and because of that I knew that they would understand and embrace the story.

Stereotypes of Aboriginal stories, and people, are an issue, both in writing and in everyday life. I know I’m far from the only Aboriginal person to have encountered an odd phenomenon whereby random non-Aboriginal people – often people I’ve just met – feel they have the right to aggressively interrogate my identity, as if they are the self-appointed administrators of some kind of Aboriginality test. It’s distressing – and it’s ridiculous. I know many people from many different cultures and countries, and I can’t say it’s ever occurred to me to criticise my Scottish friends for failing to wear kilts, or to expect anyone who comes from Sweden to be able to direct me to the nearest Ikea store. Yet a surprising number of people seem to have somehow gotten the idea that they are entitled to tell me who I am and who my people are, generally within five minutes of first meeting me.

A couple of my Aboriginal friends have asked me if I was worried about how the book would be received, precisely because it doesn’t fit the mould of what some people might expect an Aboriginal story to be. I never had any concerns about my teenage readers; I did wonder a bit about the grown ups. I needn’t have. The story has been wonderfully well received and for that I feel I must chiefly thank the bloggers. Aussie bloggers have universally assessed the story on its own terms and not by reference to any preconceived stereotypes; and to have the chance to discuss the cultural aspects of the story with some of them has been a privilege and a joy.

So to all the bloggers: a heartfelt thanks from me.

What came first for you - the characters of Ashala Wolf and her friends or the plot?

I heard Ashala’s voice, and I followed it, and her – through the cold hallways of the detention centre, and amongst the trees of the Firstwood. I walked at her side, feeling what she felt and seeing what she saw; she and I experienced the story together.

I love the way that the plot twists and turns in your books? There are definitely "I didn't see that coming" moments for me as a reader but those moments all still make complete sense in terms of the plot and the characters. Does that happen to you as you are writing and how do you keep track of all the twists?

There’s a couple of moments, especially in The Disappearance of Ember Crow, when even as I was writing them I was freaking out a bit in my head. Because I wrote the books in the order that you read them, I am often discovering something when the reader does – there where lots of occasions when I knew something had to be in the book but I didn’t know the reason why until much, much later. For example, I knew, from the very first chapter of The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf, that Ash never calls Justin Connor ‘Justin’; he is always Connor, to her. And I knew that he never, ever shortened her name; she is always Ashala, to him. But I didn’t know why, and in many ways the reason for that – which doesn’t come out until much later in the book - defines their entire relationship.

You have written a lot of childrens books and picture books before this series. How hard was it to make the transition into dystopian YA?

I think the picture books really helped me, because picture books are a hard lesson in telling a story in not a lot of words; and that ability to convey meaning in fewer words is marvellously helpful when it comes to keeping up the pace in a longer story. I guess I didn’t find the transition that difficult because I’ve been working on various novels for a long time; I have an entire box full of half finished books in my wardrobe (they’re all rubbish. Trust me). So in my head I was always writing longer books – even when I didn’t have anything finished to show for it!

In your dystopian world some of the characters have special skills. What would your special skill be? And what would you miss most about your current life if you had to live in the Firstwood?

If I was living in the Firstwood … I would miss books, I think. It’s a hard place to have a library, although I would have Ember to tell me stories. As to a special skill – I’m Ashala, when I write, so I have to be a Sleepwalker, like she is. I guess that means I have the power the change the world in my dreams; to remake it into what I wish it could be. Perhaps my books are my dreams, and in them, I imagine an unjust world transformed by an alliance of good-hearted people. Ashala speaks of fight at the end of The Disappearance of Ember Crow that is more important than any that has gone before, only it is not a battle between the Citizens and Illegals of her world. It is a battle between those who want to stop hating, and those who do not.

We have that fight in this reality too. I know which side I’m on.

I am so excited to see that books 3 and 4 in the series have titles. Can you give us a bit of a clue of what comes next for Ashala, Ember and their friends.

Yeah, you don’t really want me to tell you that. Then where would the surprises be? But we are heading to the end now; the stakes are higher for all concerned, in the books that are to come. All of our existing friends are back, and there will be new ones as well. Things become more complex, more intense, and more dangerous. And Ash, in the third and fourth books, is going to face a test harder than any that has gone before. Her concept of leadership at this point is to stand between her Tribe and her forest whatever danger threatens. She is going to find it far more difficult to accept that others will choose to stand between her and danger – and pay the price for it.

And what comes next for Ambelin Kwaymullina?

After The Tribe? I have an idea for a trilogy set in the same world but with different characters, and once that’s done, a new, six book series set in an entirely new reality.

I’m not short on stories. Just time.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions Ambelin.


Be sure to check out the next stop in the tour which is at Lauren's Loquacious Literature or start from the beginning of the tour and follow it through.

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina

When Aarti from BookLust announced the More Diverse Universe reading tour, I knew straight away that I wanted to read an indigenous Australian author. I really didn't even consider any other options as possibilities. Then I started to think about possible reads and couldn't come up with any options of books to read that were written by indigenous authors that fitted into the spec fic genre classification. I ended up putting the call out on Twitter for suggestions but in the end there were only a couple which kind of proved the point that Aarti was making in starting this project.

One was Carpentaria by Alexis Wright which I tried to read a few years ago and DNF'ed (and considered to be Literature with a capital L).  The other was this book, The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina, which was only published in Australia a couple of months ago and I do not recall having heard of before. I promptly bought the book, and I am pleased to say it is a really good read. I am also pleased to announce that the author is going to be guest posting on Sunday as part of this event!

Anyway, enough intro! Let's talk about the book.

There will come a day when a thousand illegals descend on your detention centres. Boomers will breach the walls. Skychangers will send lightning to strike you all down from above, and Rumblers will open the earth to swallow you up from below.... And when that day comes, Justin Connor, think of me.

Ashala Wolf has been captured by Chief Administrator Neville Rose. A man who is intent on destroying Ashala's Tribe - the runaway illegals hiding in the Firstwood. Injured and vulnerable and with her Sleepwalker ability blocked, Ashala is forced to succumb to the machine that will pull secrets from her mind.

And right beside her is Justin Connor, her betrayer, watching her every move.

Will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?

Set three hundred years in the future, Ashala Wolf's world is one that is very different from now. There had been an environmental catastrophe that caused the world's geography as we know it to be transformed. The population of the world has in effect scaled back from the reliance on technology all in the hope of maintaining the all important Balance in the world. For the powers that be Balance is quite easy to define. Anyone who is 'normal' is part of the Balance. Anyone who shows any sign of having a special ability is deemed to be an illegal and must be locked away in detention camps and have their powers neutralised. The world is highly regulated, mostly through a series of accords which dictate rules on everything from population, to the use of technology, the use of natural resources and more.

The powers that some people might have are many and varied. They may be sleepwalkers like Ashala, or Rumblers, Skychangers, Runners and so many more other types of power. Some, but not all, are dangerous but all are feared by large portions of the general population thanks to a pretty effective propaganda machine. If a family suspects that their child may have powers then they need to be assessed and the whole family unit could well be destroyed - traumatic for everyone concerned.

Ashala is the leader of a group called The Tribe who live in the forest of tuart trees known as Firstwood. She has gathered together a group of people who all are Illegals because they all have special talents and together they are trying to build a community that respects the forest and the animals around them. As well as each having their own abilities, they may also have a special affinity with an animal. For Ashala, this is a wolf, but for others in the group it might be spiders, or the fierce saurs that also roam the area. Her friends are well developed and incorporated into the story and I am really looking forward to find out more about Ember and Georgie. I especially enjoyed the storyline that features Jaz, an exuberant young man whose journey is very surprising throughout the book.

Things are a little unsettled within the group because recently a detention centre has been build near Firstwood, and that centre is being led by Neville Rose, a man with a reputation for thoroughness when it comes to the investigation of Illegals that are in his care. When Ashala is captured after being betrayed by an outsider who has infiltrated the Tribe, she is taken to be interrogated by the machine but only after her sleepwalking ability has been neutralised. Ashala can perform amazing feats of power and strength as long as she dreams them and so steps must be taken so that she cannot escape from the detention centre. The aim for Neville Rose is to be able to access all of the secrets that Ashala holds dear, about her past and especially about the Tribe. The person who managed to infiltrate the Tribe and to ultimately betray Ashala is Justin Connor and now he is her jailer, her shadow, a perfect example of the kind of people that Ashala has come to hate in her short life.

There are several really clever things in this book. One of this is the incorporation of Dreamtime motifs into the new world. Another thing was the way that the plot unravels throughout the course of the book. There were so many plot twists that completely changed the way that the reader might be understanding the book and yet those twists all seemed to make sense. Ashala believes that she knows exactly what is going on, but with each twist the truth changes. The biggest question are will Ashala find the truth or will she reveal all of her secrets to the machine and how will the Tribe cope without her to lead them.

This book is an intriguing mix of dystopian society and fantasy with a Dreamtime twist. Sounds complicated, and it is, especially with the way that the plot twists and turns it way to the conclusion. It is ultimately a fascinating and enjoyable read, both complex and nuanced.

I was also glad to see that the cover very clearly shows a young Aboriginal girl and clearly reflects the tone of the novel.

I am glad that by participating in this event, I was introduced to the writing of Ambelin Kwaymullina. I very much look forward to reading the next book in this series.

Rating 4/5



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