The Disappearance of Ember Crow (34 page)

The reality they shaped is both animate and interlinked; a world of ever-changing, ever-moving, ever-unfolding connections that stretch out across our homelands and encompass us all in living networks of relationships.

In such a world, the fact that we humans may not always understand the voices of other beings – the cry of Crow, the murmurings of Rain or Wind, or the slow rumble of Rock – does not mean those voices do not exist. And it is through sustaining caring relationships with other shapes of life that we give substance and meaning to our own existence. When seen in the context of this greater pattern, all our actions and interactions with the world take on a larger significance. It is this idea which is captured, in much simpler terms, in the concept of “the Balance” – that “there is an inherent Balance between all life, and the only way to preserve it is to live in harmony with ourselves, with each other, and with the earth.”

In
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf
, it is one of the clever old spirits of the earth who survives the destruction of everything else. He travels through the chaos, carrying scraps of life in his mouth, and arrives at what will become the Firstwood. Then, as he tells Ashala, he sings – to remind life of its shapes, strength, and its many transformations. Until life remembers its nature, and grows.

To write a dystopia is to write of the end of the world. But in an animate, interconnected existence, where everything has consciousness and agency, life is not easily overcome. Its nature is always to adapt; to change; to make itself anew – and in so doing, to remake all else. This is the cry of the trees of the Firstwood:
We live. You live. We survive!

Everything lives, and nothing dies.

Ambelin Kwaymullina loves reading sci-fi/fantasy books, and has wanted to write a novel since she was six years old. She comes from the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. When not writing or reading she works in cultural heritage, illustrates picture books and hangs out with her dogs. She has previously written a number of children’s books, both alone and with other members of her family.
The Disappearance of Ember Crow
is her second novel.

For Chris – beloved guardian,
faithful companion, and great soul;
and for Mum, Blaze, Zeke and Paulina:
we are here.

COMING SOON

The Foretelling of Georgie Spider

The Execution of Neville Rose