Liar's Test
Title: Liar's Test
Author: Ambelin Kwaymullina
Publisher: Text Publishing
Shortlist: Writing for Young Adults
Seven will come. Two will die. Two will sleep. Two will serve. One will rule.
I didn’t want to rule the Risen. Wreak a little havoc upon them, though? That was something else entirely.
Bell Silverleaf is a liar.
It’s how she’s survived. It’s how all Treesingers have survived since they were invaded by the Risen and their fickle gods. But now Bell is in the Queen’s Test – she’s one of seven girls competing in deadly challenges to determine who will rule for the next 25 years. If Bell wins, she’ll have the power to help her people and take revenge on the Risen. But first she has to make it through the challenges alive.
She doesn’t know how much she’s been lied to, or where she fits in a bigger story, a mystery stretching back generations. And she’s facing much bigger dangers than the Queen’s Test. She’s up against the gods themselves.
Liar’s Test is a fast-paced, intricately woven fantasy novel with an unforgettable heroine inspired by the strength and power of Aboriginal women.
Judges’ report
A genre-bending fantasy of breathtaking pace and scope, Liar’s Test foregrounds the courage, ingenuity and strength of Indigenous girls and women and First Nations lifeways. Kwaymullina has created a unique and contemporary work of Indigenous Futurism, unpacking the personal and environmental legacies of colonialism and the resistance strategies required to survive. Driven by a fast-paced survivalist plot, Bell is an engaging narrator whose rebellious, propulsive journey moves back and forth through time with allegorical sophistication. Kwaymullina’s beguiling mythologies gift us with a layered, immersive work that demonstres how, out of a fractured, unjust world, a better one might emerge.
About the Author
Photo by Viva Photography Fremantle
Ambelin Kwaymullina
VPLA book photography by Sarah Walker
The 2025 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards are proudly supported by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund and Creative Victoria.