Cirrus@Austlit

'Representations of race in Australian fiction are often influences by and speak to Australia's colonial history and contemporary social tensions around issues of race. The genre of epic medievalist fantasy is no exception and indeed the healing of racial tensions surrounding a colonial past is frequently a prominent theme of Australian fantasy novels, As government policies and public opinions continually develop and change regarding matters of how to best address our colonial past and how Australia's population of indigenous people should be treated, the sociopolitical climate reflected in Australian fiction likewise alters. As it is beyond the scope of this work to examine the various shifts in thought over time, I have chosen to focus on fantasy fiction produced from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s. I will deal primarily with Sara Douglass' Axis Trilogy, published between 1995-1996, and Kate Forsyth's six book series The Witches of Eileanan, published between 1997 and 2002.' (Introduction)