PositiveBarnes and NobleBy employing and subverting first contact tropes, Turnbull explores and interrogates theme of colonialism and violence—specifically how violence can be used both to oppress and to resist, and what that does to a society and to people, whether they are the victims or perpetrators of that violence—but it is not the paint-by-numbers allegory the log line might suggest. At every turn, he drills deeper, anchoring his story in the real history of St. Thomas ... For all the story’s thoughtfulness and literary depth, The Lesson is given a sharp edge through Turnbull’s refusal to flinch from portraying the true consequences and costs of invasion, violence and resistance. Rather than simply pitting heroic humans against dastardly aliens, he does something much more interesting, laying bare the flaws and strengths in individuals on both sides. The stakes are high for both the Ynaa and the humans, and in the end, no society nor individual will come out clean in such a confrontation.
