“The two sides is this: I went away, and then I come home again.”

M.R. Carey’s THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS was a stunning take on post-apocalyptic zombie/vampire tropes which made him one to watch for me. THE BOOK OF KOLI, the first of a trilogy, may eclipse that novel.

In the first half of the book, Koli, a fifteen year-old boy, tells of his life in the northern English village of Mythen Rood. The society is medieval-like although there are remnants of ‘old tech’, items of great power that have survived from times before ‘the Unfinished War, and which bestow great power on those who can ‘wake’ them. These masters of the tech, the Ramparts, are the village leaders and Koli desperately wants to become one of them, and he has reached the age at which he be tested for the ability to wake tech.

The joy of the novel is that we are evidently many years, possibly centuries, after the collapse of advanced society. Villages have become isolated, travel almost non-existent (very apt given the state of the world at publication), and fewer babies are being born. The ‘old tech’ is ‘future tech’ to us but, crucially, not so far advanced from early 21st century to be unrecognisably plausible.

“That’s the heart of my story, now I think of it. The old times haunt us still. The things they left behind save us and hobble us in ways that are past any counting. They was ever the sift and substance of my life, and the journey I made starts and ends with them.”

Koli’s narration is naturalistic, jumping around at times, running off at tangents as something else occurs to him. He pulls you into the story, his innocence and inquisitiveness, his jealously of the Ramparts, his wonder at, and desire to possess, the old tech.

“I risked everything I hard to grab a piece of tech I could own. I broke the law to get my hands on the Dreamsleeve. Got myself made faceless, and almost got my whole family hanged on the gallows.”

The second half of the book tells of Koli’s journey beyond the walls of Mythen Rood, into the unknown where “everything that lives hates us.” The forests are full of carnivorous trees, another result of the old tech, a runaway experiment to grown plants in soil devastated by global warming. There too, live cannibalistic shunned men, outside village society and preying on those who become lost or detached.

The book is incredibly entertaining - thrilling, scary and funny. Koli is a wonderful character, as is his companion, Monono, but it is only fair to let the reader discover her themselves. If the following books, the next of which is coming in only a few short months, live up to this, with promises of finding out more about mythical places like Half-Ax, Birmagen, even London, THE BOOKS OF KOLI may well become one of the classic sci-fi/fantasy trilogies. I can’t wait.

Thanks to Orbit Books and Compulsive Readers for the invitation to the Blog Tour.

Koli Woodsmith lives in Mythen Rood, one of the few surviving villages. After the War decades ago, civilisation dwindled, people were cut back and trees came alive in an all new way. Now nature has become something frightening, fierce. Forests are overgrown, dangerous places, where choker trees and poisonous seeds will kill you instantly. The world is not as it was and humanity is not either.

Overtime, people adapted, learnt new skills to survive. Now they hunt for their meals, live off the land, at least the safe parts of it, live in cabins, only ever venture into the forest when they must. Mythen Rood keeps its people safe with high walls, spikes driven into the earth and guards to watch for danger. It is governed by the Ramparts, a select few who have the honour of possessing the rare pieces of tech that survived the war and the changing world. The Ramparts’ word is law and their roles are to protect their community. But they harbour their own secrets, dangerous knowledge to maintain their position and keep their people in line.

For Koli, life is changing. Soon, he will be given a test and if he succeeds, he will become a Rampart, acknowledged and respected for the first time in his life. His love, Spinner, might even see him as more than a friend. But despite all his hoping and praying, he fails and the bright future he has spent his life envisaging, is gone. Koli breaks their laws in his desperation and is cast out. Into the forest. He is a shunned man, with nothing but a single knife to defend himself against all the dangers. And there is more out there to fear than he knows.

In the beginning, Koli is a very sweet, innocent character but as the book progresses, he grows, finds his strength and I loved seeing this development. The characters are diverse, each one nuanced and cleverly written. They felt real to me, as if they were about to step off the page. My favourite, without a doubt, was Monono Aware, an AI with oodles of sarcasm and witticisms. She is hilarious and had me cracking up during all her scenes. I loved the post-apocalyptic setting, where nature has turned against humanity, and going beyond the walls could kill you. I loved the communities and enjoyed picking out their differences, the strange and sometimes brutal ways in which they have grown to survive. This is a fabulous book.

The Book of Koli is the first in what I just know is going to be a fabulous trilogy. This is the first step in a great adventure and I look forward to all that follows.

(Please note I had technical faults with kindle and had to reformat whilst reading this one, it is now archived so I can’t continue reading, my review is for as far as I got)

This book is amazing and just what we need in this current world situation. The world and everything in it wants to kill Koli and the Rest of the people on earth. Nature is reclaiming the planet that we destroyed through greed, corruption and lack of respect for the environment and I LOVE that this so cleverly addressed and explored in this book. I would have enjoyed finishing this one and will certainly be buying a copy and finishing the book! It was a delight!

Absolutely loved this book and it got me out of my book funk. Since lockdown started, I've found it really hard to read anything, but Carey's world completely sucked me in. Can't wait for the next one. I've shared the book in my newsletter and Instagram stories

I came to this book pretty fresh: I had read and enjoyed The Girl With All The Gifts, but none of Carey's other books. But this first of a planned trilogy pinged my curiosity: the setup sounds fantasy (a small village of Mythen Rood surrounded by deadly threats) but with a hint at sci-fi too (this world is 'post-apocalyptic').

The blend could be awkward, but here it works very well. Koli, the main character, has grown up in a village plunged back into medieval-style living by a past apocalypse – not content with creating galloping climate change, humans also managed to accidentally genetically-engineer killer trees and plants. The village's hierarchy is based on who can 'wake' the old technology – a small collection of gadgets and weapons that mysteriously seem to only come to life for one family.

The story focuses on Koli throwing an almighty spanner in the works by stealing some of that tech and (via a helpful outsider) managing to wake it. Enter Monono Aware, a Japanese AI / voice assistant who for me was the most enjoyable character in the novel. And also cue the (inevitable, given the 'don't venture beyond the walls' setup) propulsion of Koli away from his home village into that dangerous wider world.

It's throwing in a lot of elements: AI, tech, a killer environment, even a messianic cult later in the story. But the focus on a few characters keeps it from getting confusing, and everything is tightly paced: the story cracks along nicely.

I did think, early on, that I was going to struggle with Koli as a narrator: lots of "when I growed up" and "I don't think my mother knowed it" etc. However, I warmed to it as the book went on: and the contrast with Monono (who's playful, sarcastic and sharp) later was fun.

Everything's set up nicely by the end for the trilogy's wider quest narrative, with a party of characters (AI included) each with their own motivations for pursuing the goal that clearly will be the focus for the sequel. I enjoyed this very much, and will certainly be reading that second book. Thanks to the publisher, who provided me with an advanced reader copy (ARC) via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Koli es un jovenzuelo que vive en Mythen Rood, un pequeño asentamiento en medio del bosque a unas doscientas millas al norte de Londres. O lo que queda de Londres. La isla británica ya no es lo que era y los árboles y vegetación dominan la superficie. El número de habitantes ha descendido de manera extraordinaria hasta los pocos cientos de miles de habitantes los cuales sobreviven en grupos de casas rodeadas de una valla que los protege del exterior. La guerra que llevó al mundo a este punto parece haber terminado pero la supervivencia sigue siendo el día a día de Koli y el resto de los suyos.

Al otro lado de la cerca que los protege hay una densa vegetación que cobra vida en los días soleados, amenazando a quien ose adentrarse en la maleza. Eso sí, no esperéis encontrar descripciones como las que hacia Sue Burke en su notable Semiosis. No se puede salir salvo en días grises y lluviosos donde poder cazar los suficientes animales para poder sobrevivir otro incierto número de días. Las distancias con otros pueblos en similares circunstancias son significativas por lo que realmente cada uno de estos lugares está dejados a su suerte y solo cuentan con sus capacidades para sobrevivir.

En este mundo situado en un futuro no demasiado lejano, la tecnología no existe. Al menos no distribuida masivamente como la conocemos actualmente. El poder en estos pueblos reside en los Ramparts, un grupo de personas con la habilidad de utilizar objetos de su pasado tecnológico, nuestra actualidad. Esto permite a los Ramparts gobernar a su gusto las distintas aldeas que ocupan la isla británica, mientras sus conciudadanos asocian estos poderes a capacidades mágicas. También veremos algunos drones sobrevolar los cielos, aunque tanto para el lector como Koli los motivos resultan desconocidos en un inicio. Todo esto crea un mundo bastante primitivo en su manera de sobrevivir, pero con pequeños detalles tecnológicos que alteran las vidas de los ciudadanos.

En The Book Of Koli el protagonista y escritor del relato es un joven que ha aprendido a hablar y escribir en su pequeña aldea. Un punto que inicialmente resulta interesantes es que Koli no sabe escribir del todo bien lo que provoca que el texto de este libro no sea del todo correcto desde un punto de vista gramatical. Sin embargo, esto no dificulta especialmente la lectura ni tampoco va más allá de algunas expresiones que, aunque extrañas al principio, pronto te acostumbras y no dejan de ser anecdóticas. Koli, por otro lado, sí que tiene un vocabulario bastante completo. Esto me hace pensar si M.R. Carey (autor de Melanie, publicada por Minotauro en castellano) debería hacer sido algo más incisivo en crear más errores gramaticales o si incluso el hecho de incluirlo mereció la pena realmente.

Koli no está solo. Aparte de diversos personajes humanos que con buenas o malas intenciones irán apareciendo en el relato tenemos a Monono Aware. El concepto japonés sirve de denominación para una IA del pasado que despierta gracias a Koli convirtiéndose en su fiel compañera desde ese momento. Una IA que terminara por causar un momento decisivo en la vida de Koli que lo llevara más allá de sus fronteras conocidas. En este sentido, tengo la sensación de haber leído en los últimos tiempos varias historias donde una IA da contrapeso al personaje principal. En ocasiones, incluso, quedando por encima y poniendo en duda quién es realmente el protagonista de la historia.

Este libro es el primer volumen de una trilogía que se verá completada con The Trials of Koli y The Fall of Koli. Y esto hace que buena parte del libro sea muy introductorio de lo que está por venir. La construcción del mundo me ha gustado mucho y me ha interesado enormemente. Sin embargo, el concepto de trilogía ha hecho que más de la mitad de este volumen sea prácticamente construcción de mundo y los acontecimientos no se precipiten hasta bien avanzada la lectura.

A modo de conclusión la lectura de The Book of Koli me ha resultado tremendamente adictiva. Una vez comienzas a entender este mundo no pude parar de leer hasta llegar a su final dado que poco a poco se van resolviendo algunos de los enigmas sobre este mundo, mientras otros se siguen abriendo. Un final completamente abierto, dicho sea de paso. A pesar de ser un libro altamente introductorio a lo que está por llegar, lo cual penaliza las más de cuatrocientas páginas de lectura, me ha dejado con ganas de saber más no solo sobre el futuro de Koli sino por como el resto de la isla británica se ha estructura en este mundo donde la vegetación ha tomado las riendas de la naturaleza.

So let me start off by saying that was so close to being a DNF. It's written in the voice of Koli, which is like a cross between Idiocracy and a caveman. Things purposely misspelled, odd spacing, poor grammar. This totally makes sense for this world, and is fun at times, but upon first reading this I thought, oh hell no! I can't put up with this for 400+ pages! However, I'm a fan of M.R. Carey and was totally looking forward to this series, so I powered through. Then at around 12 percent in, I was hooked! I do worry reading like this make me some brain damage, but ohs well.

This is a world unlike any other in the genre and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. It sets up the next book nicely without ending on a frustrating cliffhanger like some other series books do.
People who enjoyed the Annihilation trilogy, Wool, or Parable of the Sower might also enjoy this, if they can get past the odd language it was written in. I'm glad I stuck with it and excited for the next one!

After seeing the description of this book I was super excited and didn't hesitate to request it! I so wanted to enjoy this book however it unfortunately fell a little short of the mark for me. The theme and ideas behind this book lend themselves to an exciting premise, however I really struggled to connect with the characters. This book dragged a little for me, due to the writing style, and I often found myself having to reread passages in order to remind myself of details and key points that I had missed. Unfortunately I did not manage to finish this book, however I will be sure to revisit it in the future. This book has such an amazing premise and I hope that next time I pick it up everything will click into place.

I’ve read Carey’s excellent Felix Castor series as well as the Girl with all the Gifts and the Boy on the Bridge and found it all Good Stuff, so I was excited to read the blurb for this and keen to get started. I was surprised by this. Koli was not a particularly charismatic main character, the world building was partial, much of it unexplained. I liked the syntax and pattern of Koli’s voice. All in all, a bit disappointing. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a fantasy novel and I’ve heard such good things about M.R. Carey, I thought I’d give it a go.

The books of Koli is a cleverly written fantasy novel with elements of a coming of age story all wrapped up in a dystopian adventure.

It’s told in first person point of view, in the voice of Koli himself. It feels exactly like he’s talking directly to you which I really enjoyed. It took me a little getting used to his voice as his speech patterns are a little different to our own.

Koli is around fifteen or so at the beginning of the story and there were points in the story where he reminded me of my own fifteen year old son. There was that confidence that they know what’s best, coupled with naivete and inability to really hide their emotions that made Koli such a realistic character to me.

The world building was also fantastic with nature basically turning against the human race, forcing them to live in fairly primitive ways. But then there was the added intrigue of ‘tech’ left behind that can only be controlled by a few chosen individuals.

This for me was a book of two halves, the first was slow build, giving us some back story and showing us Koli’s world, the second half was full on, tension and adventure packed. I have to be honest I did almost give up during the first half of the book but keep going with it, all the set up really does pay off in the end.

The Book of Koli is clever, compelling and a real escape from reality.

I received a free copy of this book form #Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Published by #LittleBrownBookGroupUK this title is available now and is the first book of a trilogy. The second book in the series will hopefully be published in September. I loved this book which is written from the perspective of Koli. I did find Koli’s manner of speaking difficult initially but soon got used to it and read this book really quickly – always a good sign!! I found I got really in to the book quickly and that it was quite fast paced. I look forward to rest of this trilogy and would recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for this Advanced Reader Copy.

The Book of Koli made me think of Black Mirror. But this was not the most interesting episode.

Koli, I want to know what happens next. But I think your first book could have been half its size.

I am not picky when it comes to writing styles, but if you’re in a head of just one character, they need to know how to tell their story in a very engaging way.

We begin with catching up on Koli’s life.
It is a monologue. There are barely any dialogues, we do not find out much about other characters, so we do not get attached to anyone, nobody is particularly likeable, we do not get an in depth look at anything or anyone, sort of understandable considering he is telling from his memory so the farther away the less he would recall, and yet it takes half of the book and it is not a quick read. After, some action, some character development, we find out what the story is about - but I was a little too disengaged to care by then.

I understood what the author was trying to say with his story. But it was not interesting to be explained things that we know but the characters don't - both the tech and not so subtle social commentary. Maybe it is just me, but I felt like a lot of the story was obvious and trying to act like a warning.
Is it not a little too late for it?

I am curious and want to find out what happens next. I just hope it will be a lot more surprising.

4.5/5 Stars

Koli lives in a village called Mythen Road. There are not very many villages left and cities like London were bombed into oblivion during the last war. Surrounding Mythen Road is a massive forest, where the trees are alive, are able to move and have a taste for human blood. Living within the forest is a huge range of predators and going beyond the protective fence of Mythen Road is not a thing you do if you want to live. If the trees and animals don't get you, the Shunned Men will - and they will eat you.

This is the first book of The Rampart Trilogy by M. R. Carey. I have another of his books in paperback and it is in my 'to-read' list - but that list is just too epic for words. Having read The Book of Koli, all other books by this author are getting bumped up my list.

This is a truly fantastic fantasy read. I picked it up and have done nothing but read since. I will say that the whole story is told from Koli's perspective in his accent, which is kind of off-putting and a bit challenging in the beginning, but you do get used to it. However, in a fantasy book where there are already a lot of new, made-up words, I would have prefered Koli's accent to only be evident when he is speaking to another character and not just to the reader.

I can not wait to read the second book which is currently expected out, in September of this year I believe - fingers crossed it's on time!

This book could easily be one of the best stories I read this year. The only thing keeping it from being perfect is the accent I mentioned. I would definitely advise that new readers persevere through this. The story wraps you up so tightly that you soon stop noticing and you just need to keep turning the page to see what happens next on Koli's phenomenal adventure.

The story is fast-paced and engaging and you do get completely swallowed by the story. Koli is a well-developed character, with a variety of diverse relationships. I like how Koli makes mistakes but has a core sense of right and wrong and a huge capacity for compassion and empathy. I love how well planned and mixed other characters are. Regardless of who you are, you will find someone a bit like you in this book and that is fantastic because it's written as a norm and not like an example of diversity.

I received a free, pre-release copy of #TheBookofKoli by M. R. Carey from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Published by #LittleBrownBookGroupUK this title is available now.

Even if I 'm not a fan of dystopian I couldn't put this books down and was fascinated by the characters and the amazing world building.
It's a gripping and enthralling read and I can't wait for the next instalment.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Koli is fifteen and has lived inside the walls of Mythen Rood his whole life. Outside the walls is a dangerous and hostile world, where the trees will kill you where you stand and the shunned men will claim you. To survive, the one and only rule is stay behind the walls. But Koli will soon find himself without a choice – banished into the wilderness and away from everything he’s ever known in his isolated village. But is everything really as it seems outside the walls? And why is the environment so determined to destroy?

M. C. Carey is the author of ‘The Girl With All The Gifts’, and as such I knew he’d be able to pull off another post-apocalyptic world. I wasn’t wrong. The descriptions of the devastated waste lands and the way that nature has turned against humanity feels unique and interesting. It’s well crafted, and helps create this feeling of overlying tension that follows Koli during his time away from the village. I would have liked to explore the reasoning behind this environment more, and perhaps got more answers as to how the plants and tress developed such as distaste for human life as this is only hinted at here – however, overall I found it lushly descriptive and intriguing, with scope for further development in the upcoming sequel.

Where this falls down for me is in the writing style. Koli is described as being isolated within his village – they have very little to no interaction with anything outside of the small community they live in, and as a result the language as developed into something not quite like our own. It doesn’t really flow well, and feels stilted, as Koli speaks with a ‘stream of consciousness’ style that is hard to get to grips with. As a result, this also meant I just couldn’t really relate to Koli as a character or any of the people he interacts with as I could never quite grasp his intentions or emotional involvement in anything.

I also found the plot itself to be quite slow, particularly in the first half when Koli is still within his village. There’s a lot of world building and ‘info dumping’ relating to technology and it’s supposed purpose in the world, and I found these sections to drag as not much else happens. The pacing does pick up in the second half, with more tension and adventure as Koli finally leaves his home, however I felt at times that it was a little too late for me to get invested in the story.

This has the potential to really drive itself forward in the next book, now that the world has been developed. The world itself is interesting and unique, with many unanswered questions and problems for Koli to solve – I just wish the writing style didn’t grate on me so much.

Loved this book, a must read that kept me gripped, and kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen to Koli. The story is told in a first person narrative by semi-literate Koli who lives in a Britain that has been ravaged by war leaving small pockets of humanity. The small community where Koli lives has very little in the way of technology except for items that survived the wars. The weapons are controlled by one family, who therefore, control the community. Koli steals a piece of technology which is an extremely advanced portable music player with artificial intelligence. The story is gripping and it is also humorous with the language used by Koli and his interactions with the AI technology.

There are some books you don’t want to end, and this is one of them, but the good news is there’s more coming so the adventures will continue. A fascinating book with great original ideas.

I wanted to read this book because I loved two of the author's previous book which you may have heard of - The Boy On The Bridge and The Girl With All The Gifts. Both fantastic dystopian, post-apocalyptic stories.

This is actually both very similar and very different. Koli lives in a small village in the Calder Valley (which is a real place in West Yorkshire if you didn't know already). The forest and trees have mostly taken over things and they are disconnected from the rest of the work, even other villages close by, because to go into the forest is extremely dangerous. I'm not sure how much, but a long, long time has passed since our time. Nobody really knows anything about the past because there is no internet or technology of any kind apart from a few pieces of "old tech" which only works for certain people - the Ramparts. They basically rule over the village and protect it from any dangers using their tech.

Without any spoilers, because Koli basically tells you all this on the first page, Koli ends up leaving the village. The reasons you will have to find out! But the book is about him, what causes him to leave the village and what happens when he does.

I was delighted when I started reading this because of the slow realisation that it's written about the place I live! As I said, the Calder Valley is a real place and I live there! The village Koli lives in is called Mythen Rood, but it's actually called Mytholmroyd, Half-Ax in the book is Halifax in reality. I was just completely amazed when I realised this as I had no idea the author had any connection to the area, but he must have. I think it's really clever how he has changed the names of places because they have just mutated over time, a bit like the trees, and nobody even realises it. But they are still recognisable. I thought it was very clever and brought me a bit of joy because I could try to imagine the valley being taken over by the surrounding forests. It's very green around here, but not quite that green! And thank goodness I don't get attacked by any of the trees.

Koli is a very loveable character. He is honest and simple, and tries his best. I really liked him all the way through, and when he made mistakes I found myself thinking "Oh, Koli...." and being scared and hurt for him at many times, because he doesn't have a great time in the book at all really.

The pace isn't very quick in the book, but I don't think it could be because you need some time to adjust to the slightly odd language, again which I presume has broken down over time since there is no internet and nobody even seems to read or write anymore. Having said that, it is never boring and an awful lot happens, but it happens at Koli's own pace since he is telling the tale, and his pace is what I would call steady.

If you have read either of the books I mentioned above by this author then you will enjoy this. Or if you like any character driven fantasy books I think you would enjoy it, especially dystopian or post-apocalyptic style books. I genuinely feel happy thinking back on this book, and Koli. It's something that will stick with me for a while. I can't wait for the next book in the trilogy to come out.

Well this was an interesting one! To begin with, I didn't really like how the prose was phrased (some variations on proper English!), but I persevered and then stopped noticing that.

Koli's world sounds interesting - if not rather horrible - and the plot is intriguing, set in the north of England (suggested by the slightly corrupted place names) in the future.

The book finishes on something of a cliffhanger. I'm looking forward to reading the next instalment of this trilogy.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

I started reading this without much of an idea what I was really getting into. The blurb gives little away and we learn almost everything there is to know from Koli himself as our story teller.
I do not wish to give anything away in term of story, you can discover that for yourself, as I really feel this is the best way, but you need to know that the world is not as it was, and it was people that messed it up! Fast forward a couple of hundred years or more and we meet Koli.

I don't know how old story teller Koli is, or where he is telling us his story from, but he starts, as you should, at the beginning.
Story Koli is 14, almost 15, and it's after his coming of age, his 'waiting' that everything changes.
His life will never be the same, and he precedes to tell you why!

I genuinely feel like this book is twice as big as it actually is. There is a whole lot of story in it, and at the 20% mark I felt like I had read so much but realised there was much more to come.
At no point though was I bored, or hoping it would end. Koli is a wonderful story teller, and I don't know if its the area of the world I grew up in that helped, but I had no trouble reading in the voice he was given.

Where Koli starts, and where Koli ends up are quite different, and there is worry, hurt, adventure, and plenty of things that would have you for dinner along the way.

I really did enjoy this book in both the complexity of its world and the way things, we in this current world automatically would have a name for, are described, or are called, but also in the simplicity of being told the story by someone who has only ever known that world and wants to tell us their story. I am very much looking forward to finding out where Koli and co go next.

My thanks to Little Brown Book Group/Orbit for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Book of Koli’ by M. R. Carey in exchange for an honest review.

“Everything that lives hates us, it sometimes seems. Or at least they come after us like they hate us.”

This is Book 1 of the Rampart Trilogy set in a future England (Ingland) radically changed by war and climate breakdown. Fifteen-year-old Koli has grown up in the small village of Mythen Rood. Beyond its walls are killer trees (!!), giant spiders, and deadly choker seeds that will burrow into your skin and quickly kill you.

There are other dangers including the Shunned men and lethal drones of an unknown origin. The villagers have managed to activate some old technology and use these to defend their community from these threats. When the young people of Mythen Rood reach their fifteenth year they are tested to see if they are able to operate the tech. Those who pass are admitted to the elite Rampart family. Koli longs to be a Rampart.

I am reluctant to say more about the plot in order to avoid spoilers but will reproduce Koli’s statement in the opening chapter: “I went away, and then I come home again. But there’s more to the story than that, as you might expect. It was a hard journey, both ways. I was tried and I was tested, lots of times. You could say I failed, though what I brung back with me changed the world for ever.”

As I started reading it the day after it was published I decided to obtain its audiobook edition, narrated by Theo Solomon, and combined listening to this alongside reading the eARC.

Koli’s recounting of his adventures are framed as if he is speaking directly to the reader. So it’s rather stream of consciousness with the occasional aside to fill in details. In addition, Koli’s language is full of odd grammar and syntax. This was not as apparent as I listened to Solomon voicing Koli as it smoothed over any oddness and actually assisted in comprehension.

This was an excellent start to this dystopian trilogy. I was excited to see that Book 2: ‘The Trials of Koli’ is currently scheduled for September (though in the current situation this might be subject to change). I can hardly wait.

Highly recommended.