Interesting unusual dystopian book, well crafted with its plot and characters. I enjoyed my time and really looking forward to the second book.

Thanks a lot to NG nad the publisher for this copy.

Welcome to the future. Human civilization, as we know it today, has fallen with pockets of survivors scratching out an existence in villages few and far between. This is the north of England but probably not one you will recognize as trees and other plants actively hunt humans and anyone who can wake old tech has near god-like status. I loved the other-worldliness of The Book of Koli. In this time of isolation I find delving into a post apocalyptic novel a real comfort. Escape your daily challenges and chores to follow the happenings of Koli, our intrepid youth turned man who embarks on an adventure far from the norm in his isolated village, Mythen Rood.

As I said this is brilliant escapism with top tier world building. Life is simpler but harder in many ways. There are numerous threats and life is not easy living by the code of the village, especially when you understand things are not as they seem. The underlying puzzle of cracking the spoken language - not unlike uneducated American hillbillies (no disrespect intended), to my mind - takes some getting used to as does the alternative names for locations and tech. Deciphering what they are talking about is half the fun. I dropped into the story with ease and shadowed Koli through all his choices and mishaps. It's a big and dangerous world out there with killer plants, snakes and bugs and other people who have an alien belief system of their own and mean you harm. I honestly couldn't get enough as this was just what I needed right now. I am most pleased this is the first in a trilogy with more Koli to come. Our boy will experience a great deal and I will be an eager companion when he sets off again.

I enjoyed Carey’s previous post-apocalyptic world – he is a master storyteller – but I loved this one even more. For starters, this time around we stay in Koli’s viewpoint throughout in first-person POV, which is always my favourite narrative mode anyway. And Koli is a lovely protagonist – a teenager in a small community facing a vicious world, where even the trees are trying to kill you… The narrative voice is just right, different enough from our everyday speech to remind us that we are in a different time – a time where education is spotty and syntax doesn’t matter – adding to the worldbuilding without being annoying. It’s a far trickier feat to pull off than Carey makes it look. It also didn’t hurt for this one to be based in England, rather than in the US, as place names I recognised helped me to envisage the landscape, though I’m very relieved the wildlife is completely different!

When everything starts to go wrong, I was still very much alongside Koli and willing him to be okay – I know Carey is capable of killing off much-loved characters – and found this one difficult to put down. The adventure that unspools is a solid delight. I particularly loved Monono, whose burbling, light-hearted input stopped the book descending into an unduly grim read. And I would like to reassure fans of TGWATG, that the tone of this one is far less bleak. I feel that reassurance is important, because right now I’m quite happy to escape into a challenging, difficult world – but I don’t want to be pulled down by it, and I’m guessing that I’m not the only one.

The ending nicely tied up the current adventure, but also left a dangling plotpoint to take the story onward. This is highly recommended for fans of post-apocalyptic adventures with enjoyable protagonists and a vividly, believable world. The ebook arc copy of The Book of Koli was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest opinion of the book.
10/10

https://lynns-books.com/2020/04/16/the-book-of-koli-rampart-trilogy-1-by-m-r-carey/
3.5 of 5 stars
The Book of Koli was one of my most anticipated books this year. I’ve read a few books by this author and really enjoy his work so perhaps you can imagine how excited I was to be approved for this particular book.

BoK takes us on one young boy’s strange journey, a first step into adulthood, and a period of great change and no little amount of danger.

We start the story by meeting Koli, who is our narrator, and I will just warn you now that he has his very own way of storytelling that you may find a bit disconcerting at first, but does grow on you (or at least that was my experience).

Koli is a young boy on the cusp of manhood. He lives in one of a few villages, sparsely populated and surrounded by countryside. This is a post apocalyptic story and whilst we don’t discover a great deal of what actually took place to cause such devastation we soon learn that travelling beyond the walls of your own village can be incredibly dangerous. Not only might you meet outcasts (shunned people) but the local flora might also take a fancy to you. Trees that attack and vines that whip up from the ground. The sunshine is now the enemy as it awakens the forest and brings with it a multitude of dangers. But, Koli, his family and friends are very aware of the dangers posed by the forest and know how to survive. Life is simple and people are delegated certain tasks that usually pass down from family to family, for example Koli’s family are woodsmiths who collect and treat timber to make it fit for purpose. The most desirable tasks in the village involve using the few remaining pieces of old ‘tech’ that remain and help to protect everyone – however, in order to attain such a coveted role you must be able to ‘wake’ the tech in the first place, which few can do. If you do manage this task you will become a ‘rampart’ and live a more privileged life as a result.

So we meet Koli as he’s about to face his first trial – his first step on the road to manhood. Still a child at this point, Koli will be given a chance to operate a piece of ‘tech’ of his own choosing. As a child he still has hope that his life can be singularly remarkable and believes that he can achieve anything – of course, he’s soon to learn that these simple hopes and wishes are somewhat naive. At the same time that Koli’s trial looms he is also forming an attachment to a childhood friend known as Spinner but is too nervous to make his feelings known to her. Now, to be honest, I’m not going to elaborate further on the plot because I think you need to discover the story for yourself, suffice to say that Koli’s innocence and naivety are about to set him on a dark path.

I really enjoyed the start of the story, discovering about life in the village and getting to know Koli and his hopes and desires. The tone then gradually starts to change, Koli discovers that not everything is quite as simple as he first suspected and in fact there is unfairness in the world. Darkness and threat start to seep into the tale as he faces the consequences of his actions.

The world building is interesting. I really enjoyed getting to know about life in the village but, as the story is told by Koli, and he only knows so much himself, we learn little of what caused the world to change so dramatically. Similarly with the forest and trees. we discover that they pose a threat to life and that the villagers have to be incredibly careful to keep new growth and seedlings under control but there is little other explanation. I didn’t mind this to be honest and just went with the flow.

The writing may be a bugbear for some readers, although I didn’t find it to be so. Koli isn’t a literary genius to say the least and his narrative is full of grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and colloquialisms but this is his story after all and of course he’s going to tell it in his own style and although that style not be particularly eloquent he does have a certain charm. I couldn’t help wondering how difficult it must be for an author to write in this style, you must continually want to be correcting things – not to mention auto-correct and spell check must be nightmares!

The characters. Well, I liked Koli but in actual fact my two favourites were side characters who become quite pivotal to the story. One is Ursala – a traveller and healer who travels between the villages spreading news and helping with ailments. She has her own forms of protection including a drudge, a piece of tech that the ramparts from Koli’s village would like very much to get their hands on. The other is Monono – such a great addition to the story and very unusual – I loved the way she develops but I won’t say more here, you’ll have to make her acquaintance yourself.

In terms of criticisms. Well, I did have a few issues that held me back a little, not least my own high expectations, and let’s be honest, my concentration is not the best at the moment. I think the first issue I would mention is that the story is a little slow. Koli has his own speed of telling things and although you know that changes are imminent the story does slow down a little (around the 40% mark. The other issue for me was that I probably didn’t enjoy the second half of the story as much as the first. I can’t really go into why that is without giving away spoilers but I think because I’ve read quite a number of post apocalyptic stories over the years there was a certain familiarity to the second half whereas the first half felt very fresh, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it was like a.n.other book – just that the territory felt well trodden in some respects. That being said, if you’ve not read many books of this type I think you’ll be bowled over.

Okay, so I didn’t love this quite as much as I’d expected but to be fair I think my head has turned into a turnip at the moment and also I’m a victim of my own impossibly high expectations for this particular author. Basically, I think it’s more a case of ‘it’s me not you’ – MR Carey is an impressive author and one that I will continue to be excited about in the future.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

This was such a compelling book, both in terms of plot and in structure. It tells the story of Koli, a young man living in post-apocalyptic Britain. All Koli wants is to become a Rampart of his village and make the tech wake for him, which leads him in some surprising directions.

The Positives: M. R. Carey has created a fascinating and terrifying world here, with killer plants encroaching on human settlements and AI drones still roaming the skies. It is not a world I would want to live in. that's for sure! I love the way in which the prose is constructed. We are told the tale by Koli, in his own words, which means that the grammar is wonky and the words are often slightly different from our own - Parley Men for Parliament, for example. This provides a wonderful reading experience and there were some fabulous 'ah-ha' moments, when you could finally parse what he was actually describing. There are some high action moments that are pretty brutal and the overall plot, while simple, is compelling, but what really drives the narrative is Koli and the way in which he views the world.

The Negatives: I found the first part of the book to be a little bit slow and it does take a while to get fully immersed in the story, because you are spending the time getting used to the language used.

Overall I thought this was a really well constructed and interesting book and I will definitely be picking up the sequel to discover what is to come next for Koli and co.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

⭐5 Stars⭐

The journey of one unforgettable young boy struggling to find his place in a chilling post-apocalyptic world.

The rebellion of nature is captured with such effective and interesting dialectal choices that assist in both world-building and character insight. Koli is a fantastic protagonist and with the pre-capitalist collective he describes so vividly, we understand the nature of temptation in this world. The Ramparts have power, and in a world designed to kill you, that is the most important thing.

Carey creates mythology from technology. This novel begins an important discussion about the long term effects of our current actions on the plant and how we treat technology. By its end, we understand Koli’s world fully and with it, we gain a new perspective on our own. Koli's endless optimism is so refreshing in a time of seemingly endless existentialism.

The Book of Koli has fantastic representation in regards to LGBT+ characters. Koli is queer and there are two transgender characters in the novel. Transphobia is present, but it is challenged multiple times. These characters are intricate and they look to be very important for
Book Two -coming in September

I read The Girl With All The Gifts back in 2016 and loved it. If you're looking for your next post-apocalyptic read after Book of Koli, I would suggest going through Carey's back catalogue.

Trigger Warnings: death, cults, religious zealots, transphobia (challenged).

I received an advance review copy for free via NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily

I found this book a little hard to get into as the narrator's voice was so strong. It was certainly a feat to maintain it throughout but did make it a more challenging read. I liked the premise and would be interested to see where Carey takes this series next.

I adored this book! I instantly took to the main character Koli, and his way of speaking, and I just really liked him.

It took me a while to work out exactly when this book was set as the author doesn’t give things away quickly, everything is drip fed to you so that it makes you really think about what is really happening here.

I was really gripped by this book and to be honest I was sad when I finished it. I’m really looking forward to the next book.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy.

As climate change wrecks havoc on the world, those clever boffins found ways to genetically manipulate plants to deal with the new conditions. But, as these things invariably seem to do, things got more than a little out of hand. Trees are now bloodthirsty things to be feared, nature has gone feral, and mankind lives in small enclaves, fighting for survival.

I wondered if a book about a post-apocalyptic world would be a little too close to the reality of these strange times we’re actually living through, but thankfully Koli’s world is something far enough removed as to make for an enjoyable, not traumatic, read. But while killer trees might sound comedic, I can assure you it’s not. This is believably fight-for-survival, humans gone back to earlier times, but surrounded by leftover tech – some, but not much, of which still works.

In Koli’s village, everyone is tested to see if the tech will work for them. Those that can use the weapons that keep the village safe are raised to be ‘Ramparts’ – ruling the others. Koli’s determination to become one of the elite will send him off into adventures he could never have dreamed of…

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The mix of a fantasy-ish olde-world level of society with these semi-mythical pieces of equipment and warped stories of the ‘old world’ is something that feels familiar from any number of books and movies, but is very well done here. Koli is our narrator, and his language is grammatically rough – something that I think might annoy some, but added to the veracity of the account, not least because the author carries it perfectly through the whole novel.

The story takes a few turns that I don’t think you could have seen coming from the beginning, and ends with so many more adventures ahead for Koli – I won’t spoil a thing, though. It might not have quite the punch of The Girl With All the Gifts, but as terrifying as this tree-stalked world is, I was totally caught up. I am *so* looking forward to the rest of the trilogy!

First off I've never read any of the author's previous work so wasn't sure what to expect even though the description drew me in. I was looking forward to a dystopia where nature fights back to avenge the wrong that humans have been guilty of.

Well I got some of that but I was expecting more about nature taking which never really happened.
What I did get was a book about how the dwindling population were managing to survive in this new world.
There was a lot of description of the 'village' life the protagonist Koli was living in & how the leaders used their ability to 'magically' turn on old tech, to keep their people safe.

This is turned on it's head when Koli discovers some secrets and from then on is set on an adventure where he finds out more about the wider world & how it works. Even though this isn't necessarily what I was expecting the book really took off & I couldn't wait to find out what happened.

I thought the book was a little slow in the first half but then it really flew & I was sad to reach the end. Luckily there's not too long to wait until the next instalment. I would highly recommend this book, even though it will leave you impatient for the next one.

Word of warning, treat your tech nicely, you never know it might just save your life!

Young Koli has grown up in Mythen Rood in Ingland. It’s not an easy life, summers are hot, winters are cold and the trees want to kill you…..so does the wildlife and the shunned men.

Some people are born able to control the ancient tech that keeps the society going…these are the Ramparts, but Koli finds out a secret and an adventure begins.

I loved the world building, the fantastic creatures and the moving trees…although the Choker tree seeds that burrow into flesh and sprout are a thing of nightmares…I have to admit to struggling at first with Koli’s manner of speaking…..written like a 5 years olds grammar……but once I got used to it I found it charming and fit Koli’s character.

Well written, great characters and with a clever plot all make this a thoroughly engaging read.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this for free. This is my honest, unbiased review.

My review will be posted on my Instagram blog on the 16th of April.

Koli has always wanted to be a Rampart. But when the day of testing comes, the tech doesn't wake for him.
Instead, he discovers that all that the Ramparts led everyone to believe was a lie, and as a result, he is sent into exile.
But with the living trees and other dangerous creatures hidden in the depths of the forest behind the village wall, will he survive on his own?

This was my first book by MR Carey although I have a couple of his other books on my tbr shelf.
The story, following Koli as he tells the story of his life, is set in Great Britain, far into the future, hundreds of years after a war destroyed the world as we know it.
With the ancient technology devices, the predatory trees and other dangers awaiting anybody who sets foot beyond the wall of their village, this book tempted me with a great premise. Therefore as a fan of dystopian stories, I delved into it with great expectations.
Unfortunately, because of the unusual language the characters use, however intentional it was, I was struggling to get into it. Luckily, as the story progressed and I got the hang of the strange speech, I was really hooked and raced through the rest of the book in no time.
I really loved the moments when Koli learns about the "ancient" tech (mobile phones, music players, computers, guns etc).
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would probably give it 4 stars if it wasn't for the peculiar language that is bound to discourage some of the readers. However, I can assure you that if you persevere, you won't be disappointed.
I am looking forward to the next book in the Koli trilogy.

It took me a while to adjust to the voice that M. R. Carey has assigned to Koli. Koli lives in a tightknit community overseen by a mob-like family of technomancers- when Koli discovers the key to the ancient tech they wield against outsiders (and lock behind mysterious hidden doors), he sets off a chain of events that costs him his place in society, but opens his eyes to an entirely new world. I don't want to spoil too much of the plot, but Koli's handheld companion quickly became one of my favourite fictional AIs, similar to Lovey from Becky Chambers' incredible Wayfarers series. The latter part of the plot felt more like a series of quests from a video game (find object, escape dungeon, escort companion to safety) but the emotional bond I'd formed with several of the characters left me excited to read the upcoming sequel. Content warning: this novel features two trans characters who are both subject to physical abuse on religious grounds. The narrator consistently uses their correct pronouns and while the characters' trauma isn't overlooked or downplayed, these aren't tokenistic portrayals- like all the best trans characters in literature, these characters "just are", and it's seriously uplifting! I would recommend this book to YA readers with some stamina- fans of authors like Ransome Riggs and Justin Cronin should have no trouble tackling it.

The Book of Koli by M. R. Carey
Published by Orbit (an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group, an Hachette UK Company)
Publication date 16 April 2020

I enjoyed M. R. Carey’s The Girl with All the Gifts immensely. I went into it not knowing at all what it was about; if I’d have known, I might not have picked it up for fear of it being a genre book, but by the time I realised what I’d gotten myself into, I was hooked and well impressed by Carey’s storytelling skills. This, taking something that had been done to death, writing it well and making it seem fresh, went a long way with me, so when I heard about his new book, The Book of Koli, of course I wanted to read it. The blurb promised another world, a hostile one where even the trees were predatory. This, too, intrigued me. It was one of those moments when you get a new book, combining an author you’ve enjoyed and a subject you’re interested in—a Christmas morning moment.

I settled in to read, but within half a page, I had to stop and give my head a bit of a shake. It was written in the first person, in very stylised—and atrocious—English. I probably outwardly cringed (inwardly, I certainly did). I gave myself a bit off a pep talk (‘perhaps it just starts this way,’ ‘you’ll get used to it,’ etc.) and ploughed on. Over the next few pages, I found myself correcting Koli’s grammar constantly and at one point actually worried that if I kept reading, I might end up picking up bad habits (I’m one of those people who unconsciously mimics other people’s accents, I don’t think this actually extends to bad vocabulary or grammar, but I did have the momentary worry). My hope that the style would give way to a more conventional use of our language was never fulfilled, but, eventually, my brain calmed down and I settled into the rhythm of the story.

It soon became clear this was another post-apocalyptic world, but one very different from The Girl with All the Gifts, one further in the future, far removed from our world, where technology had almost mythical status, technological items were treated like artefacts, and aspects of the world, such as the carnivorous plant life, seemed fantastical. The story is largely a coming-of-age tale set in this strange world where the mysteries of the environment and culture unfold as the young protagonist, Koli, a teenage boy on the cusp of adulthood, finds his feet. It’s enjoyable in many ways, but I think approaching it like a YA novel, a decent one that can be enjoyed by the young and adults alike, is probably a good starting point. Parts of it, such as the pop culture references presented through the tech, like inside jokes between the past and the reader, were entertaining.

It appears as though it’s the first book in a trilogy and, though this isn’t the most glowing of reviews, I will probably read the next book to see how it develops. With the YA caveat, I’d recommend this to anyone who thinks it sounds interesting. I’m aware I might feel disappointed because my expectations were high and I am the kind of reader that is disconcerted by blatantly disastrous grammar, even if it is intentional.

Though this is a mixed review, I’m still very grateful for the opportunity to read the book and would like to thank to NetGalley, Orbit, and the author.

Wow! Just "wow"! The writing, the plot, the characters - just perfect! It took me a while to get used to the style of writing in the book, but it makes so much sense (you'll have to read the book to see what I mean... I'm not dropping any spoilers here!). Just when you think the story's going to go in one direction, it does a complete one-eighty on you. I just loved "The Book of Koli" and can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Set sometime in the future when the human race is not as it was. Trees move to kill you and other plants are a constant danger. In this world we kind a Koli, a young man about to be tested with technology from the past at his home on Mythan Rood. His life will never be the same, if he can survive his future.
We follow his journey in this novel one original book. And great news it is the first in a new trilogy. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I found the premise of the book incredibly interesting and the ending has got me interested in the next book in the series. But I did struggle with reading it due to how it is very colloquially written and that there was A LOT of description. It kind of made me feel that the author didn't trust me to create ideas and make assumptions alone.

I really liked the author's take on how the integration of tech and a society stripped back to the bare minimum would work. Although sometimes the plot development felt convenient rather than logic.

If you want a book that you can sink your teeth into this is it, especially if you want a different take on an apocalyptic story!

The Book of Koli has a great premise, a future where man's tinkering has caused collapse of society and the trees to become predatory.

The problem I found was that the first 20% of the book was pure exposition and really dragged, having everything explained, sometimes in great detail.

There are a lot of good things about the book though, great characters, ideas and twists on tropes.

If you can get through that initial start you will enjoy this book.

MK Carey is probably best known for his post-apocalyptic novel The Girl with All the Gifts, recently made into a film. The Book of Koli is the start of a new series and a different kind of post-apocalypse, although with many aspects that readers of this genre will have encountered before. Set in a Britain hundreds of years after it has been ravaged by war and now beset by deadly genetically modified plants and animals and occasionally ancient rogue technology, the book focuses on one village and its surrounds but sets the scene for a much more expansive series to come.
The Book of Koli is narrated by Koli, a teenager when the book opens, although his first person narration is clearly at some remove from these events. This allows him to both foreshadow major events but also contextualise things that he did not understand at the time he learnt them. The narration is in a slightly idiosyncratic future English that is as much about Koli’s character and village upbringing as it is about the society around him. This style of narration makes the first half of the novel feel like an extended exposition. Interesting or life changing events that do occur are so firmly foreshadowed that they lose any capacity to surprise.
This is down the line YA fare. The narrator is a young man who “comes of age” by discovering the deep secrets that underlie his small society and due to his acknowledged immaturity suffers for it but it leads him to discover greater secrets about the broader world (AJ Betts’ Hive and Rogue did something similar recently). Koli has to go out into the wilderness to find himself and learn these higher truths. One of the elements that sets this apart is Koli’s Tinkerbell – a sparky, snarky AI in an ancient music player that he steals and manages to get working, one of the events that precipitates his fall. Monono is an AI based on a Japanese pop star, and after an upgrade becomes as much a character as Koli, and definitely more interesting to spend time with. The rest of the characters feel like Post-apocalyptic/YA staples – including Spinner, the unrequited love interest, the tough self-interested village leader who sees herself as the line against chaos, the crazy messiah with eyes tattooed all over his body, and the travelling sage.who inadvertently sets Koli off on his quest.
This style of post-apocalyptic Britain has started to become a little ubiquitous. Recently we have had Nick Clark Windo’s The Feed, CA Fletcher’s A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, Last Ones Left Alive by Sarah Davis-Groff and even thriller and historical fiction writer Robert Harris has weighed into this subgenre with The Second Sleep. All of these feature verdant British landscapes (although in this case they are a little deadlier, disconnected villages usually ruled by secrets, and some still working “ancient” technology. The second half of The Book of Koli pivots around another post-apocalyptic staple – the crazy messianic cult.
There is an audience, particularly the Young Adult audience, that is continually hungry for these types of post-apocalyptic tales and Carey knows how to deliver. In The Book of Koli he shows a tantalising sliver of a much bigger world and ends the book with that world beckoning. And while he draws heavily on a well established tradition of particularly British post-apocalyptic tales, he adds his own twist to many of the common tropes. Which makes this first book feel like an overlong prologue, a lengthy scene setting before the real action can begin, but one with enough hooks to readers back for the next installment.

Wow! How to explain this? Firstly, I have to say that the deliberate use of extremely poor English was an option that I utterly deplored at the beginning; it was very difficult to read and not get frustrated by the constant 'would of's' littered throughout the pages! However, in hindsight, and after finishing, I can now see why it was used, as the book's central character is a fairly simple lad...and once you've got your head around the language and grammar used, you can start enjoying the story.
Post apocalyptic?? Yes, but this is different from others of this genre, and refreshing in that.
1st of a trilogy, so not going to sum up the ending here...let's say it's set up quite nicely for book two.
Love the characterisation of the pseudo character Monono...in fact after battling through, and getting used to, the obscure language used...I really enjoyed this book.