From Goodreads:
Set in our world of the future - but not as we know it or ever want it to be.
Koli, our main character, is a likeable, kind hearted and a typical adolescent in many ways - he is our narrator and guides us through his adventures.
Bit slow to start with - but really picked up.
Without spoiling, Monono is the real star of the show and an utter delight.
Set up nicely for the next in series - which promise to be even better.
Definitely more of a YA than adult fantasy.

There are trees that eat people.

Koli lives in Mythen Rood in the world of the future. There the Ramparts rule with their mastery of Tech which seems to pass down through generations of the same family. When Koli finds out how Tech really works it opens new doors for him but closes others. Can Koli protect the future, not just his own but that of the entire human race too.

M. R. Carey has been one of my favourite authors since I read “The Girl with all the Gifts” (stop reading this review now and go and read it if you haven’t already done so) and I’m always on the look out for a new story by him. I also absolutely love thr Oryx and Crake trilogy by Margaret Atwood - this is definitely reminiscent of that but has Carey’s own stamp on it of course.

The language used by Koli is quite immature, suggestive of a future where communication is not as advanced as it is now and the beginning of the story shows this young man with his future in front of him but it’s a very unsettled one at that. Koli is not want to accept his lot and decides he’s going to change things for the better. This is the first in his trilogy; I read it really quickly and I can’t wait for the next two to come out (I believe they’re due fairly soon). If you love “The Girl with all the Gifts” and “Oryx and Crake” you must read this book!

The Book of Koli by M.R Carey, who is also the author of The Girl With All The Gifts, is a highly imaginative fable and the first in a planned dystopian and sci-fi trilogy known as The Rampart Trilogy.

I would struggle to explain exactly what the book is about as that would be spoiling it, and I found it fun to just dive in and try and work out some of the twists before the narrator Koli did!

Set far into the future, the world is not as we would normally think of it. Nature is the enemy, the trees harbour poison, and the woods house dangerous creatures. The communities must live behind fences and be guarded by lookout towers. It is not just the environment that holds danger outside the walls, but the people that roam it too, known as the “shunned men”, they are the ones that don’t belong in any village. Koli’s life sees humanity returned to back to the basics. People live in small communities, they are assigned work, and they don’t take well to outsiders. There are no electronics or technology and everything is built, farmed, or made by manual labour. The community is governed and protected by those known as “Ramparts”, who are the ones who can use what little technology is left over from the olden days. Technology doesn’t work for everyone, so the ones who can yield and use the devices hold the power. Weapons are most important, for example, one piece of technology in Koli’s village is a flamethrower. This is something to be both feared yet respected.

Certain events lead to Koli obtaining his own piece of tech – an artificially intelligent multimedia player known as the “DreamSleeve Monono Aware Special Edition”. Remember that Black Mirror episode with Miley Cyrus as an AI doll? Imagine something like that inside an MP3 player. It’s a secret too big for Koli’s village and the consequences are severe.

The tone and style of the writing is different, and certain readers may find it hard to get to grips with. The book is written as if Koli is speaking to the reader, as if he could be sat across from you telling you his story. There are deliberate spelling mistakes, and questionable grammar, as some words are written how they would be pronounced in his dialect. I think this might be because Koli is illiterate, as he doesn’t read books, and his stories are told out loud rather than written down. Because of this, I think The Book of Koli would be really good as an audiobook, as the reader could enjoy the story being told to them, rather than having to adjust to how it appears on the page. That being said, I settled into this after a handful of chapters, but I’m not certain everyone would.

I really liked the character of Monono Aware. She is a piece of technology, but there is no doubt that she is a character in every sense in this book. Koli almost relates to her as a real being, and Carey has done really well at giving her her own identity and presence on the page. It was almost as if I could hear her voice in my head when reading her parts. Again, this goes back to what I said earlier about how this book could make a great audiobook experience!

The story flows fairly well. The first third of the book is enjoyable as you find out about Koli, how his world functions, who his important to him, and what happens in his past. It might seem like a slow start for some readers, but it is necessary to understand the main character. The second third of the book was my favourite, where the plot unravels further and Koli goes on his journey. Unfortunately, I found myself wanting to skip through bits of the last part, as I felt it lingered in places and lacked tension.

Would I read the next in the trilogy? I’m not 100% sure, but Carey has definitely laid out the next part of Koli’s journey, and there is undeniably some curiosity about who he will meet next.

I enjoyed this book tremendously... Took me a little while to tune into it (but that's more me than it). But, well worth it in the end.
This is an incredibly well-thought out tale from an all too believable future.
Beautifully written, whether poignant or funny or out-and-out movie-style cliffhanger excitement. And it has all of that.
My only real issue was it finished too soon! I know it's the first in a trilogy, but it seems a shame to have to wait!!
Holding back a star to see how it develops (or, just being mean :-)

Thank you to NetGalley and The Little Brown Book Company for the chance to read The Book of Koli.

I wish I could give you a truly wonderful review, but I found this book written in the 1st person, in a very specific version of the English dialect a struggle. Unfortunately, I was unable to immerse myself in Koli’s tale as I spent time reading and rereading practically every page.

I’m sorry to say that I did not complete this book, and I would be very hesitant in recommending this to any of my student or instagram followers for this reason.

"Sometimes when a thing happens that's a surprise to you, and comes at you fast, you kind of quicken up so you can meet it.. Your brain gets into another way of thinking and you're moving before you even know you've decided to. Other times you look at the surprising thing like your head is filled up with sodden meal and you move so slow it's all finished before you say any word or do one thing."

This book came at me fast, in a really good surprise way. I was keen to read it due to the author and I'm glad I did. You can completely lose yourself in the world of Koli and I sure did just that.

I did find it a little difficult to get into at first, I struggled with the language at times, it's written from the POV of a boy who isn't quite in our time and it can be hard with the dialect he uses and just how some things aren't quite right but once you're a few chapters in, you're used to it and it's not a problem.

I think the book just touches the YA category but it's very very smartly written; things don't seem to make sense for a while and then something clicks and you wonder how you could have missed the signs for so long, it's the best feeling that a book can give you. The characters are likeable and all so wildly different from each other which I really enjoyed. There wasn't a time where I could really predict where the book was going which I loved as well.

The book is 1 of 3 which means we don't get a "complete" ending as the story goes on but this section of the book is neatly wrapped up which I was grateful for.

I enjoy dystopian YA but I can firmly say I haven't read a book that even slightly compares to this one. Its impressive and I will definitely want to read the next book in the series.

4/5 stars.

This review will be published on my website and GoodReads two weeks before the publication date.

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

The Book of Koli is a very unique take on a dystopian world where the world itself is out to get it's human inhabitants. I found the premise refreshing and intriguing, the cast diverse and the plot full of potential, given that this is the start of a trilogy. I did, however, struggle a little with the way the book is written, as it is done in a style quite unlike anything I've read before. On the one hand this is great, I do like to experience new ways of writing, but on the other sometimes it felt like I had to push myself through the pages because my brain was rebelling a little in the process.

This isn't a case of the book not being well written or good. I think it was both of those things, but I just don't think it's for me. I did love Monono to the moon and back, but by the end of it she was the only real thing that kept me going. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys dystopia novels that incorporate nature and technology in really cool ways.

Another fantastic book by M.R. Carey.

The Book of Koli is a dystopian view of England in an unknown time in the future. A war of epic proportions has destroyed life as we know it now and has taken it back to a more basic lifestyle where technology is highly sought-after and desired, due to its rarity.

The book is written first hand by a young man called Koli and the language he uses evokes visions of this post-apocalyptic world. The use of phonetic spelling and childlike descriptions (such as ‘falling time’ for autumn) and mispronunciations (‘builded’) give the impression of times without formal education or written archives.

The book follows Koli in his ambitions to be a Rampart and the disastrous impact of these ambitions. As a character, I quickly related to Koli’s ambition to be better and his close relationships with his family and friends, which meant that I felt his pain and fear throughout the book.

The world outside of Koli’ s village is full of danger - cannabalistic tribes of people, trees that hunt you and all sorts of animals and creatures that will kill you. The quality of the writing meant that I easily imagined this perilous world, with visions of danger at every turn.

This is the first in a new series for MR Carey and I am now eagerly awaiting the sequel.

If you like dystopian novels or novels filled with adventure, you will like this book.

Strongly recommended.

This was a refreshing change to the usual dystopian future novel. I felt that the characters are well crafted, though the protagonist can be irritating at times I feel this adds to the charm and I hope that there will be other books featuring Koli and his friends.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. This is not my usual genre, I’m more of a crime/thriller reader therefore am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

There are a wonderful range of visions of a post disaster world. It seems to be a genre where a writer's creative imagination runs free and is now one of the most fertile realms of science fiction story telling. The Book of Koli is once of the best examples. Firstly, the world environment is novel and complex. Secondly, it is populated with plants and animals from a dystopian nightmare. Thirdly, the characters are believable and interesting and sympathetic enough to engage the reader. Add to the the presence of old technology which is more believable than magic and you have a gripping tale. The ability to create a rich but believable imaginary landscape is at the heart of good science fiction writing and with the Book of Koli M R Carey has succeeded admirably. I enjoyed every moment of reading this book and was sorry to reach the end. I look forward to the next part of the adventure.

This book had an intriguing premise which I was really looking forward to getting stuck into as I have enjoyed the author’s previous novels. However I stalled so many times as the writing style became a major stumbling block. My attention kept wavering and I had a difficulty maintaining an interest in the main character or his strange community. I think this was due to the pacing and the dialogue. I struggled on hoping that it may shift into a more dramatic gear but sadly that never happened for me. I did enjoy the interaction with Koli and Monono Aware but unfortunately this is not enough to make me want to continue with the series when it’s published.

This is the story of Kolo, told in the first person and set in a post apocalyptic world. Humans live in small villages, separate from each other and protected from the dangers of the wider world. Koli starts to realise that something is wrong with the status quo and the politics of the village and, as a result, ends up thrown out. He travels with a doctor ally and his own piece of old tech - an AI then protects and educates him. As this is the first part of a trilogy, there is no real ending.
The ideas are quite fun but this book wasn’t for me because it isn’t written grammatically correctly but in Kolo’s poor grammar. I can sort of see why but I just found it extremely irritating all the way through.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I loved The Girl With All The Gifts, so I was very excited to read the first in a new series from M.R. Carey. I must admit I was slightly disappointed by this. I understand that it's the start of a trilogy so he doesn't want to give everything away at once, but the pacing felt very slow. However, that did allow him to do some great worldbuilding, and the characters are very well developed. Every time I realised he was talking about something from the present day, it was very satisfying. It will be interesting to see where the story goes once it's out of Koli's small valley.

Set in an England that’s practically unrecognisable to us, The Book of Koli is the first in a new trilogy from M. R. Carey, author of The Girl with All the Gifts. The world has been ravaged by human meddling, a potential last roll of the dice in the fight against climate change backfiring catastrophically and resulting in trees and plants that actively hunt humanity. To venture outside those few settlements that still stand is to set oneself against a hostile world where those creatures and men as can survive make for deadly foes. Koli, our narrator, has grown up in one of these settlements in the north of England, and we are treated to a detailed explanation of what life is like for him and his fellow villagers. Much of the first half of the book is concerned with the power structure of the settlement, the relationships between Koli and the various inhabitants, and general world building. We see the importance of those pieces of technology which still function, whose wielders are revered and hold court over the rest of the settlement, taking up the mantle of “Rampart” (this being book one of The Rampart Trilogy). It’s not much of a spoiler to say that the second half is more focused on the world outside the settlement - Koli says as much in the first couple of pages or so - and the scenes in the wider world come with a constant feeling of tension because of everything we’ve been told about how dangerous the environment is.

This environment is a unique one, as settings go. It’s almost like an alien world in some respects, with humanity eking out an existence in outposts across it. The trees shift to trap creatures between their trunks, sustaining themselves on the lifeblood of living beings. Choker seeds land on skin, burrowing beneath it in seconds to extract nutrients in grisly fashion. Wild dogs and giant rats stalk the land, as well as more exotic, deadlier creatures. On top of the lethal flora and fauna, there is the passage of time, with the presumed centuries since the collapse of civilisation resulting in a collective forgetfulness. Our world, the world that was, is made strange, with some of the most mundane and everyday parts of it appearing here as bizarre relics of a time long since passed, abandoned in the wilderness to be wondered at by our descendants. I found I very much looked forward to Koli coming across such relics and trying to puzzle out what they were and how they worked. He is awed by the power we seemed to be in possession of pre-collapse, which is understandable given the backward step we have taken as a species in the book. His reverence for pieces of technology is matched by his fellow villagers, as they are unable to manufacture any more and rely on them for the defence of their settlement. The items wielded by the Ramparts in particular are advanced even by our current standards, but not unbelievably so, implying our apocalypse is likely due this century. I appreciate that this might not be the cheeriest thought right now, but this is escapist, dystopian fiction at its finest, I promise!

Apart from various asides, most of the narrative is told in Koli’s charming and unique voice. In typical attention to detail, Carey has thought of everything, including what the humans of this distant future might sound like by this point. Language, of course, would normally evolve through daily usage, before being codified formally in dictionaries and the like. In Koli’s world, the language is allowed to run as rampant as the deadly plant life, with not an etymologist in sight. A situation that some would no doubt find repellent, abhorrent, unnatural or horrifying (thanks, Roget!). I’m not talking Riddley Walker levels of language devolution here, so if that’s a potential concern for anybody, don’t worry. Koli’s narration is unfussy and earnest, with the peculiarities of his language (“onliest” being my favourite) making him instantly likeable and innocent. Working out what some of the words he uses were originally is quite rewarding on the rare occasion when it’s not instantly obvious, and the place names (which do correspond with real English ones) are guaranteed to elicit a smile every time. Swapped verb forms lend him a matter of fact, bumpkin-like tone, and there’s a real purity to the emotions and passions he conveys to us because of this. Language is not the barrier it could have been here; far from it, in fact. Whilst the world and story are of course engaging and exciting, it’s Koli’s narration that really made me fall in love with this book. From the first page, I knew I was going to enjoy the journey I was taken on by his words, not just because they promised adventure and excitement but because I wanted to hear what he had to say and how he said it. As a character, he is utterly believable, and as a narrator, inimitable.

As an avowed fan of Carey’s work since I read the first volume of Lucifer, I was looking forward to The Book of Koli. I’m happy to say that not only does it turn out to not disappoint, it stands alongside his best work, and therefore alongside the best in the genre. This is a practically perfect blend of heart, imagination and technique, and it almost feels like we’re being spoiled by being told there’s more to come. I can’t wait.

As far as dystopian tales go, everybody from Mary Shelley to Ben Elton has added to the annals of the genre. So how do you conjure new stories and perspectives in apocolyptic soup.
Well for one, you have to be Mike Carey. That could do it. With his book, The Girl With All The Gifts he managed to make a distinctive and thought provoking addition to the zombie apocalypse. With his new book 'The Book of Koli' he adds a coming of age story set in the remnants of the Yorkshire countryside.

Koli is a young boy who lives in the fortified town of Mythen Rood. A village that is thriving despite the fact that everything and everyone is trying to kill you, or eat you or kill you and then eat you. As you can guess this is a savage world and every day is a test of survival. However, Koli is a young man who has aspirations of becoming a rampart. A member of the ruling elite who protect the village. Also, get the girl and live happily ever after. The End.

However, things do not go as planned, which is lucky for us or it would be a pretty dull book.

Now one of the first things that you will see mentioned is the language of the narrator. It is quite dense,but it wasn't to me as the language revolves around a crude broad yorkshire accent, whic is the way that I talk, so it was quite a surprise to see a book written with thsi type of prose.

Initially, the story revolves around the village and its trials and tribulations and things go well, there are loves and losses. However the story moves its settings when events ocur that change koli's life forever.

The story revolves around the main narrator Koli, who you can easily imagine being sat around a campfire telling the story to his enraptured audience. And the reader is his audience. Ursala, the technological Gandalf of the story becomes a main character that you hope will be expanded upon. The other main character of the party is Monono Aware (SE) whose charcter develop (literally) throughout.

With little snippets of information, you learn that the world that Koli and its other inhabitants live are the descendents of the remains of the human world that has been devastated by some kind of cataclysm. We are not sure when or how, but we know that nature has been turned into a voraciously savage beast and the main purpose of the ecosystem is to eat whatever it can. Even the trees have turned into carnivores and the threat of the world outside Mythen Rood looms in the background. However, nature is not the only threat.

At first, I did find the story a little sluggish, but I think that this reflects the setting. Whilst dangers threaten the life of the village, the little hamlet is as picturesque a village that could be anywhere in the English countryside with it's funny, quaint little customs. But this changes as events occur and the narrative speeds up to reflect of situation. This gear change sneaks up on you from behind and you don't realise it is there until you suddenly realise you have finished the book.

Written in first from the perspective of -you guessed it- Koli, it took me a while to get used to the narrative style. The book reads as if Koli is telling his story to the reader, but in the future all grammar has gone to hell:

'Where I growed up there wasn't many as was swore to the dead god or recked his teaching'

However, once I became accustomed to the style instead of shuddering at it, I noticed it really adds personality and made me feel as if Koli was speaking directly to me which was actually quite enjoyable.

The plot isn't linear as Koli forgets to mention things in order and tends to jump back and forth a little.
'Most things in a story got to stay in their right place, or they won't make no sense at all...'

I struggled at times when foreign concepts were mentioned for several pages without origin explanation. For example, Koli talks about a three legged needle for a while before explaining what a needle is.

I was also a little confused at the differing names for the Ramparts, who was related to whom and what roles they held.
This is to say you need to concentrate to keep track of everything in this novel, I flipped back frequently; it's confusing and yet slow burning.

At times the 'old world' - essentially our era- is referred to incorrectly, (The London Parley-Men made me chuckle everytime) but just enough to identify the objects and places in 'Ingland' that Koli is describing to us.

My favourite parts of The Book Of Koli were the imaginative new threats to humanity and the events that led to their creation. I also came to find Koli rather endearing after my initial irritation at his appalling grammar.

The story only really gets interesting half way in when we get to read more about the outside world.

The Book Of Koli has a POC main character, gay, bi and trans rep. It tackles religion, faith, climate change, sentient AI and more.

My favourite thing about MRC is his ability to completely immerse the reader in his worlds, and The Book Of Koli certainly achieves this.
I had a feeling Carey was waiting right up to the last to hook me in and dammit he did! I will definitely be reading the next book, Koli's adventure has only just begun...

The Book of Koli is the first book in The Rampart Trilogy and features Koli, who goes by many names during the book as his status changes. It is set way in the future after an everlasting war which devastated humanity and left them in pockets across the world. Koli is born into Mythen Rood in the valley of the Calder River, Ingland.

He worked as a Woodsmith ensuring a safe supply of wood for the village, but like many he dreamed of being a Rampart. A Rampart was important as they could use the artefacts left from the people before the war. Koli can't let things be, when things start to change around him and soon finds himself in a little bit of bother, resulting in him having to face difficult circumstances.

Koli is telling the story of his life, his language is different to ours but he describes things so that you can understand what has happened. He is doing it to make sure that what happened is remembered and so too are the people in the tale. I soon worked out that the places he was describing exist in Yorkshire and can be found on a map if you look carefully enough.

I really liked the way Koli was the narrator for himself, as if he were sat telling a tale to a group of people of how it was. It was easy to assume that you knew what was going to happen, even though you didn't really! What I didn't like was the fact that I reached the end of this first book far too soon and don't know when the next book will be released, so that I can continue reading it.

Shades of Patrick Ness’ Chaos walling, in the voice and attitude of protagonist Koli, who lives in a post apocalyptic future of isolated villages enthralled by the remnants of technology that still work. Koli’s odyssey is charming and beguiling but it is also a bit drawn out and the plot relies over much on coincidence and tech that feels like magic. Nonetheless I Will be coming back fir second instalment . Probably a 3.75,

The Girl with all the Gifts was a fantastic zombie novel, Fellside brought some creepiness to the Yorkshire moors (yes, already kinda creepy, I admit), and The Boy on the Bridge brought us new angles on the land where the girl was gifted. Carey has a knack for bringing a child’s viewpoint to the horrors of the adult world, and shining their naïve light on a world we wish was safe.

The Book of Koli is a full-blown character study of what it might be like to grow up in a post-apocalyptic world where the trees might eat you, the cannibals might cook you, and the rest of society might well just leave you out to rot if you happen to question their ways. Reading it I felt a sense of responsibility towards Koli. I wanted to protect him, but technology has gone and nature has returned and that bitch has got one hell of a bite on her (and who can blame her). And that introduces us to the characters that really win this novel – Monono and Ursala. I won’t say too much about them, to avoid potential spoilerage, but they absolutely make this book for me. Particularly given the contrast Carey so carefully sets between Koli’s language and ours.

Carey writes with his familiar action and energy, somehow translated into a language that is both different and the same as our modern-day vibes. Reading it feels like unearthing a long-forgotten artefact, a lost tome. The Book of Koli reads like a portentous tale, a chance to sit up, take notice, because it might not be too late yet.

This book is an interesting ride, and the way in which it’s written is unusual, so essentially vocal – maybe not the style for everyone, but give it a chapter or two and you’ll be sucked into the dialogue. Imagine you’re sitting around a fire, roasting cockroaches on sticks, shooting bantz (or whatever the kids call it these days). Settle down, and say hello to Koli, because the stories he has to tell are ones you are gonna want to hear, and I hear there’s more to come once this tale is over. The Book of Koli is simply the start, and the rest remains to be seen.

Favourite line: “There’s only ever one day that matters, and it moves along with you.”

Read if: You want a dystopian adventure told with a distinct voice, exploring a world where nature is winning and technology is artefact.

Read with: Plenty of space between you and the nearest tree, and your media device to protect you.

Review will be posted to www.thedustlounge.com closer to release date