The Fall of Koli is an example of the conclusion of a trilogy done beautifully. The Book of Koli felt quite insulated; mostly focussed on a small little village in a post apocalyptic world and then one boy's fall from grace and the beginning of his journey. It's sequel, The Trials of Koli, expands the horizons significantly and opens up the world as we follow Koli and his companions on their journey. The Fall of Koli concludes the novel perfectly after having blown everything open and allowed the pieces to fall as they will. Or not quite, it's clearly very carefully planned, but it also feels natural and intrinsic.

This is in keeping with the second instalment; two main narrative voices, that of Koli - who is frankly probably the least interesting of the lot, but his companions more than make up for that - and that of Spinner, who has come into her own in the small village Koli left and is forging out a new path for those there. Whereas the first book built up the small insular world that they live in and the second book fleshed out a lot of the deeper world building, this novel starts looking at the wider political and societal conflicts - both of the past and the present. It's exceptionally well done and honestly couldn't have been done better. It also expands hugely on Monomo, the AI personality that Koli carries around in a Walkman.

It's difficult to review a finale without spoilers, but I can absolutely recommend this series. It's wonderfully written and grows and expands throughout the three novels. It's got interesting and believable characters, some more sympathetic than others but isn't that life. It's got some stunning world building, that has only become stronger as the series goes on. It's got action, tension, drama and quite a few life or death stakes. The characters are faced with complex and difficult dilemma's and sometimes there are no good options, only less bad ones. It's good.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.

After a long journey, and one as well written and with as memorable characters as this one, I appreciate a hopeful ending. But I can’t help feeling that Carey has cheated a bit, that the only solution he can provide for the future of Mythen Rood, England, and the rest of the world of his novel is the sort of starry-eyed optimism of the wonders of technology that carried with it the seeds of the previous world’s destruction to begin with.

Stephen Case

And so Koli Faceless – who we’ve known by many names over the course of his tale: Woodsmith, Rampart, Witless – and his friends come to the source of the broadcast claiming to be the Sword of Albion. From a giant warship with a very singular purpose, Koli and his small gang find themselves returned to Ingland with a new purpose, a new understanding of why the world is in the state it’s in, and a destiny to return to Koli’s roots in Mythen Rood, where M. R. Carey’s incredible trilogy meets its satisfying – and extremely bittersweet – ending.


When I last saw Mytholmroyd, it was a seven-inch stratum of cold ash – the last of Drake’s strongholds that offered us any fight at all.


It’s a little under a year since Mike Carey introduced us to Koli and his new dangerous world. Since then we have travelled with Koli and his friends – the “crossed” Cup (a girl living in a boy’s body), Ursala-from-Elsewhere who brings along her horse-like drudge and the medical diagnostic unit that it carries, and Monono, the virtual girl trapped in the music player that originally set Koli on his path, and saw him expelled from Mythen Rood – as they set off in search of lost London, following an ancient broadcast signal. The ominously-named final book in the Rampart Trilogy, The Fall of Koli, picks up where the second book (The Trials of Koli) left off, and finds our intrepid group on board a giant ship, peopled by only three people, who seem to have their own agenda. This gives Carey the chance to give us some insight into how Koli’s world came into being, who the mysterious godlike Dandrake was, as well as the demonic stannabanna. Koli’s world is the result of almost 400 years of nature fighting back following a war that all but wiped out humanity.



It’s difficult to take Fall as a separate entity, without looking at it in the context of the wider trilogy, but it’s an edge-of-the-seat rollercoaster from the first page to the climactic battle scenes that draw the book – and this wonderful trilogy – to a close. Without ever giving the reader a chance to breathe, never mind try to second-guess what might come next, or where Koli might end up, Carey takes us from the decks of Sword of Albion, to the northeast English coast and on an almost-inevitable road back to the tiny walled village where it all started. And he does it all without ever breaking out of character, maintaining his made-up dialect for the duration of the three books, never leaving the reader behind, or causing us to wonder what, exactly, he’s talking about. It’s an achievement that deserves celebration, all the more so for the massively-condensed timeline in which the books were written and published, despite the real world – quite literally – falling down around the author’s (and everyone else’s) ears as he went.

Fans of Koli’s tale are unlikely to be disappointed with this final volume. Alternating between Koli’s point of view, and that of Spinner Tanhide, the girl he once loved back in Mythen Rood, the tale is true to its beginnings and ties up all the strands of the story in a way that will leave the reader satisfied, but with a pronounced lump in the throat. Many have attempted this experiment in the past – to produce a novel on-the-fly, publishing as they go and hoping they end up with something coherent. Stephen King, in writing The Green Mile – originally published in six parts between March and August 1996 – claimed to be following in the footsteps of no less than Dickens. The advent of the internet, and direct access to authors by their fanbase, has seen plenty of similar experiments over the years, with stories usually delivered digitally, and often re-published in more or less heavily-edited complete editions. Carey’s Rampart Trilogy is, perhaps, only the latest – and most ambitious – iteration, coming in the form of full novels at a time, rather than chapters. In all senses, it’s a triumph, a monolith of post-apocalyptic fiction that attempts to answer the question of what it means to be human, while holding up a mirror to our current world and asking the question: is this really where we want to go?


Between his work in comics (Lucifer and The Unwritten, to name but two) and his novels, Mike/Michael/M. R. Carey is a writing force to be reckoned with. The Rampart Trilogy – The Book, The Trials and The Fall of Koli – is a masterpiece that should come as no surprise to anyone that has had occasion to read any of his previous work. It’s difficult to say if he will be defined by any of these works, or if his best work is still to come, but there can be no argument that Koli will be remembered alongside Melanie as one of his finest creations. If you’ve already travelled partway along the road with Koli Faceless, I’m here to tell you that the final book in the trilogy is well worth the wait, and will answer many of the questions you may have asked along the way. If you’ve yet to join Koli on his travels, waste no time in getting your hands on a copy of The Book of Koli. You can thank me later. If you’re yet to experience the work of Carey in whichever of his many guises, you have a lot of catching up to do. No need to thank me; you’ll be too busy for quite some time.

Y con esta entrega llegamos al final de la historia de Koli. En una acción editorial con pocos precedentes, en apenas un año han llegado a las librerías las tres entregas de una trilogía de fantasía. Espero que la experiencia haya sido positiva, a pesar del año pandémico, porque la idea desde el punto de vista del lector ha sido fantástica. Todos los personajes y líneas argumentales bien frescas en la mente y listas para ser disfrutadas sin necesidad de resúmenes o relecturas.

Si estáis leyendo estas líneas y no conocéis esta trilogía es posible que os interese leer mis reseñas de la primera y segunda entregas de la serie de Koli: The Book of Koli y The Trials of Koli. No haré spoilers en esta reseña sobre cómo termina la historia. Es posible, sin embargo, que pueda dejar caer algún mínimo detalle que pudiese desvirtuar ligeramente la lectura de los dos volúmenes anteriores.

The Fall of Koli sigue justo donde lo dejamos en la segunda parte. Con Koli y sus compañeros de viaje descubriendo qué se esconde tras la señal de radio que venían siguiendo desde lejos. El Sword of Albion es el nombre de una gran embarcación donde se esconden algunos de los secretos de lo sucedido en las primeras etapas del apocalipsis de la civilización. Y cómo la humanidad intenta sobrevivir a cualquier precio. Esto abre la historia a una trama de ciencia ficción más pura mientras nuestros personajes intentan escapar de este lugar.
De vuelta en el lugar de origen de la historia, seguimos avanzando con la trama de Spinner, quien se mantiene en Mythen Rood, donde empezó todo. A pesar de haberse resuelto ya buena parte de la trama que mantenía a los Rampart como poseedores de la tecnología prohibida para el resto de la humanidad, comienzan a llegar ciertos enemigos al poblado. Sus intenciones no son buenas y Spinner y el resto de los habitantes de Mythen Rood tendrán que unirse en aras de sobrevivir esta ofensiva.

Continuista con lo leído anteriormente, prácticamente la totalidad de la primera mitad de The Fall of Koli me ha resultado especialmente lenta. Y no son pocas páginas. Se nota claramente como Carey se encuentra posicionando ciertas fichas de manera que la trama principal se resuelva durante la segunda mitad del libro. Es en torno al cincuenta por ciento de lectura cuando el interés gracias a ciertas decisiones argumentales vuelve a crecer y la resolución del conflicto tanto por parte de Spinner como de Koli resulta no solo satisfactoria sino, por mi parte, muy sorprendente. Al final de todo puedo decir que da hasta pena que no se hayan anunciado nuevas entregas de la serie ya que podrían dar bastante juego.

Es una pena, por otro lado, que el uso que se hacía de la vida de la vegetación en la primera entrega haya terminado pasando ciertamente desapercibida.

La historia de Koli es un viaje en tres volúmenes de unas quinientas páginas que no puedo recomendar a la totalidad. A pesar del magnífico final, la sensación global que se queda es que el numero de paginas ha sido algo excesivo para lo que se cuenta. Además, algunas de las características del mundo que se intuían en el primer libro apenas terminan por explotar y el personaje de Koli mantiene su ingenuidad durante las tres novelas. Parece que nunca termina por aprender que la vida ahí afuera no es fácil y que no debes confiar en nadie.

Puestos a quedarme con un volumen de la trilogía, y al contrario de lo que suele pasar, en esta ocasión me quedo con la segunda, The Trials of Koli. Creo que es el libro mas equilibrado de los tres.

Fantastic conclusion to a fantastic series. Loved this story, characters, plot and writing.
I Will read more from the author in the future.

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

An excellent final novel in an excellent series.
I loved this series and I loved this story.
Excellent character development and world building, good storytelling and a plot that kept me hooked.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

4.75 stars

Once again the story picks up exactly where it left off in book two, albeit with a little preamble from Koli first.

“Why does the world think boys can’t be gentle and loving as well as strong and fierce?”

Let’s set the record straight, Koli is a cinnamon roll and he has the biggest heart, and I love him for it. Does that mean he sometimes acts foolishly - yes. But that adds to his endearment, and if he acted sensibly we wouldn’t have had half as good a story to follow.

We begin focusing on Koli, Monono (still my favourite character), Ursala and Cup arriving at the Sword of Albion. And it is not what any of us anticipated. On it we are introduced to three new and very chilling characters. I’m not going to say much about them because I want to keep this spoiler free but if your skin doesn’t goosebump from the first meeting with them then you are made of stronger stuff than me. It reminded me slightly of Allegiant when Tris and co escape Chicago.

We do then head back to Spinner and her ongoing challenges: of Ramparts, and wars and new life. I have to admit I had a slight itch to get back to Koli and his gang when reading her chapters. Nothing against the tale she is spinning but just that Koli’s exploits were keeping me on tenterhooks.

We do get other point of view characters too later in the book but once again I’m keeping schtum about them because it will land better on reading.

In his acknowledgments Carey reports completing the writing of this during lockdown and as with any good sci-fi it becomes a social commentary on the present. It touches on topics such as race, being transgender, brexit, naziism, corrupt politicians, climate change and more.

You need to have read the first two books to understand this one, if you didn’t like the voice in the previous books then you won’t like this. I would say this is the most pacy of the the three books but Koli’s storytelling in particular is still meandering and as such feels slower than many of us are used to. It’s replicative of oral storytelling, but to me this works much more successfully that the similar style used in Black Leopard, Red Wolf.

Thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for arranging the gifted e-copy for the purposes of this honest review. Do check out the rest of the stops on the tour.

The Fall of Koli is the final book of The Rampart Trilogy. If you have not read books one and two then what follows will contain some minor spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

The world that is lost will come back to haunt us . . .

Koli has come a long way since being exiled from his small village of Mythen Rood. In his search for the fabled tech of the old times, he knew he’d be battling strange, terrible beasts and trees that move as fast as whips. But he has already encountered so much more than he bargained for.

Now that Koli and his companions have found the source of the signal they’ve been following – the mysterious “Sword of Albion” – there is hope that their perilous journey will finally be worth something.

Until they unearth terrifying truths about an ancient war . . . and realise that it may have never ended.

This week’s review is the final book in The Rampart Trilogy. The Fall of Koli picks up right where The Trails of Koli left off. Our erstwhile hero continues his journey across the broken landscape of future England seeking answers to the mysteries that surround his life.

I’ve found over the course of this series that my attention has actually drifted away from Koli to focus elsewhere. Though Koli is frequently front and centre, I’m more curious about what is going on with characters like Cup or Ursula-from-Elsewhere. Each is on their own journey and M R Carey’s skilled storytelling ensures ample time for the reader to follow them. Monono Aware remains a firm favourite. Her continued voyage of self-discovery is a real highlight. Monono is constantly growing and evolving. It’s fascinating to see the changes as well as the elements of her character she chooses to retain. The fact she is an artificial intelligence becomes almost secondary. There are pivotal moments in the plot where she gets to decide what she will become. When I started reading these books, I don’t think I expected to ever become so caught up in the virtual life of what was essentially an iPod. Along with Cup’s thread of the narrative, the author uses Monono to explore the nature of transformation and how it can come to define us or consume us if we let it.

Elsewhere, another plot thread continues to follow Spinner Tanhide. Koli’s childhood friend never leaves the village of Mythen Rood, but her journey is no less transformative. From uncertain youngster to determined leader there is a stark evolution in Spinner’s character that can be appreciated on multiple levels. Spinner doesn’t go searching for the truth like Koli. She has it thrust upon her and is forced to deal with the consequences of the revelations she learns.

If I had a single criticism, and it’s a minor one, I would have liked the book to be just a little bit longer. There is some mention of various character’s ultimate fates, but I wanted to know what happened next. In all honesty, I suppose that is just me being greedy. When I really enjoy a book, I don’t want it to end. Especially when it is the final part of a series and I’ve become invested in the plot and characters.

By and by there are elements of The Rampart Trilogy that put me in mind of a scene right at the end of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. A tribe of feral children have spent so much time away from what’s left of the world they have created their own mythology that has in time become legend. Even their use of language has devolved into something that would, in some cases, sound unfamiliar to our ears. They sit around a roaring fire in the ruins of a city. Using their tradition of oral history, they carve out a new legend of the road warrior. The worldbuilding that M R Carey has crafted in these three novels has that same detailed sense of tradition; the countryside peppered with isolated pockets of humanity, clinging on to the old ways that have become warped into something else over successive generations.

I think I mentioned when I reviewed the first book in this series that I did a bit of research to confirm the existence of the villages and places the author mentions. I love that he has taken real places and woven them into the fabric of his narrative. If you take a look at a map, their names may have been changed slightly, but they are there alright. I love little things like that. Tweaking something familiar, something entirely ordinary and changing it for the purposes of a good story.

This trilogy contains the same enthralling writing that drew me to The Girl with All the Gifts and The Boy on the Bridge. The Fall of Koli is a perfect bittersweet coda to round out The Rampart Trilogy. I’ve read a huge amount of apocalyptic fiction over the years, and these books are right up near the very top of the list. There is little denying that M R Carey is a master when it comes to the end of the world.

The Fall of Koli is published by Orbit and is available now. Highly recommended.

My musical recommendation to accompany The Fall of Koli is a soundtrack to a movie called Songbird, by Lorne Balfe. I listened to it recently and it immediately felt like a great fit and you know me, I’m all about the feels.

I'd really been looking forward to the publication of this, the third instalment in the Koli series, but sadly couldn't convince myself to finish it. The plot and characters that enthralled in the first book lapsed somewhat in the second, and by the third just didn't connect with me anymore: it felt like I was also on an unending journey!

A fantastic conclusion to the Rampart trilogy. This picks up immediately after The Trials of Koli, as Koli, Cup and Ursula come to the end of their journey. The book balances Koli's story with Spinner's as she becomes a more prominent figure in Mythen Roos in preparation for the eventual attack from the forces of Half-Ax.

I cannot recommend this trilogy enough. The contrasting world M.R Carey has built is stunning. We jump from Koli's adventures upon reaching his destination, learning how the world was previously shaped, to Spinner's progress and the result of Koli's findings of the old world.

The final book of a trilogy in theory should be relatively easy. You weave all of the subplots from the previous books and tie them all up as neatly as you dare and hopefully the longer form of the narrative has made the whole thing that little bit more resonant. Carey's Rampart trilogy (Koli trilogy makes more sense but they are his books) had quite a lot to do in this book, though that depended on how much backstory he wanted to fill in. Koli's world after all was a future Britain where there had been a catastrophic war, a fall of technology and a rise of aggressive nature. How much of why that happened he was going to reveal was unclear, and actually I am quite surprise by how much he lays out here, and I wonder if that was always the choice. But as he writes in his afterword this was written during the Covid lockdown of 2020 and I wonder if the situation made him make more explicit some other themes he would have elided.

So we get a potted history of Britain, or Albion, where there was the rise of a fascist dictator who then set about war internally and externally with enemies which ended with "unknown catastrophe". We discover this because Koli and gang end up on a massive warship where an unpleasant teenage boy and his two parents live who are directly connected to that history. It soon becomes clear who they are and what the ship is for and how Koli and crew (well Ursala) fits in. Like some of the previous book, this whole section of adventure feels divorced from the main sweep, it is Koli stumbling across the baddies and then his gang having to deal with it while they escape. That is a minor criticism, Carey's pacing, and interweaving with the secondary Spinner story means that this book has a meaningful cliffhanger every two chapters and is hugely enjoyable to read for entertainment. And the big ideas here about fascism, racism big and small and the potential solution (er - roads) are nicely small scale.

This doesn't come without a cost. The book is solely interested in what is left of Britain, and its predicament is a British problem. Its possible that the rest of the world may well be in a totally different predicament, they didn't have the same fascist government after all (though may have warred with them). A similar thing happens at the micro scale. Spinners story is about a minor revolution within their village, but also a small scale war. And yet this could be going on in all the other villages in the UK. The book wraps with an ending which feels like an ending, but only really works if we see Britain (and to an even greater extent the rest of the world) as stuffed with pliant NPC's who will respond well to our hero's plan. Up until this point that had never been the case.

This is potentially too much of a niggle, and I think part of the problem is that sits in a grey area between YA and sci-fi/fantasy. Its certainly more than well written enough to please any age of reader, and some of what makes is YA accessible is what gives it such a distinctive tone and voice. The problem is there is one character (by the end multiple characters) who could break down and explain the fall of civilisation, and what has happened to the rest of the world, and our now omniscient narrator doesn't do that. There is an interesting philosophical point made about halfway about our disembodied AI shedding its previous restrictive personality - and what shape does a bunch of data have? But does that shape have to have the ignorance about the world boiled in. I certainly understand why Carey doesn't do more (its bloody hard and could almost certainly only disappoint), but to leave it out there unresolved feels like a minor flaw, in an otherwise very enjoyable trilogy - particualrly as its is in a microgenre (future "fantasy") I tend not to enjoy.

I was so excited to be approved to review the final book in this incredibly ambitious trilogy, but it sadly was a huge letdown.

There were so many plot points to love in this finale but nothing felt like a fit! Everything felt so disjointed and, dare I say it, just too much...? Whilst I struggled with the second point of view in the previous book, I despised it in this. There was nothing about it that felt right and it just ruined Koli's story for me. I also have some nitpicky issues with the science in this (retro-amylase?! why oh why). When science is your 9-to-5, it does get a little tiresome to see writers include random science terms without fully researching them.
The saving grace has to be the ending. A fantastic idea that took me by complete surprise.

As a whole, this series possessed so much potential. I saw some glimmers in the second book but I honestly was left feeling quite disappointed by the whole thing. Absolutely genius thinking though!!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I call this series perfectly structured, because it is. It has been so well planned out that there is a perfect arc to what you're reading here. In Book 1, we are just with Koli, seeing his world through his naïve, sheltered, uninformed eyes. In Book 2 we see Ingland, travelling with Koli, Ursula, Cup and Monono as they follow the source of the signal towards London. Yet we also stay in Mythen Rood through Spinner.

In Book 3, it's a step up and a development, adding a later, additional point of view character that we've been waiting for, as well as staying with Koli and Spinner as they each navigate their own challenges.

Koli has found of the source of the signal, and is now trapped on the great warship Sword of Albion - both an object and a something more. Even worse, it seems as though the war never really ended, at least for some, which creates an even larger-scale problem than one of human reproduction.

Meanwhile, in Mythen Rood, having fought off an attack from Half-Axe (Halifax) and the Peacemaker's troops, Spinner finds herself in a position of unwanted power, able to wield all forms of tech and making decisions in the Count and Seal. However, the threat has not gone, and she will need to use her considerable wits and cunning to keep the small community safe from the Peacemaker.

In particular, I've always loved the setting of this series. I love anything set in a post-apocalyptic Britain, as I get the pleasure of working out where all of these locations are set and the words that this dialect is descended from.

Even better; a world where things make sense! Each book in this series introduces new issues and ideas about what's happened to the world and builds on this bit by bit - it's up to the reader to assume and draw their own conclusions. But in this book, lots of things are made clear by the end - thank goodness! And with action and events that really, really ramps up.

Koli isn't the best character, but he's the character that we need. He retains his naiveté and, above all, his empathy for others. It's what makes him hard to read, as you just want him to be a bit tougher, but also incredibly sympathetic, as he is able to keep something that so many others have lost in this world. He does grow, and he does develop as the series progresses - but it's also just nice to read a character that isn't souped-up, isn't perfect and is, consciously, human.

This series pulls things back to a more manageable scale and manages to do what the Arc of Scythe trilogy didn't quite get it - a clearly structured, exciting finish that gave us what we needed.

A great ending to such an enjoyable series! 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

I received an eARC of this book from Compulsive Readers and Orbit in exchange for an honest review.

Haven't really got the words. It's great. A worthy end to the serious, gripping to the last page. I'm no good at reviewing fiction because it's all emotional to me.

It took me seven days to read the entire Rampart Trilogy by M.R. Carey, concluding with The Fall of Koli, and I wish it had been longer but I just couldn't help myself! The experience has been truly spellbinding, and this final book wrapped up the story in a such a satisfying way that I couldn't help thinking about the tale afterwards.

In this final section, the conflict escalates to extreme levels in both Koli's and Spinner's narratives. Koli is pitted against a sinister force, Sword of Albion, which is located on an isolated sea fortress and appears to be connected with the myths of the past. Back in the village of Mythen Rood, Spinner finds herself defending against threats from the violent Peacemaker who is intent on forcing all the local villages to surrender to his will. Although different in style, the two struggles share fundamental similarities as authoritarian figures attempt to impose their warped values on others.

The role of myth and legend in The Fall of Koli was everything I'd hoped for. The threads start in the first book, and wind through to the ending, knitting everything together to form a greater arc. Wizards, messiahs and religions all feature, yet their roots are stranger and darker than their fantasy equivalents. There is a sense of time passing; of chinese whispers and stories taking their own shapes over the centuries so that realities twist into new forms. Sprinkle technology into this, and you have one wildly original ride with a uniquely British flavour.

I found it incredibly refreshing to see that many of the wisest and most skilful characters in the Rampart Trilogy are female (or choose a female gender). Spinner, Ursala-from-Elsewhere and AI, Monono Aware are intelligent, quick-witted and compassionate. That's not to say that they're flawless, or that the men in the story aren't admirable, but these 'women' continuously rise above chaos and act with foresight and wisdom. So too, Cup, a trans character, who has been cast out of her community for daring to embrace her intrinsic female nature. Feisty and brave, Cup is the best fighter in the tale, and her quest to follow her own path, fitted seamlessly into the story.

I read all three books on an e-reader, but I loved the trilogy so much that I'm seriously considering buying physical copies and listening to the audiobooks. In the Rampart Trilogy, M.R. Carey has created a science fiction fantasy world, which has all the hallmarks of a classic. You become friends with the characters and for the too-short time spent reading, you exist in Koli's world - uncovering its mysteries and experiencing its shortcomings. Expertly written, The Fall of Koli is filled with beautiful reflection, which unveils limitations within our own society while also telling a cracking story. All the stars!

A beautiful ending to an amazing series, which has us thinking intensely… What is AI? What makes a human being? Is our planet really doomed because of us?

And yet it is still science-fiction (or rather science-fantasy) as its highest, packed with gripping action and wonderfully flawed characters. We love them for what they are, what they could become and what they are prepared to sacrifice in order to fix the world. Not as chosen ones fulfilling a prophecy, but as normal people just as clever and brave as you and me.

Well, maybe not me - I was merely brave enough to read this book. And now I wish it wasn’t the last volume in the series - I can’t get enough of Koli.

Essentially this is a single story with an overarching narrative that stretches across the three books, so if you’ve picked this one up without reading the first two – then whatever you do go back to The Book of Koli and start there. Even if you manage to figure out what is going on, you will have missed far too much of the backstory to fully appreciate the overall narrative.

It was lovely touching base with Koli again – and in particular his special companion, Monono, who I’ve taken a real shine to. Yes… I know – a metal gismo that lives in Koli’s pocket, but she is one of my favourite characters. As for the other two companions who accompany Koli on his travels, this time around, we get to see very little of Ursula, the healer. I was a bit sorry about that – but I appreciate there was only so much space for the story. On the plus side, I thoroughly enjoyed watching events move on in Mythen Rood, the village where Koli grew up, which is the other narrative timeline featuring young Spinner that progresses alongside Koli’s adventures as he, Cup and Ursula finally encounter the Sword of Albion.

I loved the tension that Carey manages to engender as their initial rescue gradually turns into something else. And I’ve always been a sucker for plotlines where first we think one thing is happening – only to discover further along that it’s something else quite different. Carey sustains the intensity, while delivering several surprises along the way. I very much appreciated a greater insight into the capabilities of the tech that the fallen civilisation had possessed. As well as learning exactly how it toppled and why. Overall, this is extremely well handled. The antagonists were satisfyingly unpleasant and I also enjoyed the tormented, morally ambivalent character who’d been so badly twisted by his treatment – his was a heartbreaking tale, for he never stood a chance.

As for the final climactic denouement, it was so packed full of action and danger, I couldn’t put the book down until I found out what happened. And as for that ending… oh my word. Yes, it works really well with everyone’s plotline satisfactorily wrapped up. I came to the end of this one with a real sense of regret – the Rampart trilogy is now my favourite post-apocalyptic series. It would make a cracking TV series… Highly recommended for fans who enjoy engrossing post-apocalyptic adventures. While I obtained an arc of The Fall of Koli from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

Welcome to the final part of the gripping dystopian Rampart trilogy, The Fall of Koli - the book where all the little bits and pieces of M.R. Carey's well crafted The Book of Koli and the Trials of Koli come together in a stunning finale.

Starting exactly where the previous book left off, we find Koli and his disparate band of friends Ursula-from-elsewhere, the feisty Cup, and Monono Aware on the verge of discovering the truth about The Sword of Albion. And what they find is shocking indeed - although it reveals much about what happened to bring about the fall Ingland all those years ago in the Unfinished War.

As before the story splits between the quest of Koli and co. to find a cure for the sickness that ails the land and her people, and what is happening back home with Spinner and the folk in Mythen Rood, and there is lot to take in from both story lines. I am very conscious not to give away to much of what goes on here, but can tell you that Spinner really shines in her endeavours, and her desire for peace and unity has a great effect on what happens, even if she and her folk have to pass through much conflict to get there. But for me, it is Koli's side of this adventure that is most significant, and the stream of brilliant reveals that Carey drops on you as you follow what happens are delicious in the extreme. Be prepared to learn so much more about my favourite character Monono, who always keeps me entertained with her pop-culture references, and what she is capable of too.

I must admit that I did approach this final book in the trilogy with some trepidation, especially given its portentous title, but The Fall of Koli has proven to be my favourite of the three books, by far - and that is saying something. The well conceived threads that sprang to life way back at the start of the epic series play out beautifully to their triumphant conclusions here, and the pitch perfect ending is hard to beat - even if I did shed some tears in the reading of it. The way Carey plays with the future direction of the 'old world' tech here is rather clever too, and fits nicely with Spinner's long held ideals, which made me smile.

This is a series where you really do have to have read all the books, and in the correct order, for the story to work, but it really is worth your time and attention. Although I am a bit sad to get to the end of the journey, I have thoroughly enjoyed being along for the ride.

There is key scene in this, the concluding novel in M.R. Carey’s Rampart Trilogy - and to describe it, or even to hint at it in very abstract terms, would be an unforgivable spoiler - which in the hands of a less talented writer would simply not work, might even pull the reader right out of the story. It is a surprising, unexpected plot point which succeeds because Carey has planted seeds in the previous novels. Not that he drew attention to them but, when the moment arrives, the reader’s first reaction is “Wait, what?” immediately followed by “Of course...” To me it sums up what a good writer Carey is. He has introduced characters, made us care about them, built a whole world, our future world, with a backstory, a history of how we got here, of which he has drip fed details, and expands on greatly here; and he ties everything up in a highly satisfying manner in THE FALL OF KOLI.

We are thrust immediately into the action as Koli narrates his continuing journey, with Ursula-from-Elsewhere, Cup and Monono, following their departure from the village of Many Fishes. Straightaway, we discover where the signal they have been tracking is coming from, and exactly what Sword of Albion is.

As it was in THE TRIALS OF KOLI, sections of the novel alternate between Koli’s narration and that of Spinner, who relates contemporaneous events back in Mythen Rood. Spinner’s story is ramping up too, the peril escalating. It is breaktaking and, as Koli promised right at the start of THE BOOK OF KOLI, he eventually returns and the narratives crash together in a thrilling and entirely unexpected way.

The book, and the trilogy as a whole, is astonishingly good. THE FALL OF KOLI is a gripping conclusion to the series. The story resolves in a fulfilling and enjoyable way. The characters will live long in the memory. But more than that, the threads which lead back from Koli’s Ingland to today’s headlines should lead to reflection.

M.R. Carey’s Rampart Trilogy can sit with the greats.

The Fall of Koli by M.R. Carey is the third and final book in the post-apocalyptic Rampart Trilogy, a Science Fiction novel.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Little Brown Book Group, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Series Background:    (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)
Koli Woodsmith was born and raised in a small village of Mythen Rood, after the world was lost.  His dreams were of becoming a Rampart (one who could bring the old technology back to life).  Unfortunately, his dreams and actions caused him to be exiled from his village, forcing him out into the hazardous environment of the world beyond his home.  This world is filled with trees that attack, choker seeds that penetrate your skin and grow, and rain and snow that are not as they seem.  Then there are the rats, wild dogs, molesnakes, knifestrikes, drones….and worse. He finds others to travel with, heading toward London, in hopes of re-uniting all people.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Koli, Ursula and Cup have found the "Sword of Albion" whose signal they have been following for a long time.  They find themselves on an old warship, being run by Paul, Lorraine and their son Stanley Banner.  They are the only crew.   Monono Aware warns Koli not to trust anyone, but he had already come to that conclusion.

Meanwhile, back in Mythen Rood, Spinner has returned from a victorious battle, but since her mother-in-law was injured, Spinner must take charge of the Count and Seal, much to the dismay of Catrin's sister Fer, who is making everything very difficult.   Then they learn that the Half-Ax people have no desire to leave them alone, war is inevitable.


My Opinions:  
Without a doubt, you must read this series in order.  I can't imagine jumping into Book 3 without having read the first two.

The world that Carey created is like no other I have read.  It is after the world's civilization has killed the planet, and separated the remaining people.  It merged reality and fantasy perfectly.  Yes, there have been other books where the world has "moved on",  but none that the "old technology" (most of which was produced in our lifetime) was so sought after.  Then there was some technology which was very advanced, and probably will never be created.  But that was part of the fun...trying to recognize the technology which was introduced in the book, as it is usually described by Koli...who just does not have the words.  AI breaking it's bonds with the technology was definitely a new concept  (although now I am thinking about HAL, so maybe not).

The story continues to be told by both Koli and Spinner, and eventually,  one other (who I will not define).  From the first book, you hoped that Koli and Spinner would meet again, but my thoughts never imagined it would happen as it did.

The book again was long but this time I didn't feel it dragged.  The characters, as always were interesting, and as the books have gone on, their personalities have changed, grown, adapted...as we all do.  The plot and writing were great.

I am always in a quandary when I come to the end of a series/trilogy.  I always look back and realize I loved the first book more than any that come after it, and the last book is always my least-liked.  That however, is not really true.  It is more the sadness of coming to the end that produces that judgement.  Overall, I really enjoyed this series, and as much as I wished it could move forward, it has come to the perfect ending place.  Kudos  Mr. Carey!