I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Book of Koli Series: Rampart Trilogy #1 Published by Orbit on April 14 2020
Genres: Adult, Science fiction, Dystopian
Pages: 416
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A stellar start to a new series, The Book of Koli surprised me in just about every possible way.
I’ve read every one of M.R. Carey’s books—or at least the books he’s written under the name M.R. Carey (he has an urban fantasy series written as Mike Carey that I’m dying to read!)—and I couldn’t wait to read his latest, the first in a dystopian trilogy that takes place in a future England. And wow, I loved this! The story ended up being much different than I expected, but I love when authors can surprise me. I went in thinking this was going to be about killer trees and plants, but honestly, there is very little of that in this series opener. Instead, The Book of Koli is a character driven story about the fantastical adventures of Koli Woodsmith, a young boy on the cusp of adulthood who makes some bad choices and pays the price.
In a far future “Ingland,” Koli Woodsmith lives with his family in the village of Mythen Rood, surrounded by a forest full of dangerous trees, plants and animals. Koli’s family works in the sawmill, cutting down trees and preparing them to use as building materials—that is, after the planks have been thoroughly soaked in poison to kill the tree completely. When the story begins, Koli has turned fifteen and is now of age to participate in the “testing,” when he will have the chance to try to wake up one of the treasured pieces of tech owned by the village. If he can sync with the tech, he will become a Rampart, one of the village elite who control the tech and protect the village. If not, he’s destined to be a Woodsmith for the rest of his life, a fate he’s not too keen on.
The results of the testing lead Koli on an unexpected adventure, one that will change his life forever.
I know this is a very vague story recap, but I thought it best in order to avoid spoilers. This is a tale that’s worth discovering for yourself, a tale with many surprises. The Book of Koli is told in first person by Koli himself, and the story is infused with his particular voice. I do want to address Koli’s voice first, just to get it out of the way. I’ve read all sorts of reviews where the reader either couldn’t finish the book or just didn’t enjoy it because of Koli’s odd, uneducated way of speaking. But for me, I had the opposite experience. I thought his voice made the story even better, and I’m very happy that Carey chose this unusual and bold approach. Once you get into the groove, you too may find Koli’s sing-song cadence works well with this world, a world that has fallen apart and is trying to find its way back. As an example, here’s a snippet of Koli’s voice:
I got a story to tell you. I’ve been meaning to make a start for a long while now, and this is me doing it, but I’m warning you it might be a bumpy road. I never done nothing like this before, so I got no map, as it were, and I can’t figure how much of what happened to me is worth telling.
The setting at first appears to be your typical post-apocalyptic world: small villages dot the countryside, with very few people left after wars and other catastrophes have decimated the planet. Over the course of time, trees and plants have become almost sentient and are a mortal threat to humans. For this reason, villages have walls around them to keep out the deadly flora, and hunting expeditions outside the wall are timed to coincide with cloudy, cold days, when the trees aren’t as big a threat. But despite the hardscrabble life of the villagers, in Mythen Rood there are at least four pieces of “tech” from the old world, tech that still works and acts as weapons to protect the village. It’s this tech that lies at the heart of this story and colors everything that Koli does. And in order to keep the surprise, I’m not even going to talk too much about the tech—although I badly want to!—but I will say this: I absolutely loved two pieces of tech in the story. One is called a drudge (I want a drudge of my own so badly!) and is owned by another favorite character of mine named Ursala, and the other is a DreamSleeve. And the DreamSleeve has a name, and her name is Monono Aware. I don’t think I’ve loved a character more than Monono, she’s become my new favorite book character. Monono has a completely different voice than Koli and I have to include a bit of it here, simply because I know you’ll fall in love and want to find out more about her:
“What work are we gonna do, Monono?”
“I’m going to sharpen your taste buds to a point, Cody-bou. But basics first. This is ‘Poker Face’ by the lady named Gaga. Twice.
“First time, just listen. Second time, you dance.”
I know that makes no sense if you haven’t read the book, but trust me. You are going to love Monono too.
Carey is such a great storyteller, and I love the way Koli often gets sidetracked as he’s explaining something. These asides felt so natural, as if he were saying “Oh, I haven’t told you about that thing yet, have I? Don’t worry, that part’s coming up soon…” There’s also a wonderful tale-within-a-tale about Monono’s journey into the internet. That’s all I’m going to say about that, but look out for it, it’s sort of mind blowing!
Koli, Monono and Ursala wind up together on a quest of sorts, and a thrilling and terrifying climax eventually finds our characters preparing for—you guessed it—the next book in the series. I loved the direction Carey took at the end, which isn’t a cliffhanger at all, but rather the first steps into the sequel. This is one of my favorite types of endings: lots of things are wrapped up satisfactorily but the author also gives us a glimpse into the characters’ next adventure. I can hardly wait for The Trials of Koli, which luckily isn’t that far away—it comes out in September.
Readers who are already fans of M.R. Carey will not want to miss this, and new readers should take heed: this book might turn you into a fan as well. Highly recommended!
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
This was a captivating review. The book is not my cup of tea, but your words made me really curious! I would think about it and thanks for sharing!!!
Thanks Susy, I know this type of story isn’t for everyone:-)
Damn this sounds good! It’s been forever since I read a dystopian novel. And I also like that it’s a character driven story because those are my favorites.
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: Twice a Wish by Pepper Winters
I think you’ll love it, enjoy!
There was little or no doubt that this new Carey novel would be an amazing read, but still I’m happy to read your comments and to see your high rating for his latest work. I was going to start this one either today or tomorrow, and had high expectations for it, now I’m positively thrilled! 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…TOP TEN TUESDAY: Ten Signs I’m a Book Lover
Oooh I’m looking forward to hearing what you think!
Fabulous review that completely does justice to the book:)). I’ve just finished this one Tammy and was blown away! Much as I loved The Girl with All the Gifts – I love this one more. The language… the world… and Monono – you’re right… Clever and gripping, heartbreaking and hilarious in places, it has a lightness of touch that was missing in the earlier novels. Thank you! I wouldn’t have requested this one if I hadn’t seen it on your site and will be giving you a shoutout in my review:))).
Oh, I’m so glad to hear this! I’m also glad you enjoyed Koli’s way of speaking. I thought it really added to the story. Can’t wait for your review!
Dystopia is not usually my thing but your review has intrigued me.
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out recently posted…Review: Red Dirt Country by Fleur McDonald
It’s a little harrowing in parts, but I thought it had a lot of hopeful moments as well.
Can’t wait to read this one. It’s one of my forthcoming books so I’ve only skimmed this but I love seeing 5*.
Lynn 😀
hope you enjoy it, Lynn!
Monono was definately my favorite character, especially after her extended journey through the remains of the internet. And I found my interest growing the closer we got to the end, so I’m very curious to see where it all goes from here.
I’m very curious as well. I wish September weren’t so far away (in more ways than one…)
What a unique read, Tammy. I can’t wait to meet Monono! Lovely review!
She’s pretty unique:-)
Glad you enjoyed this one, I have heard of the author but never tried him. Great review!
Oooh Stormi, you should totally read The Girl With All the Gifts, I think you’d love it.
I can’t wait to read this one! Hoping to hit this one up real soon so I skimmed your review, but I’m excited to see the 5 star rating!
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
5 stars! I love your review 🙂 I’ve enjoyed every M. R. Carey I’ve read so I’ll definitely be wanting to read this at some point, and the next part being out so soon is great as well.
Pages and Tea recently posted…Booking Ahead: April 2020
I hope you get a chance to read it! I’m glad you’re also a big fan:-)
Wow you made that book sounds so good and I really want to read about the tech, the passage you highlighted made no sense but it made me so curious haha. I have all of Carey’s books on my Kindle (except The Book of Koli of course) but I still haven’t read a single one of them. I should really remedy that soon.
Maryam recently posted…O.W.L.s Magical Readathon TBR|2020
Oh you should read them, Maryam! I love all of them, some more than others, but each one is unique and well written.
I know, I don’t know why I haven’t read any of them yet… 2020 is the year I’m finally reading one of his books! 😀
Maryam recently posted…Book Review: The Light Years by R.W.W Greene
MR Carey is one of those authors that has kind of intimidated me. This sound interesting and definitely unusual — great review!
His books are very easy to dive into, so I wouldn’t call him intimidating at all:-)
I meant to comment yesterday Tammy – and then got sidetracked with a sick child. I just started this and I’m loving it too. The voice, the world building.. everything.
I love the clever way in which he has used phonetic sounds to make new names for things. “Count and seal” or “Coun – cil”.
I was kind of thinking this would have made an excellent audio book (and still do think that) but I also would have missed some of this wonderful wordplay. Great review.
Oh no, hope your little one is feeling better! I didn’t even notice the “Count and seal” but I did notice other things. I think he’s simply brilliant. I’m glad you’re enjoying it, looking forward to your review:-)
She is thank you. I don’t believe it’s anything tied to the current pandemic, but just a regular old stomach bug. At least I hope that’s all it was. 🙁
I could be wrong about the Count and Seal, it just seemed like that’s what they meant by it and said out loud that’s what it sounded like to me. I’m still trying to figure out what fathom and curtain mean lol. Or if it even has any significance.
I ran across quite a few words that I was sure meant other things, and knowing this author, I’m quite sure they were deliberate. So you’re probably right!
Don’t know that I was really interested in this one until I saw your review. You have me rethinking that. Sounds like I might regret not checking this one out.
I was really surprised, not because I loved it, but it wasn’t the story I thought it was going to be. But in a good way!
Absolutely fantastic review as always, Tammy! I could never grow tired of reading your thoughts on books you love. I have a copy of this one and I, honestly, can’t wait to dive into it now. A character-driven story by Mr. Carey. 😛 Thanks for sharing!
Lashaan Balasingam recently posted…My Monthly Anticipation | April 2020
Thanks so much, Lashaan:-) I hope you love it too!
This is one I’ve been vaguely interested in. I love characters with strong voices, so that part sounds great! And it sounds like an interesting story.
The story was really good, and surprised me:-)
Great review. The Lady Gaga reference had me chuckling. This sounds like such a unique read and one I need to put on my TBR since Carey is an author I’ve been wanting to try but haven’t gotten around to yet.
The Lady Gaga reference is just the beginning, lol. It’s hard to tell you why without spoiling it:-)
Ooooh, this sounds amazing! I’ve really been wanting to read more Carey and just haven’t seemed to been able to find the time but this one looks great. Glad you loved it, Tammy!
It’s really good, and different but in a good way!
I’ve heard so much good things about this! I really want to read more of M.R. Carey’s work after reading his short story in Cursed, and it seems like so many people are really enjoying this one. I’m definitely going to have to pick it up. :3 I actually enjoy the little snippets you shared, and I think the voice feels very natural. It might just be a facet of where I live, but I hear this sort of speech every day, so I’m pretty used to it. xD Looking forward to getting my hands on this!
OMG, I’m so far behind in reading reviews I only peeked at your review because I’m reading it right now. I’m so happy to see your 5 stars and a little of your thoughts because I’m really loving it so far.