- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Orbit; 01 edition (16 April 2020)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0356509559
- ISBN-13: 978-0356509556
Syopsis
The Book of Koli begins a breathtakingly original new trilogy set in a strange and deadly world of our own making.
Beyond the walls of the small village of Mythen Rood lies an unrecognisable landscape. A place where overgrown forests are filled with choker trees and deadly seeds that will kill you where you stand. And if they don’t get you, the Shunned men will.
Koli has lived in Mythen Rood his entire life. He believes the first rule of survival is that you don’t venture too far beyond the walls.
He’s wrong.
Review
The Book of Koli is the first in a new dystopian fantasy trilogy from M.R Carey, author of the bestselling The Girl With All The Gifts. Koli lives in the village of Mythen Rood, enclosed by fences with watch towers. It’s not other people they are keeping out but wild animals and the genetically modified trees that kill. He first rule of survival is to stay inside the village and not venture into the woods. But danger can be closer than Koli realises. Narrated by Koli, we see a new world, a world where nature has taken over and faceless men will eat you.
The Book of Koli is a bit of a slow burner to start, with details of Koli’s life in the village and how the community works; the hierarchy, rules, values. This gives an insight to Koli the young boy, his likes and dislikes, dreams and ambitions. Surnames are given like they were in medieval times, referencing their skill or craft, so Koli was Koli Woodcutter as his family owns the mill. At the age of fifteen, both girls and boys get to do a trial where, if they pass a test they can become a ‘Rampart’ one of the leaders and defenders of the village who have the technology for defence and take their name from that, Rampart Fire, Rampart Knife etc; this is the one thing Koli dreams of. being. He is an intelligent and curious boy who, when betrayed, starts to ask questions when he shouldn’t. His youth and exuberance shine through but there is a naivety to him, which made him likeable; fifteen is a difficult age even in the future. Koli believes that accessing and understanding the technology of the old world is what will save the current world. Apart from Koli, my favourite character had to be Monono Aware, an Artificial Intelligence from a Sony Dreamscape. She is fun, sassy, tells it exactly how it is and has a wonderful report with Koli.
M.R Carey paints a desolate picture of a dystopian future. There has been a war that has left towns and cities destroyed and where the trees, plants and mutated animals have taken over and are a threat to the humans left. No only are humans under threat from genetically modified plants, but because villagers don’t leave the village, the gene pool is contaminated causing fewer babies born; they are looking at extinction. The picture also shows humans as regressing and leading a more simple life with no technology, apart from that the Ramparts have, no doctors in the village, only Ursula who visits one a year, and no books. Words are all phonetically pronounced, ie Road to Rood and UK to yewkay and their speech reads like bad grammar, which took me a while to get use to, but I think an effective device in showing how a world without books or media could alter our language.
The Book of Koli is a fantastic start to what looks like an engaging and thrilling trilogy. Koli is an interesting character, full of spirit and questions that made me warm to him. The scene is set perfectly for the second book, The Trials of Koli, due out in September, and I for one can’t wait to find out what happens next.
I would like to thank Orbit Books and Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the invite to the blog tour and my copy of the book in return for my honest review.
