The Book of Koli (Rampart Trilogy, #1) in Koli--flash group

Oct 03, 2020 carol. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, dystopia, sci-fi

I'm a sucker for a post-apocalyptic novel, so when it seemed like some friends wanted to read The Book of Koli, followed by a serendipitous sale, it seemed like a good time for a flash group read. Plus, aggressive plants! And I don't mean in that annoying, never-get-that-burr-out-of-wool kind of way, or the poison-ivy-burn kind of way, but plants that actually chased down and squished people. Fun times!

Oh, except Koli. Koli is not fun, as Koli is a teenage boy. One thing you can say about M.R. C I'm a sucker for a post-apocalyptic novel, so when it seemed like some friends wanted to read The Book of Koli, followed by a serendipitous sale, it seemed like a good time for a flash group read. Plus, aggressive plants! And I don't mean in that annoying, never-get-that-burr-out-of-wool kind of way, or the poison-ivy-burn kind of way, but plants that actually chased down and squished people. Fun times!

Oh, except Koli. Koli is not fun, as Koli is a teenage boy. One thing you can say about M.R. Carey: he writes many shades of extremely annoying characters. From Felix Castor the alcoholic wizard (the Felix Castor series); to The Boy on the Bridge, Stephen Greaves; to Koli, currently Faceless. I mean, Carey nails it. Koli is pretty much like that emotionally immature ten year-old that you know but don't want to mention, in case his mom gets pissed. He spends free time playing with the friends. He moons after his bestie, Spinner. He's unable to verbalize his feelings or thoughts to friends, family or himself; we're getting the benefit of much of this through past-lens. Despite his community having a clear-cut coming-of-age ceremony, he's given no thought to his life and what he might become. When he doesn't magically become 'special,' he is crushed, and becomes despondent. He has no solution, and only a chance encounter with a passing stranger gives him a new goal. Not one with noble purpose, mind you, but to merely take a different route to the same magical 'specialness.' Oh yes; he has emotional immaturity written all over him.

"I was fifteen years old, I thought myself in love and in all respects I was as shallow as a puddle."

It's enough to make you want to shake a certain Koli, honestly. While I have to give kudos to Carey for such clear characterization, further discussion with my co-readers leads me to question Koli's developmental stage in context of his society. Undoubtedly, Carey had some real-life basis for his 15 year-old ; the trouble is that none of the 15 year-olds he knows has had to do physical labor to contribute to family and society, or has been under deadly threat if stepping beyond the perimeter of their village. However, viewed in context of the now-traditional dystopian Young-Adult set-up, as explained by karen, perhaps it makes more sense.

Which is, unfortunately, where Carey lets us down. The Girl With All the Gifts was fabulous, but it was largely about character growth in an immediately post-apocalyptic world. In Koli, there is slow character growth in a somewhat puzzling and not clearly conceived world. Eventually, pieces of it of the puzzle start to come together, but it's quite late in the book, and in some ways, it makes even less sense. Our group, for instance, ended up quite puzzled over the time lapse. We ended up thinking it was a couple hundred years lapse, but in a Reddit thread, Carey states, "the books are set in a post-apocalyptic world, at least a century or so after the collapse of our global civilisation, that has reverted to a more or less medieval way of life. Climate breakdown has left the world scarred, but the scientific interventions meant to save it have done even more harm."

The parts that are interesting are the supporting characters, Ursala and Monono. Monono's slang speech is particularly entertaining and provides a lot of in-jokes for the reader. I actually enjoyed Monono a great deal, and interestingly, she goes through her own kind of evolution as well. She becomes a strangely empowered little being, providing a solid counterpoint to Koli, and I look forward to what she will do in the future.

“Then what you were feeling was monono aware. The sadness that’s deep down inside beautiful things. The pain and suckiness of everything having a shelf life."

My sense was that Carey was a 'pantser' writer (versus a 'planner'), and further reading on the thread confirmed it. Koli originally was a 'Koli and Cup' magic tale, which explains so well why the tech, the society and the language drift all are so random. I don't hate it, but the beginning of the story is slow enough that the build of the society nagged at me as I read. What it really needed is some plot to move it along and distract me (along the lines of Station Eleven), but it isn't until over a third in that tension starts building, and halfway before leaving the village. I can see where this might truly be a trilogy (or one book broken into three?) rather than three installments of a life (like Murderbot).

I think this may have been a time when the company made the book a little more enjoyable. Though I was a bit lukewarm on the book, Monono and my co-readers made it special, so I'll be going on to the next.

Links to the reddit, etc on the blog post Sunday. ...more

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Sep 27, 2020 Nataliya rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-reads

“Why would anyone hug a tree?” I stammered out. “You would most likely die!”

Nah, you certainly don’t hug trees in Koli’s world, unless you are acutely suicidal. This is unspecified-time-in-the-future “Ingland” (part of what was once known as “Yewkay”) where, fed up with climate change, trees become bloodthirsty predators and regressed humanity huddles behind tall walls in ever-shrinking villages, relying on bits and pieces of still-functional old world tech that might as well be magic for al ...more

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Aug 26, 2020 Nicholas Perez rated it really liked it

This was a strange book. Unlike all the other books I've read, I did not read an online blurb or anything about it prior to reading it. I just saw it at the bookstore and thought "That's an interesting looking cover" and decided to read it.

Before I begin, I need to remind everyone that Koli, our protagonist and narrator, speaks in a broken English, kind of like the south in the US. It might take some adjusting to and is the reason I was here for so long. Also, despite the main character being 15 This was a strange book. Unlike all the other books I've read, I did not read an online blurb or anything about it prior to reading it. I just saw it at the bookstore and thought "That's an interesting looking cover" and decided to read it.

Before I begin, I need to remind everyone that Koli, our protagonist and narrator, speaks in a broken English, kind of like the south in the US. It might take some adjusting to and is the reason I was here for so long. Also, despite the main character being 15-16, this is not a YA book but there are times it can feel like it. But let's get on with it...

In post-apocalyptic Britain, Koli Woodsmith lives with his mother and half-sisters in the village of Mythen Rood. There, everyone contributes to survive and stays away from the sentient killer trees on the outside of their fences. Every year, when the youths of the village turn 15, they are taken to a selection process to become a Rampart, someone who had mastered the technology of old. Koli goes to the selection but he and the girl he has feelings for, Spinner, are not chosen. From there, things head downhill for Koli, but he also questions the leaders of Mythen Rood. When he breaks into the village central house one night and takes some of the tech of old, he discovers more secrets about no only his village but the rest of the world.

As I said, this novel is strange. It has some of typical trappings and tropes of post-apocalyptic: an isolated village, some changed wildlife, all major cities destroyed, and a small cult to boot. However, we see all of this through the eyes of young Koli. Koli is an interesting character to follow, especially mentally and emotionally. Despite all that he goes through he still tries to maintain that there is some hope in the world and looks for the most non-violent way to get it. He isn't always cheerful, as some teenagers are; but his gradually change and maturity is interesting to watch.

Throughout the book we're given tidbits as to what happened to world. There was a devastating war, yes, but what exactly happened is unknown. Several other characters also give some these hints, like Ursala a woman with a robotic contraption called a diagnostic that she uses to heal people and also set up camp. Ursala is clearly an educated woman and she teaches Koli about the technology and history of the world--but it feels like she's hiding something. Then there's Monono Aware, an AI from a Sony DreamSleeve (an iPod basically) who teaches Koli more about technology and the world. Her interactions with Koli are tinged with sweetness but occasional sorrow because Monono sometimes laments about her history and the state of the world and Koli does not completely understand her even though we know he's trying to.

The killer trees and plants, somewhat similar to The Mirror Empire (haven't read that yet, but I know they're in there and on Kameron Hurley's Instagram she had a copy of The Book of Koli) was the most interesting touch in this post-apocalyptic world. We're not told how they came to be and they weren't featured too much in the story despite Koli and the others talking about them; I wanted to see them more.

This a post-apocalyptic story that's less about how much the world has changed, though it has changed a lot, and more about how one boy grows in it and reacts to it. Other than the absence of the tree stuff, my only other gripe was I felt that the ending was rushed.

4/5 stars. I am interested.

Below isn't anything spoiler-y , just additional stuff about some characters.
(view spoiler) ...more

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Sep 26, 2020 Soo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook

Notes:

5 Stars for Audiobook, 4 Stars for Story

- Theo Solomon did a great job with the narration. He made the story come alive.
- While I have enjoyed many of Carey's work, this book was the best one to experience by audio.
- Great character driven plot with just enough foreshadowing to keep you hooked.
- I want more about the setting (world) & I'm going to bet that will happen in the next book. ...more

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Oct 02, 2020 Samuel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, audiobooks, dystopian

A slow-burn of a book, but an engaging read with immersive world-building and a compelling character-driven story. (Must say I was also kind of stoked that this dystopian novel was set in my birth-county of Yorkshire, England.) The narrative sets things up nicely for part 2. Also really enjoyed the narration by Theo Solomon. Full review to come.

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Dec 22, 2020 Stephen added it

DNF at 50%.

Sooooo very disappointing on every level. I'm normally a big fan of Carey's work, but this...was...terrible. Based on the blurb, I was expecting something along the lines of Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation, crossed with the M. Night Shymalan's The Village crossed with Carey's The Girl with all the Gifts. Got none of these. Far, very far, light years away from these.

The characters: Koli is written in first person, narrated by Koli himself. Carey's first mistake. Koli is supposed to be DNF at 50%.

Sooooo very disappointing on every level. I'm normally a big fan of Carey's work, but this...was...terrible. Based on the blurb, I was expecting something along the lines of Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation, crossed with the M. Night Shymalan's The Village crossed with Carey's The Girl with all the Gifts. Got none of these. Far, very far, light years away from these.

The characters: Koli is written in first person, narrated by Koli himself. Carey's first mistake. Koli is supposed to be 16 years old. He thinks and acts like an 8 year old throughout. In a world where danger from the outside threatens his village everyday, Koli is a slacker. Disinterested in most everything except play, and hopelessly naive. Mistake #2: He doesn't change. No growth, no maturation as the novel progresses. Koli is the antithesis of the excellent Melanie from GWATG. As for the rest of the cast, we get Koli's "mentor" Monono, the ditzy voice of his iPOD equivalent. Monono is not Siri, not Alexa, not even Dora the Explorer. Think vacuuos animated/magna pre-teen pop-star. Spinner and Ursala are interesting but minor characters. The rest are one dimensional sketches at best.

The setting: The village is a trope - iron age village in dystopian world where most tech has been lost. You've seen it before. The murderous forest outside the walls? Barely mentioned in the first half of the book. The rest of the Koli's world makes no sense. Koli at one point claims to have seen water only in rain/puddles and once at a small pond. Page one of the book states the village is sited on a river. The forest is supposedly so deadly villagers rarely venture outside the walls and travel to other villages is nigh impossible, yet Ursala, an old lady, strolls though it constantly. The tech that still exists? Runs on batteries that still work a hundred years after "the fall." Carey is usually much better than this.

The plot: Koli plays with friends. Koli pines for girl. Koli finds and is mentored by iPOD (actually a Sony DreamSleeve, which I assume was meant to be a joke along the lines of Microsoft's Zune.) All recall with the metal acuity of an 8 year old. The blurb for Koli features the word "gripping." I was not gripped. I wasn't nudged. I was at best annoying stumbled into. So. Very. Bad. My worst attempted read of 2020.

Bottomline: On my buy/borrow/skip scale: Chalk this one up to another unexpected 2020 disaster. Skip. Read Carey's excellent The Girl With All the Gifts instead. ...more

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