The Trials of Koli (Rampart Trilogy, #2) in Koli--flash group

Oct 12, 2020 Nataliya rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2020-reads

“Keeping people stupid is a good way of controlling them, but it’s a tough trick to pull off.”

Well, I don’t know. It seems to have worked just fine for Koli.

Yeah, I know I’m being mean but I just can’t help it. The books where you can’t stand the protagonist are just not that much fun. And Koli got on my nerves way too much. At least there was a second narrator to make it more bearable - but it still couldn’t save the book for me. I blame Koli.

Let’s quickly recap. We are a few generations af ...more

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Nov 29, 2020 carol. rated it liked it

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

Despite often viewing reading as a solitary experience, sometimes friends are where it's at. A flash book-group got me through the first Koli book, and a buddy read with Nataliya was my impetus and reason for the second. The first half of The Trials of Koli was a lackluster experience, and without my buddy, I might have let it languish. Fortunately, two aspects redeemed it: Spinner's storyline and the events in the later half of Koli's story.

I've said before in a first person narrative, you have Despite often viewing reading as a solitary experience, sometimes friends are where it's at. A flash book-group got me through the first Koli book, and a buddy read with Nataliya was my impetus and reason for the second. The first half of The Trials of Koli was a lackluster experience, and without my buddy, I might have let it languish. Fortunately, two aspects redeemed it: Spinner's storyline and the events in the later half of Koli's story.

I've said before in a first person narrative, you have to either like the character, or at least find them very interesting. Koli's perspective was frustratingly, determinedly innocent, but not with joy or with informed hope, but rather the clueless innocence of a child wanting some magic thing to happen and make it all better. At the end of the second book, I now suspect that viewpoint was more because Carey needed it to be. For instance, despite knowing about 'shunned men' who eat people, his experience with his own village casting him out, and his experience with the religious sect (all in the first book), he continues to approach villages without a modicum of caution and to look upon their motives without suspicion. While Cup seeks to learn and grow, Koli thinks, 'what's the point? No one in my village knows this anyway.' It makes for a character that is hard to both like and to maintain interest, as his reaction to the world is so one-note.

Thankfully, this book followed a dual plotline, one with Koli and his band on the journey to Londun, and one with Spinner in the village. She has a more mature outlook, and one that I think is in line with the world-building. She's agreeable and doesn't seek to escalate conflict; in fact, she works to diffuse it, which I think would be extremely necessary in a small, inter-connected group (spoiler for her life change) (view spoiler)

Spinner's chapters reinforce this feeling, because she sounds a bit more calculating and understanding about the economic and political structure of the village. When she marries, she tries to develop her relationship with the Ramparts. Koli is just clueless, and wants everyone to stay alive in this very harsh world where almost no one can.

It eventually became a more balanced and interesting book for me because of Spinner, and somewhat because of Cup, who indirectly showed more interesting thinking than Koli. Cup is a transgender pre-teen that joined with them at the end of the last group, and ends up going through some interesting changes. Granted, these are through Koli's perspective, but I found this to be one of the more interesting interactions Koli has.

Notes on the writing: Carey is a decent writer who uses language well. However, this is a world that is many years post-fall of civilization, so while some concepts and place names remain, they are somewhat adulterated. The people also talk in a dialect that sounds vaguely uneducated with improper tenses and grammar. Koli's internal voice is consistent with this as well, although Spinner's was less so. I got used to it, but I'm not overly fussy about such things.

Ultimately, I remain a bit ambivalent about the series. While I wouldn't say it's poorly written, I'm not sure it's actually interesting. Koli himself is too young and naive of a character to hold my interest, but as I'm starting to feel like that's authorial intention, I dislike being manipulated even more. For those who like the details of a journey--something I enjoyed a great deal when I was younger--I'm still not sure it will satisfy, as a great deal of the day-to-day in traveling is glossed over through the work of the drudge or dismissed with the ever present cloud cover (how convenient!) Will I go on to the next? It probably depends on Nataliya and the flash group. :D

A solid three stars because of the flash group and Nataliya :) ...more

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Nov 26, 2021 Nicholas Perez rated it really liked it

Taking place just after the events of The Book of Koli, The Trials of Koli continues Koli's journey across post-apocalyptic England and his companions the skeptical Ursala, the wild girl Cup, and the AI Monono Aware. Additionally, the perspective of Spinner is introduced and we see how Mythen Rood fares in the wake of Koli's departure. Both Koli and Spinner encounter life-threatening ordeals and learn more and more about the secrets of their worlds. As those secrets are unveiled, we too learn ab Taking place just after the events of The Book of Koli, The Trials of Koli continues Koli's journey across post-apocalyptic England and his companions the skeptical Ursala, the wild girl Cup, and the AI Monono Aware. Additionally, the perspective of Spinner is introduced and we see how Mythen Rood fares in the wake of Koli's departure. Both Koli and Spinner encounter life-threatening ordeals and learn more and more about the secrets of their worlds. As those secrets are unveiled, we too learn about what has happened to the world.

I cam into this hesitantly because my friends were all conflicted over it. While there are things definitely worth a critique, I have to say that I did enjoy this sequel. It didn't knocked too many things out of the park, but there was plenty of developments and revelations that kept me interested.

I think Spinner's perspective is the strongest here. Spinner's thoughts seem to be a bit more, I'm not sure what the proper word is, mature than Koli's? Like him, she still is ignorant about some things and comes to be less ignorant. Perhaps less naïve is the proper term (I don't know the exact word). Regardless, Spinner is focused on her marriage with Jon, learning about the leadership of the Ramparts, and trying to cure a mysterious sickness sweeping Mythen Rood along with keeping Half-Ax opposition at bay. She's got her work cut out for her. Spinner is a very human perspective; she has her flaws and stumbles that she has to learn from, but her accomplishments are so well earned. I'm not sure why M.R. Carey didn't include her perspective in the first book. Though one thing that did intrigued me about her is how come she didn't speak or write in the broken English way that Koli did? They're both from Mythen Rood, and granted both of their viewpoints are technically recollections of things already past. Did something happen to either one or both of them that affected their speech and writing?

Anyway, what I enjoyed the most about Spinner's perspective is learn about the old tech and how Mythen Rood deals with things after Koli's leaving. Some of Koli's actions in the world outside the village either directly or indirectly came back onto Spinner and everyone else. What Spinner does at the end during the skirmish between her, Catrin, and the other Mythen Rood fighters against the Half-Ax fighters is incredibly awesome.

Koli's perspective is still interesting. We get to see more of England, see other peoples and villages, and learn and see more about those deadly sentient trees. Seriously, when we finally get the nitty-gritty of how they came to be and what they do, it is both interesting and creepy. It is through Koli's eyes that we also learn more about Ursala, Cup, and Monono. Cup is the most interesting and, in my opinion, the most developed in this book of Koli's companions. Cup is a trans girl who fled from Half-Ax and was apart of a cult that Koli encountered in the previous book. She is a wild girl whom Ursala does not trust and whom Koli feels sorry for and comes to befriend. Cup presents herself as strong and edgy, but throughout the course of the book she reveals a slight more tender side to her.

However, with Cup there's something I must address. As I said, she is trans and is being written by a cis writer. I am not trans myself, so I do not have to full transgender perspective to say whether she's a good representation of a trans character, but I will provide what I have seen. It is mentioned that Cup's identity was not accepted back in Half-Ax, one of the reasons she fled. In this book, Cup does not face any transphobia, although at some points Koli is worried that she might when they enter a new village called Many Fishes which has a different spiritual system than what either Koli or Cup have experienced. That worry is assuaged when Many Fishes' spirituality is said to be accommodating to trans people. Cup is never misgendered in this book, although she was threatened to be in the previous book. At one point, Monono and Koli suggest that Cup get some sort of gender reassignment therapy and the three of them petition Ursala and her diagnostic machine to do so. Ursala is hesitant because of how young Cup is and she even slightly implies that Cup might change her mind later. Koli and Monono strengthened their support for Cup and say that she's always known and Cup is able to get hormone blockers.

I am a little conflicted about this. For one, Cup never suffers for her trans identity and it was prudent of Carey to consider gender reassignment issues in the post-apocalyptic world as it rarely is discussed. However, Ursala's reaction has me a bit miffed. Throughout the book, Ursala and Cup have butted heads; the former being an objectivist atheist, the later believing in divine and spiritual beings and powers and, while not rejecting science totally, also wholeheartedly believing that Dandrake is control of everything. Was Ursala's reaction just a knee-jerk reaction to Cup in general or did she actually feel some sort of discomfort to transitioning? I'm not sure. So, I cannot say whether Cup is good trans rep or not, but I am glad that she is not suffering for the sake of proving a point.

Ursala, while almost always being right, isn't without her flaws either. Sometimes she's so focused on her objectivism that she falls to see a bigger picture and sometimes unnecessarily scorns people whether it's Koli, Cup, or the people of Many Fishes. We don't learn as much about her as we do Cup and Monono, but she still is an important player.

Koli learns more about Monono and what she can do as an overly sentient AI and who the girl she was modeled on. Monono is become more and more, well, aware. That's something that fascinates Koli but terrifies Ursala. Although I fear that in the next and final book that Monono may go rogue (just a guess) I am genuinely in awe how much her awareness is making her more and more human. I have to say, that the virtual reality scene with her and Koli in Tokyo did tug at my heartstrings.

Now, if you've read this far, you'll notice that I've told you about mostly everyone else but not much about our titular protagonist. And that's where some of my criticisms lay. It's absolutely great that we get Spinner's perspective and all the other characters get development, but when your title character is a bit static then that means you slipped up on the assignment. Koli isn't totally passive, he is still doing things and is reacting to things both mentally and physically and emotionally. But his voice feels so distant in this book except for a few parts. Don't get me wrong, the prose in his perspective is still unique and poignant, but he just feels static and distant. Koli is still as he was in the first book, a naïve boy who still wants (and needs) to grow up and who cares for others. He learns things through the developments of his companions, but he himself doesn't grow from it. He learns to cherish his companions, but his character doesn't change much.

I am hoping Koli's development changes radically in the next and final book. This isn't a bad sequel, but it's not a great one either. And so much more is shown the world. Seriously, the descriptions of the creatures are absolutely wild and terrifying. I hope to see more in the final book.

4/5 stars. ...more

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Sep 26, 2020 Soo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

Notes:

5 Stars for Narration by Theo Solomon & Saffron Coomber
4 Stars for 2/3 of Story & 3.5 Stars for the Tail End

- Yay! I wanted the world to be fleshed out more & it was done well in this book.
- Lots of exciting developments but it felt a bit rushed.
- A little sad that there's only one more book in the trilogy, but excited to read it when it comes out in March 2021. ...more

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