Beyond the walls of the small village of Mythen Rood lies an unrecognizable world. A world where overgrown forests are filled with choker trees and deadly vines and seeds that will kill you where you stand. And if they don’t get you, one of the dangerous shunned men will.
Koli has lived in Mythen Rood his entire life. He knows the first rule of survival is that you don’t venture beyond the walls.
What he doesn’t know is – what happens when you aren’t given a choice?
I’ll begin with a short apology. Over the last few weeks, I’ve struggled with keeping on top of my book reviewing schedule. My reading has been fine (it’s helping to keep me sane to be honest) but writing has been a real problem. Hopefully now that I’ve managed to get a better handle on the strange times we currently find ourselves in, normal service has been resumed.
The Girl with All the Gifts and The Boy on The Bridge are two of my favourite post-apocalyptic novels of recent years, so when I was given the opportunity to read M R Carey’s latest dystopian tale, I jumped at the chance.
Koli has spent his entire life in the village of Mythen Rood. It’s an isolated existence as the world outside is filled with many dangers. Only the Ramparts, the village leaders, have access to technology that can guarantee safety. Working at his family lumber yard, as a lowly woodworker, Koli dreams of becoming a Rampart himself. He is jealous of their standing in the local community.
Koli has a natural curiosity about the world, rather than just accepting things as they are, he questions them. Unfortunately, that curiosity is his downfall. His inquisitiveness leads him to break the rules and he is forced out into the wider world. His only friend is a strange character called Monono.
Monono Aware is the perfect companion for Koli. Her knowledge and language are unlike anything Koli has ever experienced before. His entire life has been based around a society that is very structured and all but stagnant. Monono is so jarringly different from anyone he has ever met before, it opens Koli’s eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. The interactions between Monono and Koli are great fun.
M R Carey has created a fascinating view of the future. There is a thoughtful element of subtle social commentary running through the entirety of the narrative. I’ve long held the opinion that twenty first century living has an over reliance on technology. Tech is undoubtedly convenient, but we take a heck of a lot of things for granted. When that technological crutch disappears, humanity begins to devolve. In just a few generations, everything has changed. Electronics seem almost like magic and the language used to describe things we consider commonplace now sound odd and otherworldly. Carey, the master storyteller that he is, also offers a few tantalising hints about how humanity has ended up so fragmented. I have to admit, this played directly into my ongoing obsession with all things apocalyptic.
The mismatched relationship between Koli and Monono does also offer the opportunity for some nicely executed misunderstandings and even the odd humorous moment or two. Extra kudos to the author for managing the best, and most unexpected, internet meme based one-off joke I have ever witnessed in fiction. It came totally out of the blue and perfectly fits in the scene in which it appears. Don’t worry, I’m not going to say any more than that, you’ll know it when you see it*.
For the curious amongst, I did some research after I finished reading The Book of Koli, and after a bit of hardcore Googling, I located where “Mythen Rood” is in the England. Turns out it is to the west of Half Ax just like the book says. There is part of me that is keen to go and have a look. How close is the geography of the village in the novel to its real-life counterpart? These are the important literary based questions that tend to keep me awake at night.
My musical recommendation to accompany is the soundtrack to the artificial intelligence science fiction movie Automata by Zacarias M. De La Riva. It has a similar dystopian feel as the novel which makes it an ideal fit.
If you’ve read and enjoyed novels like Station Eleven, or A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, then The Book of Koli should most definitely find its way onto your reading list. Carey’s vision of future England is utterly compelling. The characters are great, and the plot captured my imagination from page one. Highly recommended.
The Book of Koli is published by Orbit Books and is available now. The good news is that this novel is book one in The Rampart Trilogy so Koli’s story will continue. I cannot wait to find out what happens next.
*It did make me snort coffee out my nose. I had to go and read the scene to my other half immediately after I read it. I had to share it with someone straight away, it is that good.
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