The Book of Koli

February 3, 2020
Carey (The Girl With All the Gifts) allows the promising premise of the first installment to his sci-fi Rampart Trilogy —a postapocalyptic U.K. (stylized in this far-future as “Yewkay”) in which human civilization has fallen to murderous, genetically modified plants—to languish as he focuses on a shallow, self-centered protagonist. Teenage Koli Woodsmith wants nothing more than to become a protector of his village. Though Koli sees himself as a hero, he is more swayed by his own desires than by challenging the systems put in place by the power-hungry village elders, and he acts primarily for his own gains, whether the motivation be a girl or a piece of technology. After Koli is accused of stealing from the town’s technological storeroom, he is exiled from the village and must learn to survive the hostile wilderness. The slogging plot is slowed even further by the narrator’s awkwardly rendered dialect (“I opened my mouth but no word come out. Of course I knowed it.”)
. From the barely explored setting to the strained ventriloquism of the narrative voice, Carey offers little to inspire confidence in future series entries. Sci-fi readers will be disappointed. Agent: Meg Davis, Ki Agency.

February 1, 2020
The first volume in Carey's Rampart trilogy is set centuries into a future shaped by war and climate change, where the scant remains of humankind are threatened by genetically modified trees and plants. Teenager Koli Woodsmith lives in Mythen Rood, a village of about 200 people in a place called Ingland, which has other names such as "Briton and Albion and Yewkay." He was raised to cultivate, and kill, the wood from the dangerous trees beyond Mythen Rood's protective walls. Mythen Rood is governed by the Ramparts (made up entirely of members of one family--what a coincidence), who protect the village with ancient, solar-powered tech. After the Waiting, a time in which each child, upon turning 15, must decide their future, Koli takes the Rampart test: He must "awaken" a piece of old tech. After he inevitably fails, he steals a music player which houses a charming "manic pixie dream girl" AI named Monono, who reveals a universe of knowledge. Of course, a little bit of knowledge can threaten entire societies or, in Koli's case, a village held in thrall to a family with unfettered access to powerful weapons. Koli attempts to use the device to become a Rampart, he becomes their greatest threat, and he's exiled to the world beyond Mythen Rood. Luckily, the pragmatic Koli has his wits, Monono, and an ally in Ursala, a traveling doctor who strives to usher in a healthy new generation of babies before humanity dies out for good. Koli will need all the help he can get, especially when he's captured by a fearsome group ruled by a mad messianic figure who claims to have psychic abilities. Narrator Koli's inquisitive mind and kind heart make him the perfect guide to Carey's (Someone Like Me, 2018, etc.) immersive, impeccably rendered world, and his speech and way of life are different enough to imagine the weight of what was lost but still achingly familiar, and as always, Carey leavens his often bleak scenarios with empathy and hope. Readers will be thrilled to know the next two books will be published in short order. A captivating start to what promises to be an epic post-apocalyptic fable.

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March 15, 2020
Accomplished comic book writer and novelist Carey (The Girl with All the Gifts, 2014) begins a new trilogy with this quirky and imaginative dystopian novel. In post-apocalyptic Britain in the near future, nature is a danger to humans and technology is nearly non-existent. The walled village of Mythen Rood has a hierarchy run by the Ramparts, and each Rampart can activate old technology to protect the villagers. Koli, a young man living in the village, is disappointed that he cannot be a Rampart, and so decides to steal some of the old tech, resulting in his banishment from the village. Koli must fend for himself among the menaces of the outside world?plant, animal, and human alike. He's not entirely alone though; his tech has an artificial intelligence named Monano, and she has a vast store of knowledge as well as a hilarious personality. Koli narrates the story with a unique dialect that takes some getting used to, but the cadence and pacing of his voice adds a depth and richness to the strange and malevolent world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)