Epic start. [The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey]

"A captivating start to what promises to be an epic post-apocalyptic fable" (Kirkus), The Book of Koli is the unforgettable story of a young boy struggling to find his place in a world where nature itself has turned against humanity.

Everything that lives hates us...

Beyond the walls of the small village of Mythen Rood lies an unrecognizable 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, one of the dangerous 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.

The first book in M.R. Carey's Rampart Trilogy, The Book of Koli is a thrilling entry to a post-collapse dystopia dominated by genetically altered flora and fauna. The dregs of humanity survive having lost and continually losing the remnants of once great knowledge and civilization. 

Koli, our protagonist, comes slowly to learn of hidden truths in his life, a discovery that changes the course of his life and sets dramatic actions into motion. Having learned new truths Koli's understanding of the world, and himself, shifts dramatically, giving rise to a desire to learn the truths of the world and change it if he can.

For all of the tropes and corniness easily read there are some solid positives to be said. Trans representation is present in multiple characters and the protagonist is non-white, soundly integrated into the story without sticking out as tokenization. But even when that's the case the hints of feeling like a free token toss are there. Different, but normal different, is still different. It feels forced, especially where this first book ends off, with the sudden travelling gang formation. And I understand that society being what it has become in this dystopia norms are different, but young children being implied as sexually active will never not be jarring. So for those reasons this gets 4 stars from me.

I am excited to see where the story goes, though I can't say I'm wildly surprised by any of the turns this first book took. But the journey of uncovering secrets and revealing them to the world is always titillating. As with many male-centered stories, I worry the story runs the risk of convenience overuse and male savior tropage. That remains to be seen. The sequel to The Book of Koli, The Trials of Koli, the second entry in the Rampart Trilogy, is set to be published September 2020.

The Book of Koli was published April 2020.