I love this series! Carey has a way of building rich worlds without slowing the flow of the story. The way Koli’s ability to relate his story grows with his knowledge of the world and the way he grapples with expectations versus his own morals makes him very relatable. Highly, highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys sci-fi!

"The Trials of Koli" is a thrilling and engaging read that picks up where the first book in the trilogy left off. M.R. Carey has once again crafted a unique and vivid world that feels both familiar and strange at the same time. The story follows Koli and his friends as they embark on a dangerous journey to find the tech that will save their village from an impending doom.

What I loved most about this book is the characters. Koli is a relatable and endearing protagonist, and his relationships with his friends are both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The supporting cast is also well-developed, and I found myself rooting for them as much as I did for Koli.

The pacing of the story is excellent, with just the right balance of action, suspense, and character development. The world-building is also superb, and I loved learning more about the history and mythology of the world.

The only reason I'm giving this book four stars instead of five is that at times, the plot felt a little predictable. There were a few moments where I could see the twists coming from a mile away, which took away some of the surprise and excitement.

Overall, "The Trials of Koli" is a fantastic read that I would highly recommend to fans of post-apocalyptic fiction. It's an emotionally resonant story that explores themes of community, survival, and sacrifice, and it left me eager to see what happens next.

Great follow up to the first! If there’s another one will be reading that one too. Koli is definitely a character I enjoy reading about.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Trials of Koli by M. R. Carey in exchange for an honest review. I took way to long to get to this book and it was because I wanted to be able to marinate in it. Mike Carey writes these beautiful epic stories that I fall into and don't want to leave until I'm done. This book was no exceptions. We saw Koli as his adventure continues and also what happened before in the village after he left. I am a huge fan of Carey and will read any of his books.

Koli, the Dreamsleeve, Ursula, and Cup continue to Ingland to find Sword of Albian. They are tying to find something to help save society which is dying off. In this book we also hear from Spinner, a friend of Koli's who is still back in his home village. A few chapters we have Koli narrating then a few from Spinner. I am looking forward to starting book three and seeing where Koli and Monono go from here.

Since this is a sequel in a trilogy I can’t say too much with spoiling the first book. This one didn’t disappoint and I’m looking forward to the finale.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced e-reader copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

DNF - did not finish. I tried to read this Fantasy release but could not connect with it. Thank you netgalley and publisher for the early copy.

Obviously, this read and review are long overdue. I really should have read this in advance of its release date. While I wanted to continue with this series, as I will always support M.R. Carey, the first book didn't overly impress me. To be honest, I can't even remember what in particular I didn't like about The Book of Koli. Either way, I liked this one so much more. I felt lulled right back in to the adventure and immediately was transported back in to this unique and dangerous world. I fell so much more in love with Cup and the camaraderie she shared with Koli and Ursula. Spinner's narrative was such a welcome surprise, as I thought that our time in Mythen Rood was up. But I can honestly say I enjoyed both perspectives' individual stories. This was just such a thrill, involving so much excitement and danger. I really loved it. I expect if I were to give The Book of Koli a re-read, I would appreciate it much more. I definitely recommend this series and can't wait to read the last book and find out the conclusion!

I had to check out the next book in the series. The first book just didn't click with me and I was determined to try again. Plus, I loved Carey's book The Girl With All the Gifts, so I needed to give it another chance. This one, too, just hit kind of middle of the road for me. I am definitely the outlier here; I see so many friends and other reviews that were really into this entire series. Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the read.

M.R. Carey is such a versatile author and I've never disliked a book he's written. I love an author who can do a sweeping multi-generational epic as well as a funny horror novel. The Rampart Trilogy hasn't disappointed me so far. I'm really looking forward to The Fall of Koli!

M.R. Carey is easily one of my favorite authors in this sci-fi horror genre that is all their own. I really enjoyed the koli series! I can' t wait to read more of their work!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

Carey's "The Trials of Koli" is the second book in the Rampart trilogy and continues the story of Koli's world, a post-apocolyptic England where people live in small isolated villages not knowing much of what transpires even in the next town.

Some things of note if you haven't read the first book in the trilogy are that technology has all but disappeared, but what technology remains is worshiped and revered and practically drooled over. Forget the idea that the batteries ever run down. That would interfere with the storyline. Suffice it say, pieces of tech are prized in that world as they are today, but more so. In Koli's village, only a few are allowed to wield the laser beam cutter or the database or the flamethrower and only after testing as a teenager. Koli, however, has been exiled and does not return to his village at all in this book.

The format of "The Trials of Koli" consists of alternating sections of several chapters between Koli's colloquial Huck Finn voice and that of his childhood crush, Spinner, who does not write in such a colloquial fashion at all. This switching back and forth between narrative voices is highly succcessful as Spinner tells us from her point of view why she chose another over Koli and what went on back at home after Koli left. Ultimately, she too grapples with her relationship with technology. Her story is fascinating and could have been an entire book to itself.

Meanwhile, Koli is off on the journey to London with his odd assortment of companions. This includes an older woman, Ursala, who seems to be highly educated and knows pretty much everything. Also, she has a giant machine, the Drudge, which can do damn near anything if it is within range. Again, suspend belief a little and let the story carry along. The other animate companion is a young girl (although eventually we find it's a "girl" with boy parts, but that is not a major part of the story), Cup, who is initially a prisoner who cannot be trusted, but later becomes a full companion. The final member of Koli's party is Monomo, a music player with a personality and an artificial intelligence who talks with the voice of a Tokyo teenybopper and seems to be able to access the internet or what's left of it.

We also find out why the trees and plants are mobile and hostile as it turns out the pre-apocolyptic people genetically engineered the animals and plants and came up with mutations they scarcely could have imagined. The world of England (or Ingland) as they call it is fascinating and each new town the group finds gives us readers more adventures as is often the case in these type of novels.

All in all, the storytelling ability of the author is so strong that one can easily overlook the inconsistencies in tech that never runs out of juice and such and enjoy a really really well-told story.

https://lynns-books.com/2020/12/07/the-trials-of-koli-rampart-trilogy2-by-mr-carey/
4 of 5 stars
The Trials of Koli is the second in Mr Carey’s Rampart trilogy and was an enjoyable instalment that has left me keen to read the final chapter when it arrives. The first book in the series, The Book of Koli didn’t work out quite as well for me as I’d hoped but this is an author that I really like so I was determined to continue with the series to see which direction the story would take.

I felt that book 2 was much improved by the addition of a new pov narrator and also by the inclusion of some very interesting world building.

Anyway, not to get ahead of myself here, let’s start from the beginning with a brief introduction and obligatory warning that being the second book in series this review may contain spoilers. Also, in my opinion, I do not believe this should be read as a standalone so if you haven’t read the first in series my suggestion is to pick up The Book of Koli first.

So, the story continues almost immediately where book 1 concluded. Koli, Cup and Ursula are making progress travelling across the country, following some sort of signal, in the hopes of reaching London (where they believe they will find new hope). Along the way they meet with a number of distractions, not least of which seems to be a band of hunters who are intent on separating them from their tech. In some respects this is a dog eat dog type of world and the few existing remnants from bygone times are much sought after. Koli and Ursula between them have two very impressive piece of such tech and so it’s no surprise that they find themselves encountering difficult situations from time to time.

Added to this we return to the village where Koli was born, raised and eventually shunned where we follow in the footsteps of Spinner. Spinner recently married into the Ramparts, seriously disappointing Koli at the time who had romantic feelings towards her. We observe her as she is (rather frostily) welcomed into the new family home and then follow her progress from there onwards. I really enjoyed this aspect to the story, the politics of the small village, how the villagers are manipulated and how Spinner, herself a clever young woman, goes through strife before finding a comfortable foothold.

I won’t elaborate further on the plot but let you discover things firsthand. What I will share here instead is the aspects that particularly worked for me.

Firstly, the return to Koli’s village and the inclusion of a fresh and bright POV that continued to deliver a narrative that demonstrates how difficult life is in this new brutal world.

Secondly, observing a little more of the world via Koli’s travels. The group eventually come upon a small fishing village and it’s here that we learn a lot more about some of the key characters, particularly Cup, and also witness the power of this new world and some of the more dangerous aspects, such as Knotweed.

Thirdly, I think, having read quite a number of post apocalyptic style stories there is the inevitable, almost weariness, that comes through witnessing the downward spiral in the way people treat each other, and there were definite elements of that in book 1 and also in this instalment. Group A becomes bigger than Group B and so resorts to brute force to take what it wants and thus become even more powerful and bullying. However, this book quite pleasantly surprised me in that respect by actually offering up a village of people that were kind (mostly) and that whilst struggling to survive, retained some modicum of decency (although there was one particularly twisted individual determined, like a fly in the ointment, to cause trouble).

In terms of criticisms. There is still an element to this that feels very similar to stories that are already out there, but, I thought this became a lot more intriguing when some of the local flora and fauna became more menacing. There is also an element to Koli that prevents me from totally liking him as a character – which seems quite unreasonable in many respect because he certainly isn’t an offensive person. But, I find that I’ve become more attached to some of the others and I thought Cup and Spinner made for very interesting reading. Also, be aware if you’re intending to pick up this series that this is a story being told by Koli who has his very own style of narration that can take a little getting used to at first. This is an aspect however that I thought was well done and a good reflection of how language changes and adapts over the years.

Overall, I enjoyed this one more than I expected, I guess that could be as a result of not over-hyping myself this time around and, given the ending, I’m very curious to read the final instalment.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I hated Koli even more in this second book, even though he was not as central to the plot. Other characters mended and formed relationships way too quick. But everything works out so Koli gets a new pseudo-family, I guess?

Continuing the story of Koli from the first book, this one focuses far more on the strong female characters. I thought this book had a much faster pace than the second, but was still WAY too long winded. I'll read the third to find out what happens, but I really hope it has a great ending because the journey was so long.

The trials of Koli picks up where The Book of Koli left off, and you fall right back into Koli’s narration. His simple and almost innocent views on the world were still refreshing. The second book was just as good as the first and I liked the addition of Spinners POV. Both the trials and tribulation Koli and Spinner faced had the pace moved along nicely. Overall, The Trials of Koli is an excellent sequel to a promising dystopian series.

This sequel to The Book of Koli amps up the action and really gives the trilogy some solid movement. In this installment it moves from an okay dystopian to one that really grows some legs and has some clout.

The dual POV was an excellent choice and really adds a lot of complexity, depth, and interest to the story. Spinner's sections were much easier to read and flowed very well. This was a good balance to the chapters from Koli, which continue to be a little more work to get through due to the broken English style. This makes his pieces of the story feel much more choppy, but does fittingly give each character a distinct storytelling style.

The movement in this novel is much faster paced than the first. There is a lot going on and this makes the narrative much more engaging. I am loving the progression of the two stories and I'm excited to see how things round out in the third book.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

I am a huge fan of M.R. Carey's writing so when I saw The Trials of Koli on Netgalley, I jumped at the opportunity to read it. I didn't realize it was the second in a series but it turned out it didn't matter because I loved it even with the references to the first novel. As in Carey's other books eg The Girl with All the Gifts, the story is set in some dystopian future and the world-building in this future Britain is fascinating right down to nature, the remnants of tech left from some ancient (but future for the reader) before period, but especially the characters who make it completely unputdownable. This is one of my favourite books so far this year and I recommend it highly but I suspect you might want to start with the first. I have already purchased it and now I'm just waiting impatiently until the next in the series comes out.

<Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

This has been a very interesting book series that I wasn't’ sure I would like at first. The writing style is unique - written in the character’s vernacular, it is at times difficult to parse on the first readthrough of a sentence. After perhaps a quarter of the first book, I was used to it and I was quicker to get back into the groove on this installment. This is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi series and The Trials of Koli delves even deeper into the world.

This picks up directly after the events of the first book, with Koli, Ursula, and Cup still traveling towards London. Rather than just following Koli, Spinner also gets her own POV chapters which is great because it means we get to find out what’s been happening in the village. I found that I vastly preferred Spinner’s chapters, because I thought they were much more interesting. Koli’s chapters felt a little stagnant, though they certainly weren’t boring. 

The pacing of the story went hand in hand with how I felt about the characters POV chapters. Koli’s were slower and Spinner’s were exciting and seemed to fly past. This resulted in the pacing feel a bit uneven, though I think this was largely due to personal preference. There was a good amount of action in both POVs, and Spinner’s chapters were downright heart racing at times!

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, though I struggled somewhat to truly get absorbed into the story. I do plan to finish out the trilogy when The Fall of Koli is released because despite my lack of obvious excitement in this review, it is a pretty cool story/world. The search for London, the struggles of the villagers, the deadly environs, and so much more make this a unique and exciting world worth reading about.

I wasn't able to read the first book, but I'll be featuring both books in a series called "I Wish I'd Read That." Text below:

I had grand plans for The Rampart Trilogy. There’s nothing better than a long book series released nearly back to back over the course of a year. The description of the first book was wonderfully vague, leaving you with a picture of a very natural world that is hiding a dark past. Thanks to 2020, this trilogy has eluded me, but I’d love to hear in the comments what you thought of the world-building and character growth. Read more about the author and books below, or purchase a copy for yourself! And of course, a big thank you to Orbit for the free review copies of this compelling series!