“The Trials of Koli” by M.R. Carey – In Search of the Lost Signal
With his village and others like it dying out, he has set in search of a mysterious piece of technology from old times which he once heard about in a story describing the lost city of London.
M.R. Carey Pushes his Heroes Deeper into the Wild
Our destructive behaviour towards our own planet is something of a concern to us, but so far, not sufficient for us to really do anything about it. With the level of pollution and degradation we've caused, it's fairly easy to imagine a distant future where nature rebels and makes to environment uninhabitable for us, which is exactly what the people are facing in The Trials of Koli by M.R. Carey.
Before we proceed further, this is the second book in The Rampart Trilogy, and I highly recommend you read them in the correct order. If you had no idea there even was a first book, you can have a look at our The Book of Koli review. In any case, I will assume those who keep reading have gone through the first novel.
Previously, Koli found himself exiled from his village into the harsh and hostile world which forced him to fight for his survival at virtually every moment. However, he can never rid himself of his attachment to his fellow humans, nor can he ignore the importance of preserving his race on the verge of extinction.
Isolated villages where the people thought themselves safe from the wrath of nature have been dying out, a fate making its way for Koli's own kin. The Earth is stepping up its efforts to eradicate all human presence.
There is a sole hope for Koli, and it all hinges on a story he once heard about the mythical lost city of London. Allegedly, there is a mysterious piece of technology from the fabled “Old Times” which might give him the ability to save the few remaining people on the planet. With his only real clue being a signal beacon, he must race against the clock set by an increasingly-lethal nature around him.
A New Narrative Layer in The Trials of Koli
In the first book, the entire narrative was focused on following Koli and his companions on their ventures into the outside world. In the second one M.R. Carey attempts something new by introducing a dual narrative which jumps both in time and space, following Spinner who continues her “normal” life in Mythen Rood, if such a thing is even possible.
I must confess, the idea of a double-narrative seemed suspicious to me, especially since Spinner's story essentially goes back to her beginning, even before Koli had left the village. I was wary of how it might affect the pacing, and whether or not it was an attempt at padding the length. However, the idea grew on me very quickly and my worries were largely dissipated.
For starters, Carey manages to turn Spinner into an interesting and likeable character whose fate we can actually come to care about. The positive of this approach is the fact it gives us a stronger connection to the village of Mythen Rood and its people.
To be perfectly honest, I found them to be a distant and secondary concern while reading the first novel, especially since they were, in a fashion, framed like villains who exiled one of their own to a near-certain death which Koli really only avoided because he wears protagonist armour.
However, my time spent with Spinner helped to turn it around. We have the opportunity to get much closer to the people of Mythen Rood, to understand what makes them tick, and most importantly, to see them as flawed humans simply trying their best in a nigh-unwinnable scenario.
As far as the pacing is concerned, in my opinion the author did a good job of maintaining a quick and stable rhythm, with one narrative rarely, if ever disrupting the other one.
Shaped by Hardship
As far as the principal narrative is concerned, the one following Koli, Ursula and Cup on their search for the lost signal beacon of London, the pace is rather quick, with our characters constantly being faced with new challenges, having barely had time to overcome old ones.
There aren't any boring moments where we're left to wonder about what the point of a particular scene is, nor are we ever made to feel as if our characters are safe and guaranteed to succeed. Danger has an overarching presence from start to finish, and it plays an important role in generating an atmosphere filled with potential for excitement. More often than not, this potential is indeed realized.
Additionally, Carey also conducts a fair bit of character development throughout the story, even if a good deal of it comes later for Koli. For the most part, he does a good and believable job at demonstrating how people become when shaped by hardship and danger, though I do think he could have made the protagonist a tad less inept at this point. However, it's nothing worth losing sleep over.
I think one of the most interesting aspects about the world and its characters is the language developed by the author. It is meant to mimic a potential degeneration of the language in the circumstances presented by him, and he commendably sticks to it from start to finish. If there is one principal factor which gives the world and people of the story its character, it's definitely this.
Finally, I feel like I must note, this book was written with there being a trilogy in mind, so a cliffhanger ending should be very much expected, if not welcomed. Even in regards to this unavoidable truth, I think the author was successful in resolving quite a few issues while setting the stage for new ones in the third book. Despite it not being the final conclusion, I found it was as satisfying as possible.
The Final Verdict
The Trials of Koli by M.R. Carey is a fantastic sequel to the first novel in The Rampart Trilogy, adding a second intriguing and revealing narrative to the first one which continues with full gusto. If you've enjoyed the first novel of this dystopian fiction series, then I think it's a no-brainer for you to continue the journey.
 | Mike CareyPersonal site Mike Carey is a British writer who dabbled in comics, films, novels and books. He worked on well-known projects such as X-Men, Hellblazer and Lucifer , and recently he released his first best-selling novel that will soon be made into a major movie, The Girl With All the Gifts. |
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