I’m sometimes hesitant to complete book series. Some stories are better left open. We need to be thankful to M.R. Carey for closing this one even though objectively, a two-book series would’ve been even better.
The Trials of Koli left us with Koli finding a functioning ship in the ocean. In book three, he has to deal with what this ship represents, which is difficult to imagine. Whatever it is, it will be the key to solving the puzzle in some way, thankfully not as awful as in The Girl with All the Gifts.
I’d say the book is good, worth reading, and an honorable way to end the series. I’m ready for something else, where the world is thriving, and there are no ghosts.
I’m not sure how I feel about M. R. Carey’s work. I purchased five books by this author. Two are fantastic 5⭐ sci-fi, one was a 1 ⭐ DNF. Now comes The Trials of Koli, my fourth out of five.
Published in 2014, it’s a book about the survivors of a terrible war that changed the ecosystem. The trees are on a hunt for people, the animals are insanely dangerous, and old drones are still flying and killing people. The much larger populations of the past couldn’t resist all of that but the barely existing current populations seems to holding, although still in a decline. It helps that most of the old drones broke down or ran out of ammo.
The book is engaging, the trope is a form of the leaving-the-small-village-to-discover-the-world, well known from LOTR, The Wheel of Time, and so on. The type of demons out there are not unheard of either, we’ve seen them in The Mist, and The Finisher, and maybe even The Day of the Triffids.
What makes this book unique? Not sure, maybe nothing. But it is very interesting and sucks you in, you want to have more of it, and when you reach the end, you want to start reading the continuation immediately.
The two main characters, Koli and Spinner, are well-developed, though some of the supporting cast feels less successful. The story features two AI demigods—had they existed 200–300 years earlier, they might have either prevented the apocalypse or ensured its total devastation, leaving no survivors. In that sense, The Trials of Koli falls short when compared to The Book of Koli and the more recent Infinity Gate.
That’s enough for 4⭐/5. Looking forward to reading the final chapter.
A post-apocalyptic world where trees have come to life and eat people. Something like a mix of The Mist, The Day of the Triffids, and the story of The Finisher Vega Jane. Koli is a kid forced by circumstances and ambition to take the path through the man-eating forests.
In King’s The Mist, the story ends before it even begins. In The Day of the Triffids, the triffids are completely harmless and only dangerous because all the people are blind. The Finisher is boring and lacks any intrigue. Koli is not boring, the story doesn’t end prematurely, and the trees are organized and man-eating, while the problems, in general, are unsolvable.
Of course, just like in The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, none of the details in this story make any sense. If you want an apocalypse that is logical—this one isn’t. If you’re looking for a happy ending—that’s not possible. Everything ended a long time ago, and all the action is just ripples in a sandy desert where nothing living remains.
Despite that, The Book of Koli is at least a full star ahead of The Day of the Triffids and The Finisher, and that’s no small accomplishment. Koli has character and will probably make it at least 200 miles from the starting point, leaving behind a trail of blood and horror.
5*/5 – it’s only the second 5* book I read this month out of seven.
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