The Dust Lounge

Tag: M R Carey

  • On reading: The Book of Koli by M. R. Carey

    On reading: The Book of Koli by M. R. Carey

    Title: The Book of Koli

    Author: M. R. Carey

    From the back: EVERYTHING THAT LIVES HATES US . . . 

    Beyond the walls of the small village of Mythen Rood lies an unrecognisable 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, the 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 Book of Koli begins a breathtakingly original new trilogy set in a strange and deadly world of our own making. 

    The gist: The Girl with all the Gifts was a fantastic zombie novel, Fellside brought some creepiness to the Yorkshire moors (yes, already kinda creepy, I admit), and The Boy on the Bridge brought us new angles on the land where the girl was gifted. Carey has a knack for bringing a child’s viewpoint to the horrors of the adult world, and shining their naïve light on a world we wish was safe.  

    The Book of Koli is a full-blown character study of what it might be like to grow up in a post-apocalyptic world where the trees might eat you, the cannibals might cook you, and the rest of society might well just leave you out to rot if you happen to question their ways. Reading it I felt a sense of responsibility towards Koli. I wanted to protect him, but technology has gone and nature has returned and she has has got one hell of a bite on her (and who can blame her). And then we have the characters that really win this novel – Monono and Ursala. I won’t say too much about them, to avoid potential spoilerage, but they absolutely make this book for me. Particularly given the contrast Carey so carefully sets between Koli’s language and ours. 

    Carey writes with his familiar action and energy, somehow translated into a language that is both different and the same as our modern-day vibes. Reading it feels like unearthing a long-forgotten artefact, a lost tome. The Book of Koli reads like a portentous tale, a chance to sit up, take notice, because it might not be too late yet. 

    This book is an interesting ride, and the way in which it’s written is unusual, so essentially vocal – maybe not the style for everyone, but give it a chapter or two and you’ll be sucked into the dialogue. Imagine you’re sitting around a fire, roasting cockroaches on sticks, shooting bantz (or whatever the kids call it these days). Settle down, and say hello to Koli, because the stories he has to tell are ones you are gonna want to hear, and I hear there’s more to come once this tale is over. 

    Favourite line: “There’s only ever one day that matters, and it moves along with you.” 

    Read if: You want a dystopian adventure told with a distinct voice, exploring a world where nature is winning and technology is artefact.

    Read with: Plenty of space between you and the nearest tree, and your media device to protect you.

    Get it: The Book of Koli by M. R. Carey (available 14th April 2020)

    ARC gratefully received from Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK 

  • On reading: The Boy on the Bridge by M R Carey

    The Boy on the BridgeTitle: The Boy on the Bridge

    Author: M R Carey

    From the back: Once upon a time, in a land blighted by terror, there was a very clever boy.

    The people thought the boy could save them, so they opened their gates and sent him out into the world.

    To where the monsters lived.

    The gist: I completely loved Carey’s The Girl with all the Gifts. I thought it was excellent, and it was by far and away one of my favourite reads of 2015, and a refreshing take on the zombie genre. So I picked up The Boy on the Bridge with a certain degree of trepidation – a sneakiness, if you like… because it had a lot to live up to and I didn’t want to put it off.

    And, sneakiness or no sneakiness, I’m happy to say it was one damn fine read, soooo much fun. I loved that it was set in the same world as The Girl with all the Gifts but with different characters – a prequel, if you like, although honestly each book stands alone in its own right. Without getting too spoiler-y, suffice to say that the dynamics and issues for the characters are different between the two stories, so even though we’re in the same world, were getting two distinct takes on it.

    One thing I love about Carey’s writing is that it feels like you’re reading a film. The pace is fast (don’t start reading it if you’ve got to get up early in the morning… I speak from experience), and the characters (particularly Stephen, a young, autistic scientist) are well drawn and addictive.

    This book has it all – relationships, politics and zombies. What better way to distract yourself from the world?

    Favourite line: “It rains on the just and the unjust.”

    Read if: You want a zombie story that’s as much about the humans as the monsters.

    Read with: Popcorn, and a pad to jot down your zombie survival plans.

    Get it: The Boy on the Bridge by M R Carey

  • The TBR Files

    I’m just gonna come right out and say it – I’ve got a problem.  It’s a good problem, but I’m midway through my current read and I’m already wondering what’s going to be up next. The thing is, my to-be-read pile is out of control. I mean, I’m not the fastest reader in the world, and there’s so many books I’m excited about and I’m gonna get to them all but damn why can’t I have another set of eyes to work with?

    And if the books were all made of paper then I think I’d need to put up scaffolding.

    Here’s just a handful of what’s waiting for me:

    TBR-pile

    But I can’t be the only one with this problem – what’s gnawing at the edges of your reading list? What books are shoving each other out of the way to be next up? Any books sharing the same TBR pile?

    Let me know in the comments or over on Twitter – it’s a sure thing that as big as my TBR pile is I’m completely down with adding to it.

    Read on, fiends.

  • Reading through 2015 – my favourite books of the year

    Have a good Christmas? Yes? No? Sort of, but shouldn’t have had so much sherry that you kissed your Grandma with a bit too much tongue? Great!

    Now give your Grandma her dentures back because it’s time for the obligatory BEST-OF post, right? While you’re recovering from an overdose of turkey and alcohol-fuelled Christmas pudding, here’s my top five favourite reads of 2015. Read them now, seriously. Don’t make me threaten you with all the left over toffee pennies.

    1. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

    A beautifully written take on the world after society as we know it has collapsed. I am really not a fan of Shakespeare, but the references and theatrical core of the main character group didn’t put me off, but instead pleasantly contrasted with the harsh reality of the post-apocalyptic world. Gorgeous.

    1. Leviathan Wakes by James S A Corey

    A proper space romp (yes, I just used the word ‘romp’, and I don’t take it back) with great characters. Typically my favourite character is the jaded cop rather than the slightly high-and-mighty moral space captain, but the dynamics work well and this is space escapism at its best.

    1. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematorium by Caitlin Doughty

    A rare foray into non-fiction for me, and a fascinating (and entertaining) insight into the history and development of funeral practices. I had a hard job not signing up to the first mortician course I could find after reading this.

    1. The Machine by James Smythe

    James Smythe is one of my favourite authors, consistently cutting to the core of his characters and making it look easy. His writing is a pure masterclass in how to do it, and how to do it well. The Machine is no exception; a beautiful, tragic take on grief and a modern take on Frankenstein. Read all of James Smythe’s books, and put The Machine somewhere near the top of the list.

    1. Top read of the year: The Girl with all the Gifts by M R Carey

    I’ve written about this book before, but I just can’t say enough about it. I’ve struggled to find a zombie novel that works for me. I love all things zomie-fied for TV or film – The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later topping some of my televisual lists – but written works haven’t cut it for me before. The Girl with all the Gifts turned that around. Smart, intelligent and from a perspective I’ve not come across before, whether you like zombies or not this is the sort of book that won’t let you put it down. It will make you forget to eat. It will make you late for work. It will give you papercuts as you eagerly turn each page, but you won’t care. It’s the zombie novel I’d been waiting for.

    Books-of-2015-low-res

    So there’s mine, not forgetting a few honourable mentions for books including Someone Else’s Skin by Sarah Hilary and Atlanta Burns by Chuck Wendig. But what about your favourites? What book(s) have kept you up at night in 2015?

    Here’s to reading more in 2016, fiends.

  • And your favourite book of the year so far is…?

    Well, it turns out that I blinked and we’re nearly at the half way stage of the year. More precisely, we’re six months through a year that has been filled with new things happening, old things lurking, and stuff that I don’t even know about yet but that is surely deviously loitering in the background.

    So today’s big question is:

    What’s your favourite book of the year so far?

    It doesn’t have to be written this year – just something you’ve read this year. Revisited any old classics? Found a new author to add to your favourites list?

    For me, highlights so far have included The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton (kicking the year off with something completely outside my normal reading genre), The Machine by James Smythe (yet another masterclass in writing) and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty (a rare foray for me into non-fiction… but it’s about death and burial rites so it just had to be done).

    The Girl with all the GiftsBut if I’ve got to pick one book that I’ve not been able to put down, that’s left me bleary eyed from late night reading, it’s The Girl with all the Gifts by M R Carey.

    People who know me will know that:

    1. I like cheese
    2. I like zombies

    And, when I say that, I mean… I like those things A LOT (fridges are made to hold cheese and beer, life decisions should always take into account the associated risk and implications of a zombie apocalypse).

    But I’ve always found that zombies, although working well on screen (just look at The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later) haven’t yet worked for me on the page quite as well. The Girl with all the Gifts bucked the trend – fast paced and with a refreshing spin on the genre, I finally found a zombie book after my own heart (if you’ll pardon the phrase).

    But what’s your read of the year?

    Shoot your favourites into the comments – my TBR pile is awaiting your suggestions, fiends.