Mythen Rood is a large village, more than two hundred souls. It is Koli’s home, a fine home with a fence all around it, as high as one man on another man’s shoulders. It seems that everything outside that fence hates Koli, wants to eat Koli. The trees had special ways to hurt. And there were the dangerous shunned men. Much safer to stay inside the fence.  The village is ruled by the Rampart family, and Koli so wants to be part of that family. They know how to use the old-time weapons. Everyone looks up to them. So Koli, always an impulsive teen, does the unthinkable. He breaks into the cache and steals some old-time tech. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a music player, not a weapon, and he is soon found out and banished from the village. His life is now just a struggle to avoid all those things that want to eat him. But his music player also houses an AI named Monono who manages to help him a bit.

This is book one of a post-apocalyptic trilogy, about a world ravished by war and climate change, with genetically modified plants that went terribly wrong. Koli is a great protagonist, intelligent and likable, just able to keep ahead of his enemies. And those enemies, plant, animal and human are described in horrific detail. I enjoyed the book very much and am really looking forward to the next one.

eGalley review                                              Publication date 4.14.2020