Koli Faceless, Ursala-from-Elsewhere, and Cup were a strange combination of traveling partners, but they each had their reasons for being part of the group heading towards London. Koli wanted to find the city of London, which was from the before-times when tech used to be plentiful, and he hoped to find some tech there to heal people like those in his former village so they could all have healthy children. Ursala had no real hope of finding London, but the signal they had picked up from Sword of Albion intrigued her enough to head towards it, and that meant heading in the same direction. Cup was more of a prisoner than a traveling partner, but Ursala did not trust the feral girl, and nothing Koli said could convince Ursala to grant Cup her freedom. And don't forget about Monono, the virtual girl that lived inside the DreamSleeve, the old tech that Koli had wakened thus causing him to be expelled from his village. An odd bunch trying to survive and do some good in a hostile world that was trying to kill them in all manner of different ways.

Koli is like any other kid in the village of Mythen Rood - trying to find his place in a harsh world where the trees themselves will attack you. He is the son of a woodsmith, so dealing with the dangerous trees and the wood they provide is something he is familiar with, but that life is not what he dreams of. The onliest thing Koli wants is to become a Rampart. The village is run by the Ramparts, those capable of wielding the old tech, and Koli is fascinated by their abilities. Of course, when he comes of age he will be tested to see if he is able to wake the old tech, and if he does, he will be named Koli Rampart. Each Rampart wields a specific piece of technology that keeps the village safe from the dangerous world outside, and Koli dreams of joining them one day. Little does he know that the system of becoming a Rampart is not what it appears to be, and learning the truth of it will change his life forever.

The Girl With All the Gifts offers a refreshing angle on a tired genre and is quickly becoming a classic. M. R. Carey uses strong characters to tell an engaging story full of emotion where humanity struggles to survive in a world overrun by hungries (zombies). Human conflict is a pretty common thread woven into many apocalyptic stories as characters are typically more concerned with petty personal agendas than banding together to survive. This story is not much different in that regard except the agendas aren't petty and the disagreements are viewed from a unique perspective - that of a child hungry named Melanie.