The amount of time covered and the concepts introduced (silver bars that basically power the world through translation) are ambitious. While the story lags in parts (particularly the middle), the plot elements are strong overall. It's a balm to dark academia that introduces diverse characters and voices and further criticizes the inherent evils of colonialism. The most powerful parts of the story are when the colonized, those taken advantage of by Oxford and its white men, rise up and take back the power.

OK. The hype is justified.

The preeminent accomplishment for Kuang with Babel would be the novel’s brilliant
and nuanced critique of colonialism and academia within the framework of language
and translation. The magical basis of Babel’s alternate fantasy reality gives physical
embodiment to the benefit/cost tradeoffs of translation. It digs down into the core
components of culture to take something both symbolic and practical – language –
and frame it as a tangible commodity for exploitation. Kuang takes a defining
character of immaterial humanity and demonstrates through fantasy how colonial
systems of power exploit such features just as effectively as geological resources or
bodies and labor.

Babel is dizzying in how well it portrays the conflicting emotions of the colonized
individual. Robin is awestruck by the academic trappings of Oxford, the lure of
knowledge, the beauty of language, and the potential of magical silver work that usesboth. But, he’s also devastated by the selfish disregard of the system, the injustices, and the willful ignorance of – and bigotry against – other cultures. Robin slowly begins to realize that the glories and leisure around him are only maintained for an elite, and are obtained only through casual acceptance of exploitations and racism.


Unable to morally accept the situation, he can only try and figure out how to act in
response. And there’s the rub. The system only changes when it becomes massively unprofitable and untenuous for those in power to hold on their grasp. But, is there anything within Robin’s power – or his colleagues – to compel real change?
Babel is a novel about inevitable imperfections, and the types of violence that both
cause and result from those. That overriding theme is symbolized in the act of
translation that sits at the core of the novel’s plot and extends to the progression of
the novel’s action and Robin’s character arc. In many ways Babel is a celebration of
imperfection. An acknowledgement that this is how things are in a world of different
cultures, that must be lived with. To reduce all cultures to one destroys the resources
available from diversity. But to have the benefits of many will come with that
unavoidable cost of conflict and destruction. How to minimize it? How to find hope
amid feelings of being powerless? What is it worth sacrificing? Kuang doesn’t always
offer clear answers. This is something for readers to decide.

Beyond the thematic depth and brilliance of Babel, Kuang also writes it with a
compelling pacing that flows fluidly along with Robin’s development from young age into mature student and revolutionary. It’s a gripping novel of not only ideas, but action. And it pulls at the emotional heartstrings of not only social justice, but
personal human empathy in seeing all that is taken from Robin: his culture, his very
name, his passions, his… well I don’t want to spoil all the corners of the novel.

For all of its successes in theme, world-building, and its protagonist’s arc, Babel must exist with imperfections as surely as any translation. No novel can have everything. Robin’s fellow students and friends Ramiz, Victoire, and Letty are just as intriguing as the protagonist, with their own strengths and foibles alike. However, I still wish there was more to them, and that they could further transcend fulfilling transparent structural roles (types) for the plot as influences on Robin. Even more so the adult
characters.

On the other hand, I loved the almost cartoonish villainy of Professor Lovell, the
pure self-serving bias and racism. It seems extreme. Until one realizes that this very
likely is exactly how someone in that time period, in that position of power, would
probably act and react.

The largest disappointment I had with the novel was in its conclusion, specifically the predictability of what Robin would likely do and turn to using to resolve the situation that he faces. Chekov’s gun may be generally good advice, but sometimes the


inclusion of an obvious device is detrimental. I definitely felt the latter here, hoping as
the novel drew to a close that an interesting novel translation word pair might be
worked out in ways I never expected to usher in a surprise.
Nonetheless, Babel overall was a joyful reading experience, even with its tragedy and
its dark themes. In large part this came from the interest I shared with the characters
in things academic (including language, words, translation) and a huge familiarity with
the love-hate relationship one can have with academic systems, traditions. Kuang’s
powers of observation, perception, and processing of reality to place it all in the
historical fantasy world here is ambitious. Which makes it all the more impressive of
how she does things far better than I could ever imagine doing myself. Babel is a
literature of criticism. And a large part of criticism is love, caring for at least some
central core of what is there to try to make it into something more honest, better. I
see that present in the novel with the culture of academia, not just the cultures of the
historically colonized and colonizer. Working the parallels between these two sides of
humanity into the novel, showing how they are linked, is enlightening.

CONCLUSION: Babel is a remarkable literary achievement that gives voice and embodiment to those paradoxical feelings born from the intersection of human cultures: the contradictions of love and loathing, power and vulnerability, respect and bigotry, joy and sorrow, admiration and hatred, creation and destruction that all coexist in colonialism (and academia). It’s a riveting story that draws readers in with a compelling pace, and fascinating nerdy factoids that will excite any lover of languages and books. This is a novel that readers will want to talk about with others, to delve into its themes and how they relate to our own personal experiences in this world, across cultures.

This book was a masterpiece and Kuang is by far one of my favorite authors. She so intricately writes these complex heart wrenching stories. I can’t imagine how much research she did in order to write this story. The seamless marriage between history and fantasy is so perfect. I absolutely loved the footnotes in this book. I appreciated that sometimes it gave real historical context and then other times gave context to the story or character motivations. This book reads like a tragic memoir. I think it is a book I can read many more times in my life and still find something new. The breakdown of colonialism and racism in this book is so powerful. I loved the discussion of the intersectionality these characters had. Even when they were doing things that made me want to yell I still understood their motivations. Simply brilliant.

It was just fantastic. I'm a slow reader, and this puppy was THICK, and I already struggle with fantasy novels, but this one wouldn't let me go. The dark academia tag pulled me in, and I have a few coworkers who just love her work. Now I can say I'm very glad to have experienced her writing. Really dense, engrossing. A book I will reread again and again.

This was my first book by Kuang though I've heard great things about her trilogy and it's on my list.
I loved it! I read it really quickly because I couldn't put it down. It didn't matter that it was over 500 pages. I really enjoyed how deep they went into the life of academia and then the push and pull of revolution and anti-colonialism. I honestly wanted the book to be longer.

I have also been thinking about the book a lot since I finished a few days ago. I can still picture Robin and his group and the tower so vividly in my mind. The way that the author used the silver industrial revolution as an analogy for real world economic and capitalistic and exploitative issues was excellent. In short, I definitely recommend this one!

This cover is so amazing and I've always been interested in language and the story of the tower of Babel.

This story grapples with students issues with assimilation, colonization (ugh they thought they were doing a good thing, uh for them) and the study of language.

Robin Swift, already having to change his name to make the English more comfortable and to fit in when he moves to England to study, not a good look. We follow two transfers from abroad and two females in this university. They are already outside the white rich male sphere and aren't included in anything that is happening at the school.

Why does there have to be so many barriers to belong or move up? Where some never get the chance and will never be admitted. So infuriating.


Thank you avonbooks and netgalley for the e-Arc for my honest and voluntary review.

R.F. Kuang will have you ready to burn it all down.

As a child, Robin was taken from his homeland of Canton, China, and raised to be the perfect Oxford student. After arriving at Oxford and finding his new home in Babel, Robin met his cohort of fellow translators, and the quartet learned to navigate the suffocating racism, colonialism, misogyny, and capitalism of the British Empire.

Babel was an unexpected book. In theory, it was a book that shouldn’t work, but in practice…it does. Kuang explored the dangerous rhetoric the British Empire relied on to maintain its power through conversations and university lectures. When explained like that, it sounds like a dry book, but Kuang’s delivery made it a captivating read. While the story was mostly told from Robin’s experience, Kuang also explored the challenges the other characters experienced, and how they were treated by men in power. Despite enjoying the journey, the ending felt drawn out. Upon reflection, Babel didn’t necessarily need to be 560 pages (21 hours on audio).

Listening to Babel on audiobook is almost a necessity. As the university students dealt with language and translation, Chris Lew Kum Hoi and Billie Fulford-Brown’s pronunciation added to my enjoyment.

R.F. Kuang has proved herself to be something special. While it’s not The Poppy War, Babel is a story that demands your attention.

I loved RF Kuang’s writing in The Poppy Wars and was excited to learn that she had this new book coming out. And this book has all the tropes that I love, dark academia, group of university students who become friends, intrigue, magical system, and moral dilemmas. I did not hesitate to preorder this one, however I did hesitate on requesting a review copy. Did I really want to invest the time into reading a tome of a book on my e-reader? Then I saw another reviewer who stated that she thought the best way to review this was to in fact take it slowly. Do not speed read this one but savor the pages. So I took the plunge. And I am thrilled that I did. I was not even halfway through this book when I was definitely thinking that this would be my favorite of the year. By the end, it came through and lived up to that. A 5 star read from start to finish.
The overall question that the book asks is “Is violence/war the only way to overcome oppression?” The arguments on each side of this issue are examined thoroughly and debated by the characters. The story begins in Canton, with our protagonist Robin holding his mother as she dies. He is then swept up by a group of foreigners who take him back to England. He is raised there and educated towards admission to Babel or The Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford University. This sets up a journey through the school years as well as exposure to the rot under the core of what on the surface feels like the blissful life of libraries and reading and academic pursuits.
The magic system here is clever and adds to the story well. It was not so complex that the reader needs a doctorate in it to follow the story. The system is based on using silver tied with languages. By using translation between two or more languages, word-pairs can combine to create whatever intended effect is pursued. It is more complicated than this for various situations, but this is the simplest form of it. So if you wanted to keep the lights on for instance, you might find a word-pair that started with an ancient language word for light or sun and then pair it with the English word light. When the word-pair is spoken as the silver applied, the action happens. It is a fun system that makes you think more about languages and derivations and what word-pairs you might pursue finding.
Is this book perfect. No. There were a couple of places where I found the pace to slow because the action slows and then the characters are debating. This felt like a method to data-dump the information into the story about the oppression that the characters are trying to stop. There was also a minor detail late in the book that I won’t detail here but it was not consistent with anything that could happen realistically and was not tied to the magic system. Minor details that are not enough to stop my raving of this book.
Overall, this book is worth the investment in time to read. I enjoyed this and will reread it when my physical copy is here. Thank you to the publisher and author for the early copy for review. My review is my own and unbiased.

#Babel #NetGalley #AvonandHarperVoyager

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ARC provided by HarperCollins Canada and Harper Voyager.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford University's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation (known as Babel).

Babel is the world's center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel's research in foreign languages serves the Empire's quest to colonize everything it encounters.

Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?

As a work of research, this book is masterful. Kuang knows languages. The book succeeds in channeling an academic voice, footnotes and all, and is a slog to read. One thing that Kuang excelled at in this book was not shying away from what she wanted to say about colonization, oppression, and racism within academia. She wrote exactly what she wanted to say without hiding it. I appreciate the intelligent exploration of the power of words, the wonders of language, and the mysteries and possibilities of translations that span the world, and how this was incorporated into a linguistic magic system. I also did not connect with any of the characters. Their relationship dynamic did not feel distinctive or compelling; there was a lot of telling instead of showing therefore I did not feel the emotional impact of the story. While I appreciated the in depth chapters on etymology and translation, in the end, it felt like the characters development as well as the magic system got lost in these pages long lectures. Overall, I feel totally exhausted after finishing it and that is not a feeling of what I am looking in my reading. This book is not my cup of tea, but it is a story that raises thought-provoking questions and is intelligently written.

I have no words. In a world full of so many books, this book exists. And is absolutely incredible. This was my first of R.F.Kuang's books and now I have to read the rest. It was absolutely amazing. One of my top 10 books of this year. Highly recommend it!

sincere thanks to HarperCollins Canada for sending me a review copy

Babel is the best book of 2022 and one of the most important books of the last decade

There are so many facets to this book, I’m finding it hard to decide where to start.

I am in awe of Kuang’s use and deconstruction of language in this book. As is true with The Poppy War Trilogy, Kuang’s prose feel effortless and welcoming, a feat I find even more impressive given the emphasis on etymology which, under less skillful hands, would have lulled me to sleep. Instead, I was captivated by the way she sharpened language into a tool of empire, with what is lost in translation acting as the key to her magic system.

This was pitched as a tonal response to The Secret History, and although I’ve tried and failed to read it several times, I can still vaguely grasp what is meant by this. A pillar of dark academia is white privilege, the root of that being racism, colonialism, imperialism, and ethnocentrism. With Babel, R. F. Kuang not only addresses the exploits that built and sustained academic institutions, she humanizes and memorializes the stolen lives that act as the true tools of empire.

Even though Babel is a work of fiction, the parallels to real world events make for a cathartic read, especially for those whose history was blanched or altogether excluded from record. To my fellow white readers, I urge you to pick this up not only because it’s an incredible low-fantasy read, but because I think it will prove an essential exercise in empathy and self-reflection.


TW: kidnapping, physical abuse, racism, sexism, xenophobia, classism, child abuse, hate crime, death of a parent, misogyny, gun violence, slavery, torture, confinement, cultural appropriation, fire/injury, racial slurs, murder, blood, colonialism, imperialism, depression, suicidal thoughts, suicide

I knew I would be devastated. I knew it would break my heart. And yet I read the whole thing in a few days and loved every second of it. It's amazing how satisfying this story is. RF Kuang is a master of "terrible things are happening, but it's absolutely in-character, and you can't see how it could possibly happen any other way." No plot holes here, only gorgeous wordplay and gorgeous characters. I *gasp* liked Babel better than The Poppy War trilogy. So please, RF Kuang, please keep writing books so I can keep reading them!

This is definitely one of the best books that I have ever read. I'm definitely buying a copy of my own both for my shelves and rereads.

I really wanted to love this book and for the first third or so of it I did, but ultimately the story devolves into something very different from where it started out, and into something that was decidedly not for me.

Let’s begin with the assertion that this book is a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal response to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Strictly speaking, neither of these things is true. If you put some effort into it you can kind of stretch the latter into something that fits, but on the whole this is a miscategorization of both the language and plot of Babel.

On the positive side, Kuang’s use of language and magical system are quite good. I love the way she married the language and the magic, and the way she used it to caution against the dangers of linguistic homogenization. And as a person who loves Dark Academia more than perhaps any other genre, this book had the vibes for that. But only for the first third or so of the story, which is one of the most disappointing things about it.

The book moves squarely out of the Dark Academia genre and into historical social commentary by the halfway point. These are things that can certainly co-exist in a narrative, but it didn’t quite work here. While I agree with Kuang in spirit regarding colonialism and the other social issues of the era in the British empire, what we get here is a really black and white perspective that lacks the nuance required to address the topic sufficiently.

The characters were a mixed bag. It’s unfortunate that Robin’s character lacks nuance as well, and that while he may be sympathetic at times, he’s not especially likable and has a fairly one-dimensional perspective that feels childish and petulant. Victorie and Ramiz are infinitely more likable, more interesting, and more complex. Even Letty shows more range in perspective.

And that, in the end, is where this book falls short: a lack of range. Robin’s stubborn, all or nothing viewpoint ultimately makes him a martyr, which makes his already unappealing character even more unappealing. And while I agree with his charges of racism and his anti-colonialist spirit, his is, again, a perspective lacking sufficient nuance. And the destruction of an academic institution to make a point is never going to play out as a positive for me.

I'm not surprised at all by how much I loved this brilliant book. It took me a while to read simply because I wanted to give it my full attention and truly absorb every word. One thing is for certain.. These characters, especially Robin, will stay in my heart forever.

Robin's character was my favorite simply because I understood him on a deep level. One of my favorite quotes from him - "He hated this place. He loved it. He resented how it treated him. He still wanted to be a part of it - because it felt so good to be a part of it, to speak to its professors as an intellectual equal, to be in on the great game."

There is so much to unpack in this story and I will add this to the list of books I highly recommend to everyone (including 'The Poppy War' series)! I can't wait to hear others' thoughts on this one.

And finally, a quote that I really loved - "Language was just difference. A thousand different ways of seeing, of moving through the world. No; a thousand worlds within one. And translation - a necessary endeavour, however futile, to move between them."


*Quotes were taken from an uncorrected proof.

A fantastically gripping and engaging read right from page one! The Poppy War was such an incredible series, and Kuang has definitely knocked it out of the park yet again.

This thick book is definitely worth wading through it. I love books that take place in academia and due to other books I’ve read, have a love for Oxford and dream of going to the Bodleian Library. The characters were so well written along with the plot twists I did not see coming. Other readers may see them coming as I tend to shut off the predicting part of my brain as I read. I definitely cried during this book. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel and any other books this author comes out with.

A book that’s about the magic of language as much as it is literal magic, Babel is a tremendous effort—a meticulously researched period piece, a primal scream from the traditionally unheard, and a story of friendship gone horribly wrong. But its determination to make sure its (admittedly important) message is heard, means a significant chunk of this doorstopper’s 500+ pages feels didactic and lecture-y, rather than fully transformative.

Babel is such an impressive book. Felt a little bit like a version of Harry Potter for older fans. I loved the magical quality mixed with dark academia. Very rarely do a read a book that is so unique and Babel had so many components that felt new and fresh.

From a linguistics perspective I cannot even imagine how much research went in to this book. I loved reading about all of the beginnings of words and how their meanings change over time and throughout different languages. This component really added depth to the historical fiction quality of the book. Babel felt like the author invented a whole new world and I would love to read more stories from it. Great historical fictional/dark academia/magical read! I’m excited to check out more from this author.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for granting me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

One of the reasons I like to read is because I crave the feeling of being hollowed out by a story. You can shut the cover, tuck it away into the shelf, but it lingers in you for hours, days, years. It wiggles its way into your bones and your brain and changes the way you live in the real world. That is why I read. And Babel is a perfect example.

It's about a lot of things -- academia, racism, global politics, colonialism, violence, youth, love, friendship. It asks big questions and hardly attempts to answer them, instead presenting reminder after reminder of how complicated things really are. There is never a correct answer. There is only ever a choice.

I don't know what else to say to get you to read this -- you just have to.

5 stars.