This book is impressive. The writing and the scope are amazing. I believe this book should be purchased by all libraries serving adults and maybe even some teen collections. This is a classic in the making for sure.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve heard so much about this book and was excited to read it, yet also a bit intimidated. It was clearly very well written and well researched, and it is quite heavy on the academic/historical speak. There were times when I wanted to skim over some of the more info heavy bits, but overall it was a lot easier to read than I expected.

This is a hard one to put into words, so I will say that Robin’s story was very heartbreaking and unlike anything else I’ve read. There are a lot of powerful lessons about colonialism, racism, and language. Most of the action happens at the end, so I was not expecting things to escalate like they did. RF Kuang really knows how to write a powerful ending. I would recommend this for lovers of dark academia with a touch of fantasy.

This book is phenomenal. I appreciated reading the Poppy War trilogy and all of it's commentary on war and suffering and the consequences of war and trauma, and Babel took everything great about the Poppy War trilogy and made it better from my perspective! Babel follows our main character, Robin, who is enrolled in Oxford's translation department in the 1820s, and the reader follows his experience as a Chinese person in Britain. We get to know his cohort who, like him, each have a talent for various languages for translation, and each of them are strikingly full of nuance, drive, and agency. The plot proceeds quickly, and the book is overall a quick read for its 560 pages. I appreciated all of the commentary on race, resistance, colonization, and advocacy in an unjust society, and the story explores a variety of ways and positions for the characters to decide how much they're willing to sacrifice in the cause against imperialism. The overarching theme that really captivated my attention was in translation. Language has power (and in this book, magical power!), and the art of translating is so much more than a direct correlation of words, and this book really does a good job of showing that. Even if you've never read this author before or were unsure about the Poppy War, I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a stellar dark fantasy that explores deep and nuanced topics.

A huge thank you to HarperCollins and Netgalley for a copy of this eArc in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I finished this book at about 2am and am still sitting here processing it. Babel took me completely by surprise and completely blew me away. I will say though that I was a bit nervous in the first quarter of the book, because I wasn't feeling into it. The beginning is a very slow burn, and to be honest I was struggling. But wow was that slow burn build up absolutely worth it, as well as absolutely key to the overall story.

'Babel' takes a deep dive and a very close and real look into colonialism, racism, sexism, as well of the cruelty of those in power. This book highlights a lot and was very impactful and profound. R.F. Kuang's writing is so masterful and eloquent, and her prose were so detailed, methodical, and thought provoking. She is truly a master of her craft and did a phenomenal job with conveying the lessons and intricacies and linguistics/translation.

I felt so many emotions while reading 'Babel', but I would say the most intense emotions I felt were rage and sadness. The MC's in this book have been through a lot in their lives and it only gets more intense and brutal as the story goes. And the light that R.F. Kuang shines on corrupt government and the ways it keeps people separated in order to keep them from banning together against their government is so prevalent to these present times we're currently living in.

But she also does highlight the main way to get a government to listen to its people. It's difficult, dangerous, and severe, but it's necessary. Although she also highlights what it looks like to go too far, and what it looks like to potentially lose yourself along the way. 'Babel' is such a brutal and honest story, and it speaks to real world issues still going on in this present day. This is a read I will never be able to forget.

I think the only con that I can think of is the glaringly obvious Chekhov's Gun that we're introduced to quite early on in the book, but overall, that wasn't an issue that hindered this reading experience for me at all. Not enough at least to give 'Babel' anything less than the 5 stars it deserves.

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution is an incendiary indictment against colonialism. Within this superbly written slow-burner of a bildungsroman, R.F. Kuang presents her readers with an extensive critique of eurocentrism, scientific racism, white supremacy, elitist institutions and the hoarding of knowledge, and British imperialism that is by turns didactic and impassioned. If you are a reader who isn’t particularly into nonfiction but you are keen on familiarizing yourself with discourses on colonialism, decolonization, and postcolonialism, or are interested in linguistics (translation, interpretation, language contact), or learning more about the circumstances that led to the First Opium War, you should definitely consider picking Babel up

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
RF Kuang tore my and many other readers’ hearts out with her debut Poppy War series, and while I didn’t know for sure what direction she was going in with Babel, I was still unreasonably hyped, and the hype only grew the more I learned about it. And fortunately, it did not disappoint.
In some ways, this book is a spiritual successor and response to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which I also loved. It also pastiches the historical style of writing and structuring a book, from the quirky long alternate title to the copious use of footnotes. I have mixed feelings about more and more authors using footnotes instead of conveying context in the main text (especially if it’s for superfluous inside jokes), but Kuang captured a similar magic to that which Susanna Clarke did almost two decades ago.
Just one glance at Kuang’s biography gives you a sense of how educated and accomplished she is, and that absolutely comes through here as she really digs into language. The prose itself is beautiful, but not inaccessible, but it inspires you to want to explore the different linguistic connections that are embedded in the story.
This is a fantasy, but in a more subtle way than her debut trilogy. The students of Babel learn silver-working, and their studies in foreign language are meant to facilitate the colonial activities of the British empire, with the text exploring how translation and favoring one dominant language over others can be an act of violence in and of itself.
And with language being so important to the story, Kuang mastered the ability of using words economically. This is a long book, but you never get the sense that any word is wasted or unnecessary.
Robin, the central protagonist, is one of four students, all of whom are nonwhite and impacted by the British Empire and its atrocities, being raised and educated primarily to provide labor. As Kuang is known to do, she has Robin and the others face major hardship and persecution. However, this is contrasted through the companionship Robin forms with his Victoire, Ramy, and Letty.
This book is pure perfection, and I’d recommend it if you enjoy historical fantasy in the vein of Jonathan Strange, or if you’ve enjoyed RF Kuang’s previous work.

As someone who has moved from my home country, speaks at home my language, works in a second language, and struggles daily with a third language that is being imposed upon me (which makes sense because I decided to move here, and I still want to be able to speak it fluently one day), this book made me feel so many things!

The first half of this book is very focused on language and translation, and I loved all the discussions, it was fascinating.
The second part did feel slower to me, because I was so hyped with everything that was happening and we shift to something very different. But the character development throughout this book was masterfully done and I was engaged the whole time.

To set right expectations, don't go into it expecting fantasy. I would say it's a historical fiction with some fantasy elements, but they are not very heavy. I fell in love with the discussions on language, translation, culture and colonization, but I wouldn't recommend this book unless you enjoy these topics and a lot of academic conversations.

I received an eArc of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Despite being a story about translators in the early nineteenth century, Babel is about being a Computer Science major in the present day. It's the department that gets the most funding and is most international (in the states at least as our immigration scheme awards post-graduation visas to STEM majors over other departments), but more importantly it's the department where you're told that you'll save the world only to graduate and find that the options are either making the rich richer through the creation of luxury goods or weapons.

Kuang deftly creates this sense of dread and impending doom as you watch the main characters thrive as Oxford students while all the while aware awaits them at graduation. Its the type of story where you know it's impossible for everything to work out in the end but you hope against hope that somehow it will.

On top of this is some of the strongest prose I've read in a long time. The tone is somewhere between Charles Dickens and Lemony Snicket with these asides in the form of endnotes that sometimes provide historical or linguistic context but more often than not provide anecdotes about the characters of the setting. The character work is phenomenal, especially the villains, every character in this book thinks they're in the right and none of them quite are. Scenes are genuinely haunting, there's this moment relatively early on where the main character as a child is beaten with a fire poker by his guardian who does so a completely cold meticulous sort of way and I keep finding myself seeing that image in my mind's eye.

I feel the need to give this important bit of context as I'm sure many will write this off as "just" being another dark academia book. I'm not a fan of dark academia, I received a classical education and I hated every second of it whether that be Latin or various German philosophers. Yet I loved every second of this book. As much as this is styled as a "Dark Academia-core" book, it is very much a rebuke of the fantasy of the academy. One that is extremely successful to the point where I wonder why the author is pursuing a PhD.

If you only read one book this year, I hope that it's this one.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Babel is the standalone, low fantasy, dark academia, alternative history of our dreams. R.F. Kuang has written a great story that looks unflinchingly and creatively at the devastation of colonization.

For you if: You like low fantasy (takes place in our world) and books that take place in a university setting.

FULL REVIEW:

Say hello to one of my (and many people’s) most anticipated books of the year! As you might guess from this novel’s full title, Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang is a dark academia novel. It’s also a low fantasy (meaning it takes place in our recognizable world, with a magic system introduced on top) alternative historical fiction. And…WOW.

Babel is about a character named Robin who was born in China in 1828 but spirited away from a cholera-infested household to England as a young boy. There, he was raised to study translation (and thus a magic called silverworking) at Babel, the preeminent institution on Oxford’s campus. He and three his fellow incoming classmates — two of whom are also people of color, and two of whom are women — arrive and begin the daunting work of proving themselves, as students and as outsiders. But soon it becomes obvious that sinking into the privileges afforded to them, built on the colonization of their own homes, would mean turning their backs on their consciences.

The absolute GENIUS of this novel is the way translation and silverworking stand as the most perfect metaphor for the parasitic relationship of Britain (or any colonizer today) and its colonies. A fluent speaker of two languages translates one word into another and carves them into a silver bar. But there’s no such thing as a perfect translation; some nuance is always lost. That nuance fuels the bar’s magic. In this version of the world, everything is powered by silver — carts run faster, old buildings stay up, illnesses are healed. The economy is built on it, and international “trade” is fueled by it. But as European languages merge more and more, silver powered by translation between romantic languages is becoming less potent. So fluent speakers of other languages — ex. Chinese, Hindi, etc — are becoming more valuable. But to what purpose does Britain put the knowledge and power they gain from the students they “rescue” from these countries? As R.F. Kuang writes this story, she stares you in the eyes unflinchingly, unblinkingly, and dares you to look away.

OK this is getting very long but the last things I’ll say: the characters are amazing (each member of our foursome is compelling and together they form the perfect group to probe one another’s prejudices and blind spots). This book has some of the best footnotes (mix between informative, funny, sarcastic, etc) I’ve read in a novel. If you love language you’ll love this. And while it was long and I expect some will call it slower paced (it covers a span of years, from Robin’s childhood to the end of his time at Oxford), it never bothered me for a second.

This is my first R.F. Kuang — I haven’t read The Poppy War (yet!), but from what I’ve heard, her writing has gotten better and better with each book. And while this one is super different from her debut trilogy, it sounds like her fans are loving this too. I hope you decide to read this book!!




CONTENT AND TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Colonization; Racism and racial slurs; Sexism, misogyny; Suicidal thoughts, suicide; Gun violence, general violence

Babel. God.

I’m still struggling to find the words that fully encompass how I feel about this book outside of the words: “love” “validating” and “seen”. Babel has been one of my most highly anticipated reads of the year and I cannot believe how much it blew past my expectations. How it broke my heart. How it validated my existence in a racist society and my own experiences at a predominantly white University.

In this book we follow Robin Swift, a newly orphaned child brought to Britain from China by Professor Lovell who trains and educates Robin specifically with the goal of one day attending Oxford. Robin trains, makes friends, and well…you’ll have to read to find out the rest.

I fell in love immediately with Robin and Victoire, two of our main characters. And just let it be known I will absolutely defend them with my life. Non-negotiable. Immediate kick to the face for them.

While the Poppy War series is one of my favorites, I think in this book we get to see R.F. Kuang’s writing at its best. The characters she writes are deeply complex. The story itself brings up so many interesting points on colonialism, the BIPOC struggle with assimilation in a racist society, what it means to be a revolutionary, the inherent racism within academia, and so much more.

I don’t want to overhype this book because I know it absolutely won’t be for everyone. It can be deeply uncomfortable at times and might drag at times for those who aren’t super into linguistics and language. But I think this story is necessary and timely. All I know is this book kicked me in the head and heart and I’m thankful for it. 5 stars all the way. 100% my favorite book of the year so far.

Robin Swift arrives in London with his benefactor Professor Lovell after the entirety of his family dies of cholera in Canton. His early years are spent at Lovell's home, being tutored in all subjects, but especially Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese. Robin arrives at Oxford University's Royal Institute of Translation - aka Babel - the world's center of translation and silver-working. The silver-working side uses enchanted silver bars and word pairs to rise the British Empire to unparalleled power throughout the world. A trip back to China enlights Robin to the effects of this power and changes everything about what he thought he knew.

This book. Guys, this book. Is phenomenal. Do you want to know when I first realized it? About a quarter of the way through when I started thinking I should go back to school to be a linguist. Now mind you, I speak exactly zero languages other than English and I'm 51 years old. So clearly I was not going back to school to become a linguist but this book made me want to. R. F. Kuang made it all so sound so interesting that I was fully ready.

Anyway, once I realized I wasn't going back to school, I went back to reading. It's a long book, true, but also it's very dense. And by that I mean, I really had to put aside all distractions while I was reading to fully appreciate and stay with the story. The language aspects were so interesting and I can't imagine what went into creating a book like this using this premise. I found everything about this truly fascinating.

I had previously read The Poppy Wars trilogy and loved that. This is different in some ways, but also similar. I'm so intrigued to see what R.F. Kuang comes up with next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Available August 23, 2022.

This book was immaculate. From the very first page, I was fully immersed in the universe and the setting from China to London to finally reaching Oxford. R.F. Kuang is a master of the pen and world building. This book is deservingly highly anticipated and lives up to every bit of the hype.

I am not typically a fan of historical fiction, but Babel draws you, takes you for a ride, teaches you things you didn't need to you, and then spits you out to question all of existence. This novel is a beautiful, elegant, masterful rollercoaster, and you won't be sorry you got on.

Babel is dark academia wrapped up in an intriguing examination of language, linguistics, and the fact that very rarely does any translation truly encompass everything that the original has to say.
How much is lost between languages, when we try to translate them from one to another?
Between people?

‘That’s just what translation is, I think. That’s all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they’re trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands.’

Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution, is told from the perspective of Robin Swift, a Cantonese boy who is transported to England in his youth after his family die in a cholera outbreak, and trained as a translator by Professor Lovell from Oxford University. In this alternate reality, Oxford has a translators’ guild occupying a tower known as Babel, and from here Britain and her academics control the world through the magic of silver and language. The silver they use manifests the meaning between two words in different languages - the parts that get lost in translation - creating astounding effects which have been used to expand the British Empire and ensure its continued supremacy.
However, the magic only works for people whose grasp of both languages is so innate that they can dream in them, and thus many of Babel’s scholars are from various nations around the world who, eventually, they begin to see that this exploitation cannot be allowed to continue.

Babel is not a light read. It is heavy. It is dense. It makes you think, and feel, and wonder. It makes you consider that often a lack of action is an action in itself, even as we tell ourselves otherwise.

I enjoyed the first half of Babel - especially watching the characters meet and build the relationships they have longed for - however to say I enjoyed the second half feels wrong, somehow. The second half of the book is far darker, more intense and desperate. I had to read the last third in one sitting, because I couldn’t bring myself to leave the story unfinished.

Babel was fascinating - especially as someone who only speaks one language, it was really interesting to see how they intersect and interact - and I absolutely adored the language based magic system. But I doubt I will return to this world.
I think one trip through the tower was enough for me.

There is truly nothing R.F. Kuang can't write. If you thought The Poppy War was magnificent, you'll gladly be proved wrong with Babel, which is nothing short of a masterpiece of dark academia. This multi-layered, complex fantasy is what all books should aspire to be. Well done, Ms Kuang!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon & Harper Voyager for an advance copy of this book! I put the request in without much hope and was absolutely thrilled when I was approved. Babel was my most anticipated release of the year, and it did not disappoint.

RF Kuang's self-described love and breakup letter to Oxford is full of beauty and joy, heartbreak and destruction. It's both an affectionate image of the best parts of academia and a damning call to recognize the worst parts of academia, and the reader is forced, along with the characters, to hold both truths in hand as we examine what happens to Robin and his friends in 1830s England.

Let's start with my absolute favorite parts:
-Robin. I really loved that, at his core, he's a sensitive, shy bookworm. He struggles with passivity and takes a long time to come to terms with the reality of his situation, and once he does, you're right there with him. His entire character arc, right up until the end, is chef's-kiss-perfection.

-EVERYTHING about the translation magic system. It's simultaneously imaginative and deeply academic, as is the rest of the book. Kuang does an excellent job including the magic of the world in the time period's actual history, staying true to a lot of real-world historical events and finding creative ways to realistically mix the magic in.

-As someone who spent almost my entire childhood in Taiwan and, like Robin, speaks both Mandarin and English, the plethora of Chinese words and allusions particularly spoke to my soul. It's rare for me to come across media that uses both my languages, especially books. Also, while I am not a person of color and so do not experience the racism and discrimination Robin was subject to, I was able to relate to some of his struggles -- the grief of moving away from your childhood home, struggling to fit in to both worlds, the terror as you realize a language that was once ingrained in you starts slipping away from lack of use.

--Again niche, but there were so many allusions to classic literature (and new-to-me info about it!) that made my nerdy English degree heart soar.

--The writing. Dear God, the WRITING. Kuang has my eternal respect.

Now, there were a couple of things that didn't work for me. Honestly, they didn't bother me enough to knock any points off my rating, but they were there.

--The themes of this book are so important. However, while some books deliver their messages subtly, slipping them in so that you really have to consider the work to understand them, Babel more or less throws a molotov cocktail at your door, sprints in, and beats you over the head with its theme. That may have been intentional on Kuang's part; I can see an argument for really trying to shock you into confronting some of the horrors of colonialism, imperialism, and racism. I just felt, at times, the delivery was a little ham-fisted.

--Robin and Ramy are very well-developed, but I didn't feel like I had a good sense of Letty and Victoire's characters until the last 30% of the book. They fall flat in comparison. I also really could have done with more Griffin, but maybe that's just a personal preference.

Overall, this book is probably going to end up in one of my top 3 reads of the year. The ending is beautifully devastating and rounds out the whole story so well, even though it broke my heart. I had to sit in silence on my couch for a few minutes before I could do anything once I turned the last page.

Babel releases 8/23, and you do not want to miss it. (Even though I have the ARC downloaded to my Kindle...I pre-ordered a hard copy. My home library would not be complete without it.)

This was decent. I was hoping for more, but it kinda disappointed me. I’m not sure if it’s just because I’ve been reading different genres recently or what but ehh. I did like the mix of dark acedemia, historical fiction and fantasy this had going on. So that was a plus, but it just didn’t do it for me.

A small diverse group of students enter an Oxford department which studies languages. They will be working as translators for a technology that combines words with a magical technology to create silver bars used to stimulate various aspects of the British economy. They are enthused by their work until they begin to see how this technology impacts the world. What and who they will sacrifice to save their native lands? How far will their loyalties to each other go? These are the driving questions of this fascinating alternative history. An immersive and heart-breaking read.

Since finishing Babel my reviews to my friends who have also read this book have been incoherent ALL CAPS and DMs with a flood of emojis. The bookseller in me cannot wait to write the shelf talker, the booklover has no idea what to say except HOLY CRAP, KUANG HAS DONE IT AGAIN.

Ok, so yes, this is dark academia. But it is also historical fiction, fantasy, and, dare I say it, a crime novel? There is murder, mystery, revolution, lies, deceit, all the good things you want including interrogating the generational wealth, privilege, and whiteness of academia. Babel is smart, cunning, and cutting all at once and doesn't shy away from shining a spotlight on academia's faults. And, from this reader's perspective--a reader who gets confused when books delve too deeply into topics that skate way over my head--Babel is entirely accessible. Kuang's voice I a breath of fresh air in what could've been an incredibly stuffy book. Frankly, between you and me, I could've used more footnotes.

Honestly. More footnotes please.

The characters are lovable and so intelligent it contributes to their naivety about the dangers of the world they've signed up for, especially the main character Robin Swift. Brought over from Canton at a young age by a professor and raised to be a translator who can manipulate the magical silver only those at Babel at Oxford University can (ok, there's more to this but it'll be a really long sentence so you'll just have to read the book), I fell for Robin immediately. Soon after, the book's themes grabbed me by the collar and kept me thirsty: Empire demands sacrifice, takes what it wants, uses and thieves, unapologetically so, and in the case of Babel, goes so far as to steal our voices. How simple it is, to recognize that words are violence, they also heal and bring us together; how cultures differ; how Empire seeks to homogenize, to flatten and assimilate; how language can have multiple meanings. I could go on and on about this, but I also want to talk about the found family, the deep, emotional friendships that I would liken to queerplatonic, the love Robin had for his friends. I suppose, without writing an essay, I can sum up my love of this book by saying Babel is next-level Kuang. Fans of The Poppy War aren't ready.

Maybe that's how I start my shelf talker. We'll see! Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to the eARC.

"They obeyed. It was wonderful to have someone to tell them what to do."

This quote encapsulates what plagues a huge portion of this story. Robin, the main character, does very little of his own accord. He often gets swept up in events, following whatever course others set out for him. There are some key moments he makes his own decisions, but they are few and far between. Even when the action picks up in the final act, it's distant and passive.

Scene on fidelity of translations. "Either you situate the text in its time and place, or you bring it to where you are, here and now." Reads as a defense of using modern talking points in terminology in 1830s Oxford. Self-aware.

Lecturing. Especially since this is rooted in real world events, I'd rather learn the actual history than have it filtered through a fantasy book. I think not being knowledgeable about the era is both better and worse. You don't recognize any inconsistencies so they don't bother you, but you can separate the fantasy from the reality.

Telling. So much telling, with very little plot tying it together. Robin moves from Canton to London. He studies. He moves from London to Oxford. He studies. A plot emerges, and is given two brief scenes and a handful of lines. At 25% not a whole lot has happened. The school isn't a backdrop, but exists to educate the reader.

We are told multiple times things that will happen. "He didn't know at the time," "looking back, he would realize," and things like that.

The magic system is inventive, capturing the frustration of language learners everywhere: not being able to quite say what you mean. I find it strange that fluency is required, since the things lost in translation are there whether you're fluent or not.

I'm not into school settings or dark academia, the magic school thing is super common. Here, it's kind of a mundane, regular college experience. The magic work they eventually do is more academic than practical, requiring a lot of research and some basic facility with engraving. It's not exciting.

Griffin's economic manipulations remind me of Baru Cormorant, but here it's all very far away.

Their exam anxiety was really drawn out and excessive to me. I've been in grad school twice and never experienced the same debilitation as these kids. Maybe I've had it easy, who knows.

For most of the story I felt like a tourist, taken through a place the author clearly loves, shown all the sights. I never felt drawn in by the plot, nor the characters and their plights. This feeling is strongest when we follow the characters on their jaunts and vacations. I found myself checking how much was left frequently. Especially during their many collective freak out scenes.

The footnotes are annoying

The writing itself is much improved from the Poppy War.

Overall, I thought this was an interesting and well crafted book, if a little slow and informative.