I wanted to like this. I’ve already preordered it, and I was SO excited to get an early copy thanks to Netgalley! But I just found this so dreadfully dull. It’s much more a historical fiction than a fantasy, and although I enjoyed the characters and the vivid setting, the historical aspects and the constant babbling about translation and languages just bored me to death.

I now see why BABEL has been the hardest book RF Kuang has to write, and the most personal one too. As a language education major, this has hit too close to home, and as of writing, I am still too stunned to explain how much hurt and pain and hope is realized on these pages.

I'll get back to this with a full, rambling review once my heartbeat has settled, but for now, a summary:
- good discussions of contentions in linguistics and translation history, including violent erasures and Anglo-centric teaching methods. I WAS GEEKING OUT THE WHOLE TIME.
- if you like academics who fight via footnotes in academic journals: yes, this is 100% the energy of the first half of the book
- Chakravarti is a new favorite for the same reasons I love Master Yim and Master Irjah. RF Kuang knows how to write professors well, and I am a sucker for well-written professors. I started writing my open letter to him, but stopped halfway due to internal screaming.
- well-written characters, who have varying paths to revolution. too similar to the current situation here in the Philippines
- NERDY KIDS WHO SNAPPED, AND BOY, THEY SURE DID
- incisive commentary on language and empire; has not lost its focus even when events got chaotic
- representation of labor strikes and makes a bold statement that academic work is still labor in service to the empire
- tight writing and good use of Chekhov's gun technique: nothing here goes unused
- I hate Letty and her white woman tears.
- I love Victoire's ending, and I believe she deserves it. I share the same sentiments with her.
- This book is one hell of a dissertation.

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by RF Kuang is a beautifully written, lyrical novel. Set in an alternate 1830s Oxford where the art of translation creates magic, Babel explores language, magic, power, and colonization. Kuang creates a rich cast of characters that you feel deeply about, loving them or hating them based on the character. But all of them are fascinating, complicated characters in whom you become deeply invested. Along with a rich cast of characters, Kuang does a brilliant job of world-building and takes a familiar location and expands on it to fit in this new world version. I could not put this book down; equality excited about what would happen next and what exciting new tidbit I would learn about etymology. I highly recommend this book, especially to those who love Dark Academia.

Babel: An Arcane History by RF Kuang will be published on August 23, 2022.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for an eARC of this book.

This blew me away. First of all - I want to point out the level of research that went into these characters. I know it can be a challenge to write and dwell into different characters from different backgrounds but it’s truly amazing and refreshing to see how much thought and care rf kuang put into these characters. Her writing truly shined in this book. Babel has truly become my favourite dark written academia to date. The characters, the slow build up to the tragedy that we all know comes with dark academia - it was phenomenal and blew me away on several occasions. Babel is a book that will stick with me for the rest of my life and truly I’ll be thinking of it years to come!

Babel was an often challenging book. The subject matter is quite heavy (themes of colonialism, abuse, and racism) and the book itself was quite long. While I did enjoy the book, it took quite a while to finish. I wonder if this would have benefited from being a duology, rather than a single, large novel. The pacing was also difficult at times. Both slow and too fast, skipping over parts I'd like to have learned more about. I tend to read books that are fast-paced and shorter, so this may be a failing on my part and not the book's.

One thing that I really loved was the footnotes! I wish these were more common in fiction writing.

Overall, I liked the story, but wish it contained more about life at school. It's evident that Kuang is extremely knowledgeable, but I do wish some of the more "lecture-y" parts were more concisely written.

I’m usually such a fast reader but I wanted to cherish this book… it’s one of those that has left a mark on my soul

The queen of fantasy is now becoming the queen of dark academia… I absolutely fell in love with these characters and loved watching them find themselves. I felt what they were feeling and could hear my heart rip when theirs did. R.F. Kuang brilliantly interweaves history and fiction.

This book is perfect for fans of the atlas six that also say f the man!!!!!

A beautiful, dark, and thought-provoking fantasy that explores coming-of-age, etymology, colonization, immigration, white supremacy, industrial evolution, and finally revolution. This is not a light read at 560 pages and as some reviews suggest Ms. Kuang takes a painstakingly detailed brush to Oxford and etymology -- but I ate this all up. English is not my first language and learning English after learning Russian was challenge. Why is laid pronounced like paid but said is pronounced like bread? Why is the order of adjectives (which is an unspoken agreement): opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun? The book dives into how the English language (through colonization) has evolved and absorbed languages. The influence slang and class have on etymology. But also introduces a magic system based on linguistic anthropology.

At the center of this, we have four incredible scholars from various backgrounds all eager to prove themselves for very different reasons. As we learn more about Ramy, Robin, Victoire, and Letty, we learn how drastically different this group of friends is and how these differences reflect their upbringing, class, race, and also the current political climate. Inevitably these differences lead to a rift amongst friends and also the sparks of revolution. Which all culminates in betrayal, murder, and more. I won't say more to not give any plot twists away. However, if you are familiar with Ms. Kuang's other series, The Poppy War -- you should not be surprised that this is not a light or romantic tale. It is not nearly as graphic as The Poppy War which portrays (in a fantastical setting) some of the atrocities of the Sino-Japanese War.

While great detail was added to Oxford, the universities, language and more I would have loved to see more development of some of the characters. In particularly Victorie, whose past, projects, and feelings we discover in Act 4/5. Alas I also understand why it was necessary to highlight/exaggerate some of the other characters given the novel is alreay over 500+ pages. Finally, interwoven with the painstaking detail to is dialogue that ties it all together even with bits of humor. And I'll leave you with this gem:

‘You know,’ said Robin, ‘there’s a Chinese character, xiǎn,* which can mean “rare, fresh, and tasty”. But it can also mean “meagre and scanty”.’ Ramy spat the truffle into a napkin. ‘Your point?’ ‘Sometimes rare and expensive things are worse.’

Ps. This masterpiece is a standalone. A rarity amongst high fantasy. That alone deserves recognition.

Babel is a dark academia set in an alternate 1830's Oxford where translation and silverworking manifests magic. Babel is an impressive work that focuses on themes of colonialism, oppression, academia, and racism. When I first read the synopsis I was so excited for this book. I love languages, so combining that with an indictment of colonialism and racism sounded like a story I would love. Unfortunately, the story didn't quite work for me.

My biggest issue with the book was pacing. The first 50% of the book was slow. It finally picked up after the halfway point, but by that time I was tired. It also suffered from a lot of info dumping. I had to really be in the right mood to pick this book up because reading it often felt like going to a linguistic class. Kuang is obviously brilliant and you can tell that this book is inspired by her own academic background; it just sometimes seemed that she wanted to do so much and she didn't know how to do that without dumping so much information on the reader at one time.

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 behind flowery prose or metaphors. Robin (the main character) and his character arc are other areas that really shined within the story. He went from feeling like he needed to stay safely hidden within the comfort of Babel to openly defying the institution he thought was his home.

Overall, I liked this book and I think it's such an important story, but I didn't love it; however, if you look at other reviews I'm clearly in the minority. If you like dark academia pick this up when it's released later this summer!
Thank you NetGalley, Harper Voyager, and RF Kuang for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

It took me forever to finish this book. While there is nothing "wrong" with this book, for me it was painfully slow-paced. The narrative voice also didn't really work for me. It was written as if a much older adult Robin was retelling his story, but only in certain moments within the same paragraph. And it often left me confused. There were also a lot of scenes with lectures talking in length about the process of translating. It all made me feel very dumb since I only speak one language and I don't know how these words in French, Latin, Spanish, and the other languages (there are several used) are pronounced.

I liked the characters for the most part. But I found the magic system far more interesting than the characters. The characters all seemed to be there to fill a role and the protagonist was only slightly more nuanced. This could be because the POV is from some version of his perspective, but it's hard to say.

The themes of this book were honestly the best part. Addressing the colonialism, racism (and sexism) that is too often forgotten or ignored that the British Empire took part in in the 1800s, but it was all lost in those nearly half chapter-long lectures. As was the magic system. There were also several hyperlinks for cliff notes, I didn't read all of them, but the ones I did read felt like that information could have been woven into the story and some of the lectures could have been cut or reduced. It made the book feel more less like a fiction novel, and more like a textbook.

I wanted to love this book, and it seems a lot of people who have read it do, but this book was just not for me. I skim-read the last about 20% of the book.

This book is revolutionary in every sense. I am a lover of dark academia and RF Kuang's work, so I've been highly anticipating this one (and definitely screamed when Netgalley gave me an arc).
R.F. Kuang is literally a genius. She's allowed to emotionally damage me any day.

I loved these characters and was on the edge of my seat as their journey through academics at Oxford, secret societies, and colonial resistance. This book flips the dark academia subgenre on its head and reclaims it in the best way. This book is at the intersection of historical fiction and speculative fiction and combines them seamlessly. There were a lot of race, class, and gender things in here that were informative and awful and enlightening and frustratingly similar to our world today. As the book goes on, you will probably find yourself at the crossroads of chaotic good and evil and raging to burn it all down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Edelweiss for complimentary copies of this title.
Pub Date 8/23/2022

I will read anything R.F. Kuang writes even though she breaks my heart every time. About halfway through Babel, I was still struggling to dedicate time to reading but when it hit about 48% of the way finished, I binged the rest.

I feel like I learned quite a great deal about colonialism and was once again stung by the knowledge that our world isn't that different from the silver-dependent Great Britain in her novel. Similarly, with Kuang's other works, I didn't like most of the characters but I loved all of them. The ending of this book alone bumped it up to a 4.8 star for me.

I would recommend this book to anyone that reads about economics, history, race, dark academia, magical realism, and historical fiction—really anyone that reads large tomes for enjoyment should read Babel.

Read this book while studying late at the library.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4656722315

This was very good. I keep typing out sentences, trying to translate my thoughts, but none can really capture what I want to say. So I guess Iwill keep this review short and just conclude it with the fact that I highly recommend this.

Oh, how I underestimated the level of pain that could be inflicted on me, RF Kuang has truly outdone herself.

Babel is an account of history that claws you by the throat and will forever reside in you. A gripping tale about colonialism told masterfully through acts of translation and silver workings, this was such a worthy read. The characters all were so wonderful and the complexity—*chef's kiss*.

Wow! It was such an enchanting and a compelling read I find myself fully immersed in it. And the knowledge and the immense research with which the themes were explored was phenomenal. I don’t think anyone would have done it better than Kuang!!

This book has a fascinating premise with a compelling protagonist. The magic and world building are so rich. RF Kuang addresses real issues in a way that will resonate with many readers. I highly recommend this book!

I would like to preface this by saying I have, quite literally, never read a book like this before in my life. I am so, so happy that this book exists. This book is a masterpiece. I went into this book blind - I did not even read the synopsis and I am so glad I did (and I am aware of how incredibly lucky I am to have received this eARC - thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins for providing me with this in exchange for an honest review!). That being said, this book is a historical fantasy about linguists, anti-colonialism, and revolution. It is easy to tell that the author is an academic with the deep and meticulous research that must've been done in order to write about linguists, particularly with etymology and translation (and I am living for it). More than that, this story makes you *think* while simultaneously presenting the information in a straightforward manner. As someone who is (mostly) bilingual, I have thought about how certain things are hard to translate, but I was absolutely captivated by translation theory and the magic system that this book revolved around with silver-working. I don't know if I will ever get over how unique this concept is and just how much research is required to create something like silver-working and make it interesting. It is subtle magic in the realm of fantasy, but I loved it.

The book tied everything together so neatly but subtly. It took me about a week to finish this book, and many times when I couldn't read it, I was thinking about the content and concepts this book touched on. I don't think I'll ever recover from this book, to be honest. As a fellow POC, it hurt to see the racism but I am glad it was addressed in the manner that it was - which is to say, realistic. The dual identity that every POC character struggles with in this book is scarily relatable. The only drawback in the novel is that sometimes the pacing was off the book was off (especially in the first and second parts), and that the author's note in the beginning rubbed me the wrong way. The author seemed to be very defensive or arguing against an invisible hater over some of the choices she made and explaining the reasons and I...I truly do not understand what the point of that was. It is your book and ma'am, you can do whatever you please with no explanations!! These are tiny grievances, though, in the grand scheme of this book.

While I loved this book, and I expect any fellow nerd too, but I can see why this won't be for everyone. It has a very academic (dark academia specifically) feel to it (which can come off pretentious for people who may not like this genre), and explanations of theories of silver-working, which may not be everyones cup of tea. Overall, I absolutely loved this book and was an easy 5 stars. The prose is unmatched. I mean, the first sentence of the synopsis (Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.) doesn't get you, then I don't know what will.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the copy of Babel. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book in the beginning, but I was entranced by the beautiful writing that made the characters and places come alive. This is an epic novel that covers many years and subjects. At the heart is language, magic, politics, racism and misogyny. Also epic because it was long and it took a while to get to the actual story. Once I got into the story, I loved it. The characters leapt off the page and into my heart. If you are looking for a great, immersive read, set some time aside to read this book!

Devastating. R.F. Kuang really loves breaking her characters and her readers. The writing makes up for the devastation you experience while reading this book. It will leave you enraged, educated, hopeful, depressed, numb, and in need of a hug. Should I be writing this review immediately after finishing the book? No. But man, am I in my feels right now.

If the title alone doesn’t give you a hint, this is not going to be a light-hearted, easy to read, fun book. It’s going to lay the foundations of history in a way that will make you think this is how it actually happened. I found myself looking forward to all the footnotes for more facts or anecdotes on top of the jam packed story. This is one of the most researched books I’ve ever read and while it feels almost heavy-handed and at times, pretentious at the beginning, it will leave you with a better understanding of injustice, imperialism, language, culture, just everything. And you will thank it. This is not a book that you’re going to see fun fanart and memes for, this is going to be a book that readers will recognize the thousand yard stare of others who have finished it. You know the feeling after finishing the entire Poppy War saga? Condense that into one standalone book. Kuang is the first author who writes theme driven stories rather than plot or character. There’s a feeling to her writing that moves the plot and characters forward that’s undeniably unique. This book is going to change the genre and I’m going to shove it into so many hands over the coming years. I can’t wait for the rest of the word to experience it.

Babel is a book that has completely written itself into my heart. Even days after finishing I'm not convinced I've fully captured how much this book means to me or the full brilliance. It is thought provoking to the very ends of the fiber of my being. Haunted by the ways in which Kuang was able to simultaneously deliver a novel that provoked more critical thought than perhaps my university education, while also being a deeply emotional story speaking to the violence of racism and imperialism.

As a former literature student who considered academia herself, Babel is a magnificent introspective story about the violence of academia and translation. The ways in which racism is so deeply ingrained into the fabric upon which students sit. All the inherent power imbalances between those who study, who are removed from the subjects they observe, and the very people who suffer within the spaces of their academic papers. This elitist removal from having to speak to the consequences of their work and study, to the material conditions of poverty and colonialism. Kuang is able to capture this exploitation with focused criticism and truly encapsulates the meaning of dark academia.

As a POC, Babel has resonated deeply within my soul the experiences of insidious racist comments and the overt Orientalism and fascination with my own complicated homeland. For me, reading this book inspired a deep rage born of empathy and a growing desire to watch the systems of racism and colonization burn. To realize that radical change is required in a system which thrives on such drastic and cruel forms of violence and erasure. It manages to address the very present and pervasive Orientalism inspired and created during this time period, and before, while also having the unique power of featuring characters that non POC may be able to observe, acknowledge their own biases, and take a moment to sit with the differences in these lived experiences.

This took me some time only because I wanted to live in these words and really let them

That and some of the experiences Robin had? I felt them to my core, as an international student who got her degree in America, a country that colonized my own and forced their language and systems onto us. In so many ways, Babel tells of Robin's story and the plight of the Chinese during the British Colonial Era. But in as many ways, there are cornerstones that others in the Global South and immigrants in general can relate to.

In addition, this is such a stunner follow-up to the author's first trilogy, and truly shows Kuang's ability to write level up. There's a complexity here that we didn't get with The Poppy War trilogy, but there is still the bite and the sharpness of the complex issues Kuang tackles.

A steller book that I would highly, highly recommend.