Loved itI thought this was a fantastic book and I think this is my first introduction to R.F. Kuang, so a very, very strong introduction.
Review 1 of 2
Babel (2022)
Others: Mostly positive From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 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—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping 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?
- ISBN:
- 9780008501853
- Length:
- 560 pages
Genres: fantasy
Lists: …
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Loved it
Loved itI guess Babel fits in there pretty nicely
Review 1 of 5
NeutralBooks like Blood Over Bright Haven and Babel use fantasy to critique colonialism.
Review 1 of 3
MixedI cannot in good conscious give it a five because the pacing for the first half is terrible. Rebecca Quang is a like literary artist. Like it's one of the best written linguistically books that I've ever read and the characters are so real and the stories in it are so important and just well communicated.
Loved itanother book that I have read and I've recommended a thousand times at this point and I'll continue to recommend it and that is of course Babble by RF Quang... if you are looking for the perfect dark Academia book... cannot recommend this book enough
Review 1 of 4
MixedI really agree with what ARF King is trying to say I just think it there was no Nuance at all to the writing. It wasn't a book for me unfortunately there were some really good moments.
Review 1 of 3
Loved itthis is the book that I was in awe of the entire time I was reading it this book rewired my entire brain as I was reading it and so it inevitably became my favorite book of 2024
Loved itI adored her popy War series I adored Babel I will read everything she puts out
Review 1 of 3
Loved itI really enjoyed the writing style I enjoyed how research it felt and I also really appreciated all the footnotes that existed throughout the book too
Review 1 of 6
Loved itBabel as well I really like that one I gave a dual review of that book and I think I gave it a four or a four and a half star
MixedThis is just okay. It's a B. I liked the themes in it. I didn't love the plot.
Mixedthe World building and the commentary is excellent the distance that I had from the characters which I kind of had with the poppy War as well but to a lesser extent because I really liked our main character in poppy War where here I felt like a distance from all of them
Loved itI like this book. It definitely has some potential. It wasn't the top of my list this year, as you know, it only made number three, but that's still a very high spot