This is an incredible book. Honestly I was speechless after finishing it. I still am because I don't think I can do it justice. It is incredibly unique and I don't even know what genre to categorize this as. You can tell the author poured everything into this - time, research, emotion, etc. It shines through.

Overall I really enjoyed this. I loved the focus on language and the discussions of colonialism. I thought the last 1/4th of the book felt a little heavy handed, which was also how I felt about The Poppy War at times. I still really enjoyed this and will always read and handsell more of RF Kuang!

Robin Swift has a highly valuable skillset in the British Empire: he can speak multiple languages. In a world where magic is created by the meaning lost in translation, that makes Robin one of the few people in the world capable of producing the silver bars that power the whole empire. Half-Chinese, half-English, Robin’s whole life has been nothing but training in languages so that one day he can attend Oxford and its College of Translation. But while attending university, Robin meets a secret society that is fighting to undermine the exploitation of the colonies that Oxford’s magic allows. Increasingly torn in loyalty between England, the country that raised and educated him, and China, the country of his birth, Robin finds himself trying to please both masters, until one fateful trip makes it clear that Robin can no longer serve both sides.

Babel is a purposefully uncomfortable dark academia confronting the evils of colonialism, racism, and capitalism in no uncertain terms. This is a book that emphasizes the “academia” part of dark academia; the magic is largely minor and off-screen, here to set the stage of how Britain both exploits and cannot survive without all the other countries it encounters. If you tackle Babel, bring with you your love for discussions on language and entomology, for endless lectures and discussions about the nature of empire, colonialism, and capitalism. If those sound like things you’d enjoy (or at least find intriguing), congratulations, you’ll probably like Babel.

If you are here for dazzling displays of magic or the thought of studying makes you cringe, you might want to pick up something else.

Babel is not a subtle book, but it is also one that gradually builds up the pressure to an inevitable conclusion. In the past, I’ve equated Kuang’s other work, The Poppy War, as being a frog in a slowly boiling pot of water. By the time you realize how dire the situation is, you realize far too late that things were that dire all along, you just weren’t feeling it yet. Robin Swift is the frog of Babel, attempting to rationalize away the many problems and inequalities created by the translation magic he is learning; the art of translation (and the comforts of academia) are things he enjoys, and he doesn’t want to engage with the uncomfortable truths behind them. Once he reaches his turning point, he realizes that things didn’t get worse, they were always this bad and he chose to ignore it.

And yet, for all the terrible things Kuang points out, she also acknowledges that translation itself is a necessary evil. I flagged several poignant passages about translation (remarkable for me, as I’m generally not a highlighter or notetaker), but this stuck with me as the most hopeful view of the author:

“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.”

Translation may be an imperfect art, but in its purest form, it is trying to recalibrate your world view to understand how another language and people think about things. In fact, it’s what Babel itself is trying to do for the Western audience: make them understand how non-white peoples of the world felt about their treatment at the height of the British Empire. But in Kuang’s view, such idyllic attempts at translation and academia are impossible as long as there are those around to exploit the results.

Kuang examines all these aspects of translation and empire through her diverse cast of characters, including Robin’s fellow students, a microcosm of different reactions and ideologies about the problems at hand. They are more stand-ins for different viewpoints, from radicalization to believing empire is inevitable and not worth fighting, than deep characters, and yet when all those characters and beliefs came to a crashing confrontation, I still found myself deeply affected. Each believes so fervently that the others will come around to their way of thinking, it becomes all the more heartbreaking when reality sets in.

Babel is an evocative call to arms, an examination of a broken system. As I’ve said before, this isn’t a subtle book. The full title, after all, is Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translator's Revolution. It has a thesis and it is going to make it crystal clear. Occasionally the book can feel overly long, especially as you encounter one terrible thing after another, but the story will stick with you long after you read the final page. It’s here to make you think about all the uncomfortable truths you’d rather look away from, and on that front, it succeeds on every level.

Babel is not one of those light reads that hits the ground running for a fast-paced adventure where you can see the basic formula in play.
Rather, it is a story that adds layer upon layer and demands you pay it more attention.

Set in what would be our past, there are some themes tackled like British colonialism, that many across the world can only imagine. But, the author layers in the fantastical, magical ability of silver to be used to do things based on the words written on the piece. The translators at the fictional "Babel" at Oxford University are the ones who develop 'match pairs' words in two languages that have something "lost in translation."

Interwoven into the title are mini-lessons on the origins of words, something I found completely fascinating.

I am going to be looking forward to the sequel when it comes out as I am very curious to see where the author takes the story.

Babel follows the story of Robin Swift and the three members of his cohort at Oxford's Institute of Translation. They are a diverse group hailing from many parts of the world and learn to navigate the primarily white and male world of Oxford together.

I can't describe how much I enjoyed and adored this book. It was so smartly written, Kuang has a purpose for every element placed within her story and everything follows a logical thread. This is a book that I will reread many times and find new things in each read.

I mean, what can be said about this book that was not already said. This is the most necessary read of the year. The way R.F. Kuang approaches sexism and racism is so real and raw & we need to take notes. I will never stop recommending this book.

It is the book of the decade.

A brilliant interrogation of the university's role in colonization, and the complicity of students within that system. Kuang masterfully intertwines fantasy with the British Empire's imperialist history to create a story that you won't want to put down. Highly recommend!

Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. Wow... This book is really great! So well written and everything came together in this novel - characters, plot and setting. Strong recommendation from me!

Holy shit. She is absolutely brilliant, and I'm so glad she's getting the accolades that she deserves. This one took me a long time to read, hence the late review, but I'm blown away by it. 5 stars.

Please note in an exchange for an honest review, I received a copy from the NetGalley. Thank you!

I really enjoyed Babel. There were some issues I had with it but overall, I honestly enjoyed the experience and recommend the book.

I'm going to be honest, sometimes it gets a bit slow and if you find the etymology things boring--I would recommend skipping the book just because the book is so dependent and info dumps so much of it.

Genre wise, I would lean more on the historical fiction side of things. The "fantasy" side mainly consist of a magic system that, while prominent, isn't the real focus of the book.

Does it feel a bit preachy at times? Sure but if you're genuinely interested in a read about the effects of colonialism I would give this a try. I'd like to think of Babel as a boring textbook about colonialism your professor wants you to read with a spin of a dark academia setting.

Welp. I know what book is taking home all the awards for this year.

Full RTC. Maybe. I dunno anymore. All I know is that YOU SHOULD READ THIS DAMNED BOOK.

I received an ARC from NetGalley

Babel is one of the most amazing, unique, and smart book I have ever read. The writing was absolutely fantastic. Kuang did a wonderful job with her research and weaving history and fantasy together. The characters were written perfectly. There is absolutely nothing bad to say about this book. I highly recommend you read this!

After an initial attempt, I was unable to connect with this book on a level that would allow me to finish it and leave a fair review. Others will surely enjoy this more than I did.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review.

My fellow readers, I've read Kuang's The Poppy War trilogy, I know what this author can do to readers, I thought I was going into BABEL fully prepared for what would happen. I was not. Where The Poppy War trilogy was brutal physically in the violence that happens on the page to the point that it was uncomfortable to read (which was the point), BABEL is just as brutal intellectually. Kuang does not hold back in shining lights on the ugly truths of colonialism and academia... and even of etymology. Also, BABEL has footnotes and that just makes me adore Kuang even more. I love a good footnote in general, but these add even more depth and breath to the discourse happening within the plot.

Even if my loyalties lie with Cambridge (where I did my own summer study abroad program), the Royal Institute of Translation (known as Babel) was fascinating as was the concept of silver work and its connection to language. Having Robin and Ramy build a friendship over exploring Oxford and learning how to punt made me fondly remember my time at Cambridge and it added a realness to this novel that made everything that happens that much more brutal because of it. Readers have a front row seat watching these first years grow within Babel and as friends along with being asked to truly witness the corruptness of colonialism. And readers are also asked to bare witness to the destruction of both. Without giving anything away, I NEED just one or two more chapters so that the plot could continue a little bit more.

Kuang is brilliant as always, and BABEL has easily joined a handful of other novels that I will try to get as many people to read as possible. I cannot wait to see what Kuang has in store for readers next, all I know is that BABEL confirms they are now a must-read author for me.

Oxford, translators, anti-colonialism, and a revolution? Yes, please! Babel is an absolute tour de force of dark academia and is most definitely my favorite novel this year, if not in my top 10. It was an absolute privilege to read.

Full of delightful footnotes and translations, Babel is a dream for English and foreign language majors. Combined with a compelling plot line that highlights the injustices of colonialism and characters that have depth and distinctive personalities, I absolutely could not put this one down.

If you love the power of the written word, pretentious historical fantasy with rich magical realism, and a wholly unique storyline that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end, then Babel is not going to disappoint. I have a strong suspicion this one is going to linger for a long time and will certainly be in every one of my family member’s stockings this year.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Voyager, and R.F. Kuang for the opportunity to read this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful story and strong voice. A telling story about language and colonization. Babel is passionate, scathing, incendiary, fervent. It has all the inevitability and gravity of a tidal wave, a massive force crashing into me, sweeping me away. Here, I find that language has failed me once again, because I cannot write a sentence or a paragraph or a whole review that will quite capture how I felt when I finished Babel. I will leave it for you to discover, because if you pick up just one book this year, make it this one.

Babel is a masterpiece. It's dark academia with a fantasy twist on the surface, but at its core Babel is a searing and prescient look at the widespread effects of colonization on humanity and technology. Kuang layers so much work into the 19th century setting and history, but the technological advancements that come with the fantasy elements forces readers to reckon simultaneously with the past, present, and future of governments that capitalize and exploit people and places that they do not own.

Babel isn’t a hopeful story. There is no happy ending, no hand-holding for readers unwilling to see this for what it is. Kuang builds a world of intrigue and illusion only to strip it down, peeling layer upon layer until readers can't see anything but the horror and have to confront the realities behind a world where everything seems too good to be true. It is. It always is, and if you don't finish Babel thoroughly sickened, you've missed the entire point.

I want to start out by saying this was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and I really wish I could’ve loved it, but sadly I didn’t. This book was just not for me and that’s okay. I hope it finds whoever it is meant to.

Babel is a thematic response to The Secret History and thematic response it is. This book, like her series before, highly focuses on colonialism, the exploitation of people in colonized areas, trade being a major influence on politics, war, rich vs. poor, and a colonized or marginalized character trying to liberate themselves from oppression.

Like I said before, Babel is supposed to follow four uni undergrads that are plucked from their lives to be expendable translators, sponsored by benefactors, for this spec-fic version of England and the tower of Babel. However, it mostly follows Robin, who is primarily focused on compared to the other three in the group: Ramy, Letty, and Victoire. I can say that Robin is probably the best written out of the group since you spend the most time with him in the story, however even this fell flat by the ending – there’s little to no character development with Robin. He’s naïve, he’s cowardly, and the mixed-race kid of the group who struggles with his ties to Canton and England. Ramy comes from a more prominent family in India and basically just fights with everybody over everything, sometimes just to get a rise out of another character. Victoire is French Kreyole and is just there to be a sort of peacekeeper between the group. Letty also came from a prominent family in England, and she’s fleshed out to be the evil white lady that doesn’t see color until it affects her and nobody in the group really likes her, she’s just there to be a catalyst of future events. I guess I should’ve put spoiler warnings for that since you won’t find that out until well after 50% into the book and only through 3 chapters that give you this info. Other side characters are reduced to footnotes in the book, and this makes it hard to even care about the plot or chaos that occurs nearing the end of the book.

You wade through a sea of slow, info-dumping with snippets of the plot peeking out to keep your interest every 25% or so. This book reads like a narrative non-fiction book with a sprinkle of magic that could or could not have been in this book. The magical mechanics could’ve been removed, and the plot would’ve probably remained the same, however it would take out the etymology and the power of language Kuang highly focused on throughout the book. The mechanics of this fictional world relies on words, their translations, and the exploitation of expendable, overworked people from poor or foreign backgrounds. Its very much reminiscent to the needs that allowed the Industrial Revolution to occur (which is also present in the book but powered through silver and words instead of coal and steam engines), but whatever. I will say that the book does seem like something Kuang is highly educated in and well researched on. However, this didn’t keep me interested. Throughout the entirety of this book, I felt like I was reading somebody’s peer-reviewed academic journal. I love reading about these subjects, I love history and often read about these things as I study them in university but even that didn’t make it enjoyable for me. The subjects felt forced and that there was no room to think for myself on these things; this extends to even her characters where if they are the villain – that’s all they are, nothing more.

Overall, this book was a bombardment of themes she’s already explored, arguably more entertaining in the Poppy War series, but more in depth in Babel. The use of footnotes to gloss over characters, motives, and events instead of 1) just leaving them out or 2) putting them in the story and elaborating on them made it extremely hard to get through or care about certain characters or things other than the theme of the book which may have been Kuang’s intent for all I know. I really wish I could’ve loved this, but I ended up finishing it out of pure spite by the end, instead of enjoyment. It’s a well-written book, on themes that should be discussed, but it was overall not enjoyable to me. The characters were stereotypical, the plot twists were predictable, the chaos and death I was supposed to care about – I didn’t when the characters weren’t developed enough for me to care. I’m sad with this one man, like I said it was one of my most anticipated reads for me this year and it was just a let down of all sorts.

Wow! This may be one of the best books I have read in a long time. I wanted to slowly sip this book so that I wouldn't miss anything, but the ending keeps you reading, and before I knew it I was done. A very powerful book.

“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.”

Holy SHIT, this book. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I finished.

The Secret History and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell are two of my all-time favorite books, but I also acknowledge how extremely white both of those books are. Babel takes tropes from those books: a close-knit cohort with single-minded pursuits in academia, interesting ahistorical footnotes, a building sense of dread and wonder - and twists them in a way that results in a scathing and insightful commentary on whiteness, on empire, on colonialism, on translation.

I took a few linguistics classes in college and have always been fascinated by the history of words, so that element of this book was also extremely up my alley. The amount of research in this book!! Words literally are power, and seeing that become the magic system here was very cool.

I don’t want to give too much else away, because I want everyone to be as surprised as I was by the turns this book takes. I will say that I thought the pacing was pretty perfect, especially considering the page count and the amount of info included. I came to love most of the characters and legitimately cried at the end. And then I was numb for about 24 hours.

I’ll say one other thing. I once really wanted to go to Oxford for grad school…I can safely say that is no longer a desire of mine. Good on ya, R.F. Kuang.