A plague orphan from Canton is taken in by a scheming English professor and in exchange for transport, room, and board he is set upon a rigorous course of linguistic study. He is also expected to abandon his own name and Cantonese language and adopt a pronounceable English one as part of the process. (He goes with Robin Swift, taking the names from books he’s read.) He spends the next six years studying Latin and Greek and keeping up with Mandarin in preparation to enter Oxford’s Babel, where the silver magic that powers the empire is designed. There Robin meets Ramy, another translation ward, and they hit it off at once. Unfortunately, they and the other two members of their cohort are the only people who are happy they’re there. The ubiquitous, casual racism as well as the aggressive racism is not downplayed. At least they’re there for translation, where there are more people of color, and even women.

Within his first week Robin is approached by a half-brother trying to convince him to be a part of a silver-stealing criminal enterprise, wooing him with the big picture idea that Babel is part of an evil imperialist conspiracy to divert needed silver and magic into wealthy Britons’ pockets and enslave all non-whites. Sounds plausible. It’s just less interesting than the linguistics, academics, and scholarly camaraderie that was genuinely enjoyable to read about. Nevertheless, it’s clear that this will become the main story of the book. After all, the full title is Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution.

This book pulls no punches when dealing with privilege, colonialism, slavery, and the burden of being a minority. It also touches on the difference between being a minority who can “pass” as one of the majority versus one who cannot. The thing is, the anti-colonialist message doesn’t take long to start feeling preachy and the associated plot disappointingly predictable. Revolutions against The Man are no new thing after all. The British, and by extension Americans and other nations governed by white people, do not come out looking good. (And they shouldn't.) But, honestly, nor do the protagonists when they go on a power trip.

The prose here is as splendid as one might hope for in a book about linguistic precision, but the story is excessively long and falls into a tiresome predictability. I'm glad I read it, but I doubt I'll ever feel the need to re-read it.

Ms. Kuang is a young author like no other. She writes books that are sure to be categorized as modern classics. In this book, she tackles academia, colonization and the intricacies of language with a deft skill while never getting bogged down. This is not a little book either, but it feels like it flies by. I’m not sure what to say about it, it has been widely acclaimed and it absolutely deserves the hype.

It reminds me a great deal of Les Miserables. Young people who rebel against the society that they have been forced into, but she takes it a step further by showing how different classes/groups of people interact with that society and how it informs their viewpoint. She is so nuanced. Ultimately, this is a hard one to review, if only because its scope is so very wide I have trouble articulating how I feel about it. Don’t let the size discourage you, it really is as good as everyone is telling you it is.

This book is thought provoking and very well written. This is a book I will be thinking about long afterwards.

This book is probably the most challenging book that I have read in 2022. It is a great example of how much we can learn about historical themes through fiction. Take your time to get through this one and really digest what Kuang has to say.

A truly brilliant masterpiece of a novel. It has footnotes! I love everything R.F. Kuang touches, and she has outdone herself with this one. The linguistic magic system is fascinating, and the themes don't try to make you feel comfortable - it goes hard, and it sticks the landing. I will recommend this book to everyone.

After reading and loving Kuang's POPPY WAR series, I knew I'd eagerly pick up anything else that she’d write. So when I heard about BABEL, you know I got ahold of that ASAP. I admit that it did languish a bit on my Kindle, but I finally got to it in the last month!

Kuang's research and how she incorporates it into the narrative (through plot points, character commentary, etc) is astounding. The way she dreamed up an alternate version of the British Empire at its height is ingenious—unlike anything I've read before! Her research and relationship with Oxford helped the story come alive on the page. I could see myself in the cobbled streets of Oxford, rushing around in the shadows. The setting is almost its own character, providing an essential gloomy, mysterious atmosphere.

But on to the real characters—Robin, Ramy, Victoire and Letty. I loved getting to know them, from their first meeting as they all arrived at Oxford, down the ever-changing route their friendship takes throughout their four years at the college. I'm a sucker for a story that focuses on friendship, and I loved how much their social dynamics wove into the plot as the story wound on.

Even though I loved this story, I must admit that it was a bit of a slow start for me. POPPY WARS felt very pacy, but this book definitely feels more atmospheric and academic to me. It took until the halfway mark for me to really get into the story and look forward to seeing where it would go next. I think if the pacing had been tightened up, this would've been a five star read for me! But it's not far off, and I definitely recommend this if you're a Kuang fan, a dark academia fan, or just want something mysterious for the fall season.

I would read Rf Kuang's grocery list and it would still leave me speechless. Her writing is absolutely breathtaking, and her story crafting stays strong across the genre shift. I'm obsessed with the footnotes and the academic feel of the book, without it feeling like a textbook

Although heavyhanded in its messaging, I really enjoyed this book. The system of magic was interesting and I enjoyed reading all the discussions of translation. Recommend for fans of dark academia and historical fantasy

While the themes of racism, imperialism, classism, and other impacts of England’s colonizing are interesting and important, I struggled to settle into this world. The language based “magic” of this world is interesting, but for some reason I just couldn’t stay connected to the story. Maybe a case of wrong reader, wrong time. I did not finish the novel but would potentially like to come back to it.

Babel is the definition of literary perfection. I cried. I was angry. I was devastated. And I was hopeful. In this story there are four major characters. Robin, Rami, Victoire, and Letty. R.F. Kuang is skilled in crafting complex characters who feel like real people. They’re all flawed individuals who struggle to reconcile their complicity within the oppressive British imperial system with their need for liberation.

Robin, the main character, struggles the most with this. As a white passing Chinese man, Robin occupies a space of privilege, and often struggles to reconcile the boundaries between his privilege and oppression. Rami is an intelligent, kind presence throughout the entire story. He’s very strong in his convictions while also being funny and loveable. Victoire was by far my favorite of the quartet. She was sweet and soft spoken while also being capable and intelligent. And then there’s Letty…. All I can say is fuck Letty. From the very beginning I found her insufferable and grating. R.F. Kuang explores complex themes of white womanhood through Letty’s character, and the privileges that come along with it. I also loved the interlude chapters and how we got a glance into the early lives and thoughts of the other characters.

The story explores themes of imperialism, colonialism, racism, academic racism and so much more. Kuang maneuvers through the historical happening of that time with ease and grace, making it clear she put a lot of dedication into the research. The politics were woven in expertly and kept me intrigued from beginning to end. Also, her use of literary devices, particularly foreshadowing, are masterfully done. This is the type of story I could read 100 times over and still find something new.

The writing is fairly simplistic in style, but that didn’t take away from the overall impact. Her writing overall has greatly improved from the Poppy War till now, and I have a feeling it’s only going to get better. The only minor criticism I could offer is that the pacing might feel slow to some, or slightly off, but I was so focused on the themes I rarely noticed.

The ending devastated and broke me in a way I wasn’t expecting. Overall, I think this story is perfection and it’s definitely making it into my best books of this year.

First I want to thank the publisher (Avon/Harper Voyager) and NetGalley for allowing me access to an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was ready to be blown away by Babel, I've read The Poppy War and enjoyed it so I was somewhat familiar with the author and was intrigued by this new story. I think R.F. Kuang is a great writer and she did a great job with world building and character development. You can also tell that she has done a great deal of research and carefully crafted the story filled with some heavy themes and I also enjoyed the setting of early 1800s London and Oxford.

Sadly this book just wasn't for me. The pacing felt a little too slow from the start and took me a while to get through and by the time it really got going I felt like I was just pushing through because I had already gotten this far. I almost put it down to go to other books on my TBR but I kept seeing all the raving reviews and how so many people loved this book so I went on. After completing it I don't really have any harsh criticisms other than the slow pacing really set the tone for me personally and made this feel more like an assignment than like I was reading form my enjoyment.

This is probably a 3.5/5 for me personally but I rounded up to 4 stars because I still think the writing was good just this story or maybe "dark academia" as a genre just isn't my thing.

This was such a shifty from poppy war but it was absolutely stunning! So Intricate and educational I loved it so much. Kuang is a diety

Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution (hereinafter, I'm just referring to the book as "Babel") is the newest novel from author R.F.. Kuang, who previously wrote the incredible Poppy War trilogy. That novel was a second world fantasy based heavily upon the modern history of China, especially the atrocities its people suffered in the Sino-Japanese Wars, the Opium Wars, and from Imperialist interference, and was powerful and devastating to read. So it's hardly a surprise that Kuang would write a Historical Fantasy novel as her next novel, which is what Babel is, taking place in an alternate 1830s, in which the British Empire wielded its power through at type of magic centered around Oxford, based upon linguistics and the ability to translate foreign used languages. And with a full title like Babel has, you have an idea that what's coming is going to be similar in theme and message to that of the Poppy War, in the necessity for violent action in dealing with oppressors.

And Babel is just that, and it is really powerful and incredible as a result, as the book follows a boy, who takes the name Robin Swift, as he's taken from his dead family in China by a racist colonialist English Professor and taught the power of learning and using different languages...and the magic of translation of such languages, like the Cantonese that is his native tongue. There, alongside others at Oxford, at their own tower known as Babel, he comes together with others like himself, taken from various native lands to exploit for England's own use....and Robin and the other struggle with how they're both privileged and still treated as Others, and struggle with the need to rebel and do something about the injustice at great cost to themselves. The result is a novel that is often devastating as we follow Robin throughout a situation that only gets worse and worse, and while it's never anything close to subtle, it's all the more incredibly powerful as a result.




----------------------------------------------Plot Summary--------------------------------------------------------
In 1828, a boy in Canton, China is orphaned when his family falls victim to a cholera pandemic, only to be saved by a mysterious English Professor named Professor Lovell, who uses a strange silver bar to save his life. The professor takes the boy back to London and has him take an English name, Robin Swift, as he begins a rigorous education of the boy in both his native Cantonese, but also in Latin, Ancient Greek, and English.

Years later, Robin is sent by the Professor to Oxford University, to study at its prestigious Royal Institute of Translation - colloquially known as Babel. There, he finds himself in a Class with three other outcasts: Ramy, an Indian boy taken to Britain from a decent family in Calcutta; Victoire, a Haitian girl taken to and raised in France; and Letty, a white English girl who dared to break gender conventions by trying to go to Oxford instead of getting married off and got disinherited as a result. At Babel, the three of them learn the magic of translation - of how matching foreign words to English ones on silver bars can produce magical effects based upon the differences in actual meaning - a magic that has enhanced the power of the British Empire as it spreads its tendrils all over the world.

Yet despite Robin and the others loving their studies, and being fascinated by languages and their derivatives, Robin can't help but feel uneasy with how he and they are still treated as others, and how the power of silver is being used not to support people, but to enrich the already wealthy and powerful. And when Robin finds himself contacted by an underground organization dedicated to righting that wrong, at the potential cost of all the comforts he enjoys, he finds himself greatly torn.

But when Britain appears on the verge of a manufactured war with China, solely for the sake of getting control of China's vast silver reserves, Robin and his friends find themselves forced to make a decision....one which will require him to pick the cause to support....
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Babel is an alternate history fantasy, but its one where the world we face is very similar to our own...even if the way it got there was very different. So here, as in our world in 1830s Britain, the British Empire is flourishing as a world power, and is trying to take advantage of China's massive resources by exporting to it opium in exchange for those resources, setting up the conflict that in our world would eventually become the horrific Opium Wars. The difference is that here, British power is backed by the power of magical Silver, a magic fueled by two things: 1. the raw material (of which China has a lot) of Silver and 2. the research into used foreign languages, as the magic is created through combining an English word with its translation into a foreign language on a silver bar, with the effect resulting from the gaps in the translations and etymologies between the two words. The British Empire powers both its military and its whole economy on this magic silver, creating automaton and technological wonders that enhance the productivity of its labor and the rewards that its rich can enjoy....even as such silver and automaton puts ordinary British laborers out of work and doesn't actually enrich the lower class.

This creates a world in which the British Empire is even more literally than in our own world taking the fruits of its colonies and using them to benefit its elites, even more so than in our world. This is pretty well identified with three of our four main characters: after all the Cantonese/Chinese (known by Robin), the Urdu (known by Ramy) and the Haitian Creole known by Victoire are all relatively new languages to the British people at Oxford, and thus provide for new possibilities for magic created with the right silver translations. Notably, the power gets lessened over time as languages become more familiar to the British, meaning that they are incentived to go and gather speakers of more and more faraway lands to try and keep up and increase their power via the method of translation. Thus the British here are in a more LITERAL sense than in our world taking away the languages of the people they colonize and profitting from them as a result, without ever giving anything back. It's not a subtle message here, but it works really well - especially as Robin and the other struggle with the idea that truly translating a word is not actually possible, and to try and take such a beautiful foreign word and fasten it to an English translation is to do literal violence.

This is especially the case because well, as in our world, Robin and his compatriots Ramy and Victoire are not accepted in the British world despite their use in preserving it. While their compatriot and fourth member Letty is discriminated against in some areas for being a woman, they're discriminated against on the basis of their race - as British elites consider them inferior by definition, even as they exploit them. They get treated miserably by the other students at Oxford, and the White professors around them are little better with their insinuations. So it doesn't take any big revelation for Robin and the others to realize the British actions are evil, they can feel it all along, which naturally results in them becoming willing to rebel and try to find a way to fight back for the colonized and for the lower classes who are victimized by all this.

As you can guess from the book's full violence, Babel eventually comes around to the idea that at least some violence is necessary to make a change, and this results in an explosive final two acts that generally work very well. After all, even the minorly oppressed, like the rich but disowned white girl oppressed for her sex, can't quite get over how much privilege they have and understand that the others around her can't simply accept the evils of the British Empire and try to enjoy it as much as they can - for people of color in this world, as in our world, will never be free from microaggressions and outright racism. That said, the book isn't quite clear - and this is on purpose - as to how that violence should go...for example a conflict between two of our major characters at the end is between whether it is cowardly or right to go out in a big grand sacrifice, or whether it makes sense to try to escape to fight for another day. Another conflict rests upon how many poor people will take the brunt for their actions while the rich are still able to mostly function. Babel raises these questions through its fantasy story really well, and its main characters demonstrate the reasons why these questions and violence are necessary. It also, interestingly enough, demonstrates how racial prejudice can blind people to their combined interests in fighting injustice due to class and poverty level, although honestly it's a bit optimistic in my mind in how it tries to resolve sort of that conflict.

Babel is not a perfect book - while I appreciate the lack of subtlety given how much subtle SF/F tends to go over people's heads, at times like with the white girl Letty is it is almost too much. It also doesn't really develop characters outside of the major four, leading to one side character professor going from an ass in the beginning to someone extremely sympathetic without really any reason. And, as with Kuang's prior works, this is a book dealing entirely with issues of colonization, empire, race, and sex....but not dealing at all with gender and discrimination of LGBTQ individuals, who basically don't exist in the narrative, although to be fair, romance and sex in general doesn't exist in the narrative.

But Babel is an extremely powerful book, well worth your time, and it will rightfully be on the top of rankings and nomination lists for next year...and might also be on mine.

I will admit, at first I was not sold on Babel. I appreciated how smart it was and how much I was learning through reading, but I wasn't sure how I felt about it as a *story*. But then it snuck up on me. I found myself unable to put it down, lost in the world of Oxford and the lives of these characters. The beginning of the book moves slowly, but the second half moves at a breakneck speed and it was then I was hooked. The drawn out lead up was worth it for what it builds and what it leads to. My chest constricted at the injustices faced, my heart clenched at the highs and lows and I gasped at the unexpected moments. This story is dark academia yes, it has magic, yes, but it is also about racism and sexism and classism and colonialism and revolution and living and working and fighting within a system that doesn't and won't ever see you or care for you. It's not an easy read, but it is a necessary one.
One complaint I do have is with the footnotes. Reading the book on a tablet was a challenging experience because there was no easy way to get from the footnote back to the page. Maybe it is just my inexperience with e-reading, but I found it annoying early on and had to force myself to go back and forth.

This was my first R.F. Kuang read and while I had been excited to eventually read The Poppy War (and any other novels if she has any), I now NEED to read them, even if this is a different sort of book, it's so well written that I'm looking forward to consuming anything I can from this author. It is such a wonderful read for spooky season, as this is dark academia personified. It's just so good, so, so good. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for e-ARC of the book.

R. F. Kuang takes us for a journey with Robin Swift, an orphaned boy from Canton who was being raised by his guardian Professor Lovell and now studies in Oxford University’s Royal Institute of Translation - Babel. This story has a little bit of everything - spies, magic, topics worth debating (that are especially pertinent to today), friendship and dilemmas.
Not only this book was well-written from aesthetics perspective, it also contained some interesting linguistic insights.
This book is definitely worth reading and I cannot recommend it enough.

A really epic alternate history novel. I was really captivated by the themes and how realistically racism was depicted in victorian London. I really enjoyed the comraderie between the characters, but I did want to see more from them. The plot was long and hefty, but did have some really good moments. I especially enjoyed the ending.

I don't even know how to put into words my feelings about this book. It was incredible. I want nothing more than to forget it and read it again.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. This book was so fun. I really enjoyed it. This book kept me interested and i enjoyed the book and this genre

In the months since I read Babel, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. There's so much to dissect and reflect upon that I'm not sure if I'll ever run out of new things to love about Babel. It's complicated, it's thrilling, it's emotional, it's sharp, and it features the most unique magic system I've ever seen. Even the footnotes in Babel were a delight and sparked in me an interest in the history of language that I'd never had before.