Description 🔖

The year is 1828 and young Robin Swift is orphaned in Canton. The mysterious Professor Lovell takes Robin under his wing and takes him back to London with him where he trains him in many different languages. All of this is done for a reason. Professor Lovell is preparing Robin for enrolment in Oxford University’s Royal Institute of Translation; also known as Babel.

Babel isn’t only the world’s centre for translation, it is the world’s centre for silver-working. This is the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars. It is also what gives the British Empire it’s power and assists them in colonising everything that it possibly can.

It is the Empire’s desires and plans that start to tear Robin in half. As much as he loves the work that he does at Babel, as a Chinese boy, raised in Britain, his loyalties are torn. He finds himself working for both Babel and and the underground Hermes Society; an organisation who intend on destroying all silver-working. Can Robin enforce change from within the institution or does radical change always require violence? He is forced to find out for himself.

General Thoughts 🤔

This book was so far outside of my comfort zone but after all of the hype I was seeing across bookstagram and elsewhere, I knew I had to give it a go. So when I got hold of an audio copy from NetGalley I thought that was likely my best option as it would likely keep me more engaged.

I am so happy that I pushed myself outside of my usual reading because I loved this book. It was long. Really really long. But not one bit of it was filler or boring. All of it contributed to the story and the character building and all of it had my headphones glued to my head, totally engrossed.

Characters 👫👭👬

I don’t think anyone could read this book and not love the relationships between the four main characters; Robin, Ramiz, Victorie and Letty struck up a friendship quite quickly as they established themselves as different to the other undergraduates. They supported each other as they navigated their way through Babel and being “other” amongst a mostly privileged bunch of Oxford students.

Robin was my favourite character within the group. I thought he was so kind, considerate and intelligent but he was also prepared to make huge sacrifices to stand for what he believed in. I became quite hooked on his personal storyline too; being plucked from Canton and raised by someone who did not love him and used him for his skills. I can’t imagine how terrifying that would be as a child and how isolating and lonely it would be as a young man.

Writing Style ✍️

I honestly don’t think I have ever read a book with quite so much content packed into it and don’t so successfully. I had a worry that this might be a bit much for my brain to handle, I’d struggle to follow the plot or there would just be too much information. That wasn’t the case at all. I thought that the balance of character development, history and politics was done perfectly.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

This is probably one of the most intimidating books that I’ve wanted to read and I am so happy that I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and gave it a go. I learnt so much from Babel both from a historical perspective and about language and translation. Not only was this book a huge lesson for me, it was entertaining, heart warming and heart breaking all at the same time. If this is your usual genre, then I’m sure you will love this book. If this isn’t your usual genre, then I’m sure you will love this book. A must read in my humble opinion.

I knew I was in trouble as soon as this book was announced. It just ticked so many of my boxes. You mean the author of the best fantasy trilogy I've read for years is writing a dark academia novel (ding), set in an alternative 19th century (ding), taking down academic elitism and colonialism (ding) and with a heavy emphasis on linguistics and translation? (Ding ding ding!) I'm so very happy to say it lived up to my expectations in every way.

First of all, I listened to this on audio which I was a little hesitant about, especially as I'd heard this book has a lot of footnotes and I wasn't sure how well that would translate (ha) to audio form. Happily, the audio was pretty much perfect. Chris Lew Kum Hoi was absolutely wonderful. He was Robin in my mind, and he also brought the whole cast of characters to life splendidly, balancing a whole range of accents and voices with ease. Our other narrator, Billie Fulford-Brown, delivered the author's introduction and footnotes with a perfect wry authority. So, if you were thinking of trying this one on audio but had some reservations, go for it!

And now: the things about this book that particularly appealed to me, personally.

R. F. Kuang calls this her love letter and her break up letter to Oxford, and this was an aspect I really enjoyed that I haven’t seen in literature before. Kuang properly interrogates the problems of academia, the illicit love of it all and the realisation of its elitism and complicity. I spent seven-ish years at university and loved it, fully had plans to go on and get a PhD and become a professor if my mental health hadn’t got in the way: but that’s the whole thing, isn’t it? Robin and his cohort are faced with the choice to remain in their cosy ivory towers for life, or to break out and make a difference. It's a perfect illustration of the contradictions within academia, complicated by the racial dynamics at play, with Robin and his friends constantly having to deal with the racism inherent to the system.

This is also a book that delights in languages, linguistics and etymology. This is a subject very dear to my heart, but I know it won't be for everyone. If extended discourses on translation theory aren't your thing, you may struggle with parts of this book and the few negative reviews I've seen show that some people had that experience. I loved it though! I'd love to pick RF Kuang's brain on translation.

While I wouldn't go as far as to say you should read the Poppy War trilogy before you read this, the two works are so beautifully in conversation with each other to be, in my mind, essentially about all the same things, despite their outward differences. This book is also engaged with colonialism, academia, and violence at its heart. I definitely think the two works are best enjoyed together. Consider it a fine wine pairing, if you will.

And, yes, like Poppy War, this book will break your heart. At some point I was having so much fun I forgot who the author was and then was horribly reminded. But the events of the book are never just done for shock value or to score cheap emotional points; they're essential to the plot and the themes. It's all just so, so well done.

So yes, I will heartily second what so many people have said: this is one of the best books I've read this year, and it is going to single-handedly save dark academia as a genre. I can't wait to see what comes next.

This book is spectacular.

I honestly don’t think I can currently write a great review, because there is so much in my brain that needs musing and percolating and probably multiple rereads before I can crystallise the depth of Babel. The fascinating magic system, the vivid historical setting, the profound and lively discussion of linguistics. The brutality of empire, the insidious nature of whiteness, the intricate relationship between identity, language, loyalty and belonging.

The characters. Oh, these characters. Robin—conflicted, grieving, overwhelmed Robin, groomed for a future as a translator and silverworker, as an agent of the British crown. Charming, bitter Ramy. Quiet, resolute Victoire. Oblivious, bull-headed Letty. Fiercely bound together by circumstance and their desperate need for friendship. Threatened by the same things.

Babel is one of the most incredible works of literature, and most heartbreaking portrayals of humanity, I have ever read.

I listened to the audiobook, and Chris Lew Kum Hoi did an excellent job with the variety of characters. However, the corrections (which are rerecorded and spliced in later) were often obvious - there aren’t many, so it isn’t particularly disruptive.

The narration of Babel is second to none and enhanced the experience, with the footnotes being read by another person there was no mistake when these were being read and the Chinese pronunciation added an extra layer.
The story starts with a young Cantonese boy who is made to change his name through events beyond his control to Robin Swift.
The story starts his journey into studying at Babel when he meets a group of students from different back grounds. Babel changes in Robins eyes from wonder to something else after meeting his half brother. And live takes a different turn.
There were plenty of twists and although I loved the ending and you are tell that so much work has gone into this book I wish it had more overall . However I would definitely recommend this book. And definitely go for the audio book at 25 hours it’s not a quick read but once that you need to stick with as the book gets better the more you get into it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Harper Collins and R.F Kuang for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Really enjoyed the storyline, and the narrators were so good at bringing the story to life for me!

I’ve kept postponing the moment to write this review because it is so damn difficult to find the words. I absolutely adored this book and even if it’s quite long I just wanted more and more. But it is definitely not easy and it lights up very difficult things to digest when you are white and quite wealthy. This book speaks about racism in such a way I’ve never seen before, it lets you see how Robin, a young Cantonese boy, can feel so much apart from British society and from how they treat him, but also so glad he is among the lucky ones, the ones that are at least seen and considered valuable. If you really think about it, it is all wrong. If you do not keep into account feelings and love you cannot possibly understand why Robin does not hate everyone. It would have been so much easier to describe a character with only hate in his heart for British people, instead Robin is torn because he is grateful and honored and because he is very very insicure. At least I loved he found his family among other students and their period together reminded me both of The Secret History and of If We Were Villains. The academic life is fascinating and there’s so much truth in this fantasy world that creates magic through words, that exploits all that is lost when a word is translated in another language. It made me realize how difficult it’ll be to translate it in my own language! Robin reminded me of Rin from the Poppy War, they are both very determined and very intelligent, but also very fragile. Since I read the Poppy War trilogy I really don’t know why I expected a happy ending, maybe because for certain aspects the story is so sad that I thought they deserved a joy, but still, even if I cried all my tiers, I loved every word. The audiobook is really amazing, it transports you into the story and it seems as if it is a performance and not a normal read. Plus there are so many Chinese words I’m so glad there was someone to read them for me instead of just skipping them.

WoW This was an audio book that just blew me away and was so hard to get into and not for the fainted hearted!!! Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution By: R.F. Kuang
Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Billie Fulford-Brown and the Length: 21 hrs and 45 mins. so a mammoth listen!
Babel turned out to be a beautiful and large blend of fantasy, historical fiction, dark academia and non-fiction.
which all worked well together.

Babel ended up a WoW Book that just took my breath away!!!! I am so glad I had a chance to read/listen to it. I ended up buying this book and now sits proudly in my book shelf ready to be read again in the future.

So a big Thank you

This audio book is absolutely amazing. The narrator was wonderful to listen to and really brought the story to life. I am still working my way through the physical book at the same time to give it a completely fair review as I find ebooks easier to read.

Brilliant, the reviews say it all. Wonderful and encapsulating. Thank you for access to this fantastic book, exceptional writing, plot and characters are top notch. Perfection.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal."

#Babel is a glorious bête noire of a novel. From the start to the conclusion, you're trapped in an intricate web of language, history & politics, told via a completely believable and compelling narrator. I have never read anything quite like it. Other reviews make comparison to #ALittleLife by #HanyaYanagihara or #TheSecretHistory by #DonnaTartt and agree these are valid choices. Babel, however, is a separate and unique beast. For us more mortals who think we can write, this is a large slice of humble pie.

I was approved the #audiobook by @harpercollinsuk and this added to the extraordinary reading experience. At nearly 22 hours in length, it has been a substantial commitment, however, #ChrisLewKumHoi is a narrator like no other I have ever heard. The uniqueness of each voice, the absolute mastery of accents and intonation is phenomenal. All audiobook producers could learn something from him. His voice is spell binding. #BillieFulfordBrown is equally impressive.

I can't begin to say who would enjoy this book because it's a world of it's own. If you love words, history, languages, or want to gain an understanding of why decolonising is so important, this is a good place to start.

Babel by R.F. Kuang was one of my most anticipated reads this year, but unfortunately I didn't got immersed into this book as I thought I would.

Babel is set in Britain in the first half of the 1800s with all the spirits of colonisation and power. It's a story about a young Chinese man named Robin, who is brought from Canton to London by a language professor and being taught in the art of languages at university of Oxford. There, he starts discovering the true purpose with gifted students like Robin and starts revealing dark secrets and plots behind it.

First, let's talk about the book in general. I tried so hard to like this book and get attached to characters, but I just couldn't. The beginning started so well for me and felt promising. I really liked to follow Robin as a young boy, but unfortunately that didn't last. Once he grew up to an age where he had to start attending university, story for me slowly went down the hill. It felt so dry, and page after page of academic explanations of language (I mean no disrespect, but it bored me).

I didn't got attached to any of characters. Robin was the most developed character in the story and others just felt like secondary, not so important characters. His friends felt shallow and did not grab my attention. I was even struggling to remember their names.

I don't want to sound mean, because this book has so many praises and five stars comments, but it was just not for me.

Finally, I would like to speak about audiobook narrators. Because, thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, that's how I followed this story. I enjoyed how well the narrator embodied characters of this book. It was well paced, understandable and quite enjoyable. The one comment I do have is that lady's voice that read side notes and explanations was at times annoying and made me distracted from a story. I understood the purpose of it, but some explanations were way too long and I couldn't focus properly on a story.

Babel is a well written book and grabs lots of people's attention. I wish a liked it as much as I wanted. I would recommend this book to someone who likes dark academia, school set with lots of educational and technical explanations. There was a lot of work put into this book and that's why I'm giving it 3 starts.

One of the very best books in 2022 hands down there is just so much in this book!!! Rich, devastating and beautiful i simply adored this book R.F Kuang is my favourite author and I'm absolutely privileged to have had the honour to receive an ARC if this book.

Babel

Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution

by R.F. Kuang

Narrated by Chris Lew Kum Hoi; Billie Fulford-Brown

Thank you to netgalley audible for allowing me the chance to review this book.

I have found this book extremely difficult to land on a rating and have gone back and forth a few times. This is actually my longest review because of the difficulties I have had, to land on a rating between 1 and 5

My opening comments in this review, is that it is impossible to deny that the prose and writing itself, in this book is almost immaculate and a step up from her previous series. Kuang is an incredible talent and her considerable experience academically and her love for research and languages, shines throughout this book.

For me to completely love a book, I need to truly care and be deeply engaged with the characters. I got that with the MC in Robin. We got to see him grow and eventually start to make decisions for himself. It frustrated me greatly at times, how easily lead he could be, but I think that by consistently verifying that was part of his character it did enhance the belief I had for his final decisions.

The original villain of the piece - Professor Lovell, landed badly with me. I never felt any substance behind his character and he was just the token bad guy representing the wrong side of a colonialism argument and storyline. We never got to understand his decision making other than the baseline of power
, wealth and greed. I would of loved to have known more about his history and in particular how and what drove his viewpoints.

I didnt particular grow to overly care much about the other characters within the story. Including the members of Hermes and Robins group of friends. This was a downside to the book for me personally. The final chapters with Victoire did start to move the pendulum but it was a little to late for me.

The dark academia setting was done well in part. The setting was believable but the endless chapters describing the school years and education felt bloated to me, and stopped adding value. (My reading buddy, didn't agree with this view, so this might be a Terry problem and not the book itself)

The world building I have seen has been criticised in other reviews. I however thought it was actually very believable when inside babel and I could imagine the world and setting with great detail. This was a huge plus for me. The parts of the book outside of Babel were incredibly flat in comparison however

The plot and pacing is where I struggled with this book. The story meandered for some large chunks of the book. Not a lot of value was being added at times and up until 60 percent through in the book, I didn't really see what the end game or the point of the story was going to be. The final 25 percent was entertaining but didn't particular make sense at times . Some of the character decision making was just daft.

The main theme of colonialism and within that racism didn't have a huge amount of subtlety, which I found a bit frustrating at times. I wanted to read this book mainly because Kuang explored racism as a theme in her previous series and I wanted to see how she would approach that theme through this story.
I felt that the approach in this book was really just two directly opposed attitudes. I believe It would of benefited from having characters straying the middle ground and justifying and perhaps moving their opinions based on their experiences in the story.
It unfortunately felt to me, that every English character was portrayed as an over the top racist and there wasn't a huge amount of differing view points from that subset of characters. Perhaps that is actually the truth of those times and why the author wanted to portray that side of the story in that manner. As mentioned previously in this review, I think it would of worked better and with greater impact with some differing viewpoints amongst the white English characters.

The magic system didn't really do much for me in truth, despite how unique the idea was. I never really found it interesting or fully understood it. I felt like there was masses of variables available within the magic system that were never explored. The sections without the silver magic, were actually more entertaining for me

So.... overall... how do I score this. As you can see, I liked a lot within the book and also had a lot of gripes and discontent too!!. I think this is a 3.5 rounded to a 4. I think this was "just" a good book for me personally but others will certainly love it.

What can I possibly say about one of the most hyped and anticipated books of the year that hasn’t already been said? I guess very little.

The astounding amount of detailed research, passion for academia, languages, literature and most importantly, the book’s themes of imperialism, colonialism, racism, friendship and otherness / not belonging can’t be denied. R. F. Kuang’s hones her craft with each book and in this one her prose is the strongest it’s ever been.

I absolutely love the idea of the project of this book. It is such an ingenious and unique concept, to base a whole magic system on languages, translation and colonial thefts. While I agree with numerous reviewers that the way the themes are tackled is not subtle at all, I didn’t have a problem with the heavy handed approach. Kuang’s – and eventually, the characters‘ – anger and frustrations with the world and its workings seep through and I don’t blame her / them. Certain events and dialogue in Babel were rightfully infuriating to read.

If you’re coming to this story for its ~dark academia vibes~, you’ll certainly get your fair share of those in the first half of the book. It’s very vivid in its glorification of learning and studying until your eyes bleed and brain hurts. The first half of the book very vividly elicits the ‘dark academia‘ atmopshere and aesthetic with the characters spending late hours in libraries, consuming old pages by candlelight, scribbling down notes and the joy and exhausted satisfaction gleaned from absorbing knowledge. Ironically, despite describing some horrific injustices from the get-go, the story is initially less blatantly sinister than dark academia novels tend to be – that might also be because the protagonist (and his cohort, to an extent) is an absolute cinnamon roll (or ‘a nerd who snaps,' in Rebecca’s words).

And yet... I enjoyed the second half of the book which is more ‘action-packed‘ and foregrounds the characters‘ awakening and revolution substantially less. I can’t put my finger on what quite didn’t work for me but the last 2 books definitely dragged and felt somewhat repetitive. The characters, while sympathetic and intriguing, never fully gripped me. While I felt their disheartening frustration at the injustice of the world, something was missing, and it prevented me from being able to fully immerse myself in this story despite the promising start.

Similarly to the Poppy War trilogy where I loved the first two books but not the conclusion, I loved the set up and the students‘ daily life but the climax and ending left me underwhelmed, especially because it felt very abrupt. I’d still highly recommend this story though - it’s unique and different, and it seems to resonate with the majority of readers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for providing me with an audio ARC in exchange for a review

I was so bored, I really wanted to like it but I’m also aware that me and dark academia do not have an amazing track record. I realise that my opinion is in the minority which I’m happy about.

Babel is set in the first half of 1800, Robyn is a young boy on the brink of death in canton when he is magically brought back from the brink. He travels to the UK with his so called saviour and embarks on gaining skills and knowledge in languages so he can study at Oxford.

I felt like I was reading a textbook for a lot of the time and I felt really let down by the fantasy part as it didn’t really feel like it fit with the book.

I’m glad so many people enjoyed Babel- I’m just not one of them.

Amazon review
Oxford, 1836.

The city of dreaming spires.

It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world.

And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows.

Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift.

Until it became a prison…

My review
Such a great book! I love the audio version and the narrator, I could listen to him for ages.

The world building it good and the plot fantastic but a little slow at the start. I love Robin so much. It’s going to be one of those books I wish I could read for the first time again.

I don't listen to many audio books and this was a mammoth one to launch into at 21 hours... the narration is superb, but I find the reading aloud of the footnotes very distracting which took away some of my enjoyment of the book. This is one I'll go back to on paper as the themes of colonialism, magic, secret societies etc is fascinating and the writing is excellent. Of course, being titled Babel this book is about language, linguistics, semiotics, it's also quite deep and for me that's best delved into by reading from paper so I'll be revisiting this soon!

Babel is the best book I have read so far this year, if you are looking to be swept up and shaken by a story this is the one for you.

A fully immersive experience the writing and narration truly bring this story to life.The sense of place is strong throughout and helped ground the story which at times dealt with academic theories.

Robin and his friends are so earnest and naive that their horror mimics that of the readers as the true exploitation of Babel comes to light.bKuang is unrelenting in her critique of the role of institutions such as Oxford in colonialism and the lens provided by the story allows for a damning indictment of such imbalances of power. She cleverly acknowledges the aestheticism and allure a place like Babel may hold for any young intellectual whilst subverting the glamourised idea of dark academia to expose the dangers within.

I was lucky enough to get an audio copy from @netgalley for this, as well as fan girling it with the hubby last month and actually meeting R.F.Kuang in the flesh. (Still kinda need pinched cause it was amazing)

I opened this book before she entered the stage at Waterstones and just thought "oooft this book is gona be something". I had no idea around what would happen in the book and not really sure of plot cause that's me 🤷‍♀️

From the insert: "An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. Oxford, 1836. The city of dreaming spires. It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world. And at its heart is Babel, Oxford University's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows. Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Robin Swift thought Babel a paradise. Until it became a prison...But can a student stand against an Empire?"

I just want everyone to read this so I can have a chat about this book. The beginning to the end has so many points of discussion. I know I will need to read it all over again as there is so much in here and so many things to relive with Robin.

It took me 4 days to actually devour this! And I loved every second. Narrator was 1st class as well!

I've already text 3 people to tell them to get started!

I had a wonderful time reading Babel, I think RF Kuang delivered exactly what she intended to. This is a fantastic story about complexities of identity, criticism of colonialism and how you can hold both a love and a hatred for something simultaneously. I think having been in Oxford within the last 10 years I perhaps felt closer to these topics than some might but I can only speak for myself.
While this does hit a lot of Dark Academia buttons I was also surprised by how many exciting action/adventure/intrigue sections there were in the book which is something that you don't often see in this kind of story. I was pleased that there was also adventuring outside of Oxford so the world as a whole felt bigger and more realised.
I don't think this will be a book for everyone but I think that for the people who love it it will be a book that they can come back to and read again and again. If you're in the mood for a Babel re-read I would recommend the audiobook which is fantastically narrated. It's a great way of experiencing the story and getting the footnotes alongside the text in a way that feels more free flowing than it can do reading them physically.
Overall I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in exploring these themes and this setting. Well worth reading but maybe have a tissue or two on hand first.
Review copy provided for free. All opinions are my own.