I struggled with this its a very slow read. The Poppy War is one of my favourite books. R.F Kuang is a fantastic writer I completely appreciate the brilliance of this writing the struggling was all on me

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins UK Audio and R.F Kuang for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest Review

Firstly I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was exceptional. A well chosen narrator really does make all the difference . I listened to Babel over the course of a week. It’s a chunky book and very very complex. I cannot even fathom how R F Kuang came up with this story or the amount of research she must have done to pull this book off. We follow Robin predominantly, who was born in China, and brought to England by an Oxford professor to begin studying languages and translation at Babel, a tower at Oxford university . There is silver magic, complex use of language and translation, found family, betrayal , it’s looks at racism , sexism and how we view others. I found the first half of the book quite slow and thought it may not be for me but the second half made up for it! I will never forget reading this book!

CW/TW: Violence/Colonisation/War/Opium Use/Opium Distribution/Racism/Racial Slurs/Sexual Harassment/Child Abuse/Gaslighting/Emotional Abuse/Orphaned/Parental Death/Murder/Sexism/Suicide/Imprisonment/Torture – others may be present.

Rep: Chinese MC (From Canton)|Indian MC (From Calcutta)|Black, Haitian, Female MC (From Haiti, and lived in France)|Female MC. Other side characters from other countries.

Narrated by Chris Lew Kum Hoi; Billie Fulford-Brown. The Narrators for Babel are absolutely brilliant. I requested the audiobook and wished for the eARC on Netgalley and am actually so happy to have received the Audiobook version. For a book centred around language, it was a thoroughly immersive experience to hear how these languages were used and explored. The narrator was engaging and truly bought life to the story. I also really loved the footnotes, and the narrator for them! The interjections were so perfect – satirical, scathing and informative all at once.

Oh Babel, for a book centred around language I do not have the words to describe it! But, as I am a reviewer, I am going to try! So forgive me if I ramble!

Babel is an unflinching, raw, and heart-wrenching look at colonisation, racism, and the power of language. Kuang is clearly a powerful and talented writer who has poured so much into this book, so much heart, so much knowledge, so much passion, so much craft, this is clearly a book written by an academic and I adored every second of it.

Writing: Kuang is a stunning writer and truly sets the standard for Dark Academia. Babel is a slow, rich, atmospheric read that builds in intensity and delivers. The prose is rich and easy to sink into, heavily driven by themes and explored through a compelling perspective. The book is told from the perspective of Robin Swift – and follows him from childhood to life at Babel. Robin’s POV is a powerful one, it brings to light the brutality of Empire but also explores the intricacies and subtle ways that Empire grows, exploits and gains control, the personal effects of systemic inequalities as well as worldwide ones. I absolutely adored Kuang’s writing in Babel and was thoroughly captivated from start to finish.

Plot: Babel is an excellent portrayal of dark academia and is an intense read driven by hard and brutal themes that are unabashedly explored and presented without hesitation. Kuang explores colonisation, racism, microaggressions, and how language can be taken and used to oppress those it once belonged to. Kuang does not shy away from the raw truths and horrors of Empire and Colonisation and while she explores these themes with a heavy and unflinching hand (which I appreciated – it was an undeniable look at the truth) she also manages to explore the subtleties and intricacies of power and the structures that uphold them.

We primarily follow Robin as he is taken from his homeland and raised to translate. Robin’s story is heart-wrenching and I truly felt for him and his friends. We watch the world through his eyes from childhood to his Babel days – this was such an unfiltered look at Robin’s struggle with his identity, with who he is, with what he should be and watching his worldview be constructed and destroyed over the course of the book was something so devastating to watch.

While Robin is at Babel he meets Ramy, Victoire, and Letty. The four become friends, being the only four in their cohort at Babel. The four become close and spend their days together translating and tackling assignments. But, when Robin comes into contact with Hermes, an organisation working to stop the cruelty of Britain’s amassing power, everything at Babel begins to change. As Robin, Ramy and Victoire tackle each day at Babel, fighting against microaggressions, slights, slurs and being used to contribute to the power of the Empire, the truth of Babel and translation begins to dawn on Robin.

The first half of the book is primarily focused around Robin learning, getting to Babel, and tackling the academic challenges of Babel. However, a practical application of Babel’s skills turns everything around. When this turning point is reached the book hits a new peak – with the risks of being anything other than white becoming brutally clear. Tensions between Hermes and Britain grow with Babel at it’s centre. These tensions bring new risks for the group, and these risks bring new twists and turns. However, I adored the first half of the book, Kuang makes the lessons in etymology utterly compelling and I adored how she showed the beauty of how languages differ, how their meanings are similar and yet derive from one another – how language is such a personal and cultural thing that is so beautiful and full of meaning. This gorgeous portrayal of language and translation makes the harsh and bitter truth of Britain’s weaponization of it so agonising – it is heart-breaking to watch the English rip apart such beloved languages, translate them into English and use them to gain power over the countries they oppress. It truly takes a masterful writer to capture something like this and to make the lessons as engaging as they were.

Similarly, Kuang’s use of language is built upon through the use of silver in this book. Being a fantasy book with slight alternative history, Kuang included some fantasy elements, the primary being Silver. Silver powers everything and anything, can be used for everything and anything, so long as translators work hard enough to find and create the correct ‘Match-Pairs’ for the Silver bars to work. Thus, the Silver bars are powered by language and translation. I absolutely adored this! Kuang seamlessly intertwines the use of silver into the history and workings of England, Babel and the Empire, and uses the fantasy element to expand and build upon just how powerful language is and just how much of a betrayal translation can be. Silver working was a beautiful and horrid thing in the book – beautiful in how languages could be used ito compliment one another, beautiful in how it could have been used to heal and to help, beautiful in the power of words. And yet, it was horrid in the way something that could have been beautiful was twisted. Twisted to support an oppressive and cruel Empire, twisted to use and exploit anyone in Britain’s way, horrid in the way that languages so full of beauty were twisted and used to make weapons, to destroy, to exploit. I was truly amazed at this element of the book.

The last third of this book had me constantly in tears – it was brutal and heart-breaking. as the tensions between Hermes and Britain begin to grow everything begins to change and within these changes comes true selves and brutal horrors are revealed. Watching the Babel group grow up, come together at Babel and only have each other to rely on gave the last third of this book so much more power. I was truly blown away by the climax and conclusion of Babel, it was harrowing, melancholic, and yet perfect for the book – for the story – for the themes being explored. I cried so many times at the end of Babel, and I truly cannot stop thinking about it.

Babel is a book that will stick with you – it certainly has with me. Babel is a book I think everyone should read. Babel is a passionate book bursting with heart, soul, and knowledge. Babel is a book that explore oppression, revolution, and the necessity of violence in times where cruelty is winning.

Characters: Oh the characters in Babel! They truly had my heart! Our main character/POV character is Robin Swift. A boy who was taken from his home, made to give up his name and his language, all so he could be used at Babel. Robin is a boy who has so much passion, so much love, so much softness in him – and I felt so deeply for all he went through. Robin, having been taken from Canton as a young child, struggles with his identity throughout the book, struggles with his loyalties and it was so heart-breaking watching him have to deal with the effects of colonisation and being taken from his home. I loved Robin’s character, even when he made bad decisions, or mistakes, even when he crossed the line – because Robin loves so deeply and fights so hard.

Ramy is the first friend Robin makes at Babel. Ramy is from Calcutta, and I loved his character too. Ramy is a passionate character with a strong sense of loyalty. He fights, and rambles and wants what is right and just. But he can also be sharp and blunt. I really liked Ramy’s character and found him compelling. I loved his relationship with Robin too – it was so sweet and had so much depth to it.

Victoire is another friend to Robin at Babel. Victoire is from Haiti, raised in France, and she slowly became one of my favourite characters in the book. Victoire was kind and soft, but also hard and passionate. She is determined and strong but also a realist. Victoire’s character is one that slowly becomes such a fantastic ones – she is often overshadowed at first, reflecting how White people treat Black people but when she is given space and time it is clear she is truly one of the most impressive of them all. I loved Victoire’s friendships with Ramy and Robin, how they all connected, disagreed, debated, and came together.

Letty is the fourth friend in the group. Letty is White and British. Out of the friends, Letty wad my least favourite, though she is one of the friends shunned by others simply for being a woman, Letty does not grasp what it means to not be White. Her perspective is limited and she, despite claiming to be friends, to love her friends, often made remarks that showed her lack of perspective. Letty’s character is a complex one because she loves her friends but at the same time it is so obvious that she just does not understand them and their struggles with the Empire – her character is a testament to the many White people who believe they are not Racist but are not actively Anti-racist either, who engage in micro-aggressions out of ignorance and inaction.

Lovell is another character who crops up a lot as he ‘raised’ Robin and is a professor at Babel. I hated him. I hated him so much – even from his very first appearance. His characterisation is excellent, which is why I hated him so much. Lovell is cruel and clever in his cruelty.

Other characters were also really interesting! From Anthony, to Griffin, to Cathy, there were so many interesting characters over the course of this book – I loved the cast, the characters were well written.

Overall: Babel, by RF Kuang is a masterpiece that takes the themes of colonisation, oppression and Empire and lays all their ugly truths bare. It was a hard-hitting read that will stay with me for a long long time.

*I received an Audio eARC from #Netgalley and HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review – thank you!*

Babel Review

I purposely went into the book with no idea what the plot was, and this is my first book from this author. I loved the writing style, and I appreciate how much research was clearly put into the etymology side of the story.

I was initially concerned that this book would not live up to the hype. After a slow start I was invested. The story is based in the first half of the 19th century but as I read on it was somewhat depressing that in terms of class and race, we really haven’t gotten better in today’s society.


Audiobook comments:The narrators are easy to listen and understand, which great accents for when required, however the post edit sections are very noticeable and can break the listener out of the story. This is only evident in perhaps mid way through the book and then eases off.


(SPOILERS)The use of magic was a clever twist to give British empire a step up, and beautifully their own downfall.

The ending is bittersweet, with no clear winner and the betrayal from one the characters is going to haunt me until the end of time.

Utterly engrossing and powerful. I couldn't stop listening to this book! It is read beautifully and the addition of the footnotes in-text is charming. An excellent voice actor and great production.

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

Like a few others, I’ve struggled and put off reviewing Babel for months, all because I loved it so much and was moved so profoundly and powerfully by reading it that I felt I wouldn’t be able to give it justice.

On here I will just summarise the book and how amazing it is. On my Goodreads, I may try to talk more about just how deeply affected I was by reading Babel, because I could go on and on about it. It’s a truly powerful and breathtakingly exquisite book! Probably one of my all time favourites- not because it was fun and entertaining but it delivered so many brutal truths about Colonialism, about race and Identity.

Firstly, Babel is a masterpiece! Secondly, It is the first class university education we all need in our lives! It’s genre defying with a touch of fantasy, dark academia, historical fiction, magical realism and so much more!

The story follows Robin (a mixed-race Chinese-British Oxford student ) after he is taken from China and brought up in England as a ‘gentlemen’ before being taken to the grand academic setting of Oxford University, where he goes from receiving quaint and prestigious education to soon facing a high-stakes revolution, questioning the British reliance on colonialism and on the labour of people, as he realises the true horrors of colonialism and of the abuse faced by the people in the colonies.

This is not an easy read and it does highlight some raw truths about the real villains of history. However, it is also nothing short of a skilful peace of narrative. It is immersive and intriguing. It is beautiful and devastating too. But overall, it is imaginative and rewarding. And despite the tragic ending (hinted at in the title), you will feel a sense of realisation and resolution at the end.

A note to my fellow PoC readers, you will sense rage when reading this but it’s a beautiful rage! Our voices are being amplified by amazing writers like @kuangrf and I truly appreciate them for it. Thank you Rebecca and thank you @harpervoyager_uk for publishing such an incredible book! And for my advanced copy.

Highly recommend to everyone!

Babel is that double-edged sword 🗡️ that will act as a thick pillow(814 pages) for your comfort and also be useful to hit someone who disturbs you while reading it 😅 (just kidding)

This dark academia work is a piece of literature. Though the majority of the book revolves around historical fiction - but some truths hit too close to home. After a long time, I have read a version of Oxford history from an outsider's perspective (Non-White). The book captures the struggles of humanity for its existence to the core, not just the differences between people of different colours, but also the different races, ethnicity & economic backgrounds.

I will be honest with my readers that initially it just appeared to be historical fiction with hints of fantasy elements, but diving deeper all these thoughts dissolved. I fell in love with the part where the writing switched from conversations amongst characters to defining certain facts - made reading this book feel all the more real. Another thing I appreciate about this book is its act of closure, it ends perfectly and the epilogue acted as a tie-the-knot ceremony for those open threads of this story.

Happy to give a 4/5 ⭐ for this historic representation.

Thanks @netgalley @harpercollinsuk & @kuangrf for the digital ARC.

"Babel " has shaken me more than any other book I have read (or listened to) this year. I immediately found myself invested in the main character (Robin Swift), and then his friends at Oxford, which made certain events in the book truly emotional and shocking. As well as being a totally, completely entertaining story, I swear my brain has expanded to twice its usual size! Read it, listen to it...and then watch the movie that is sure to be made before too long!

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

On it's surface this book is about a group of students learning how to manipulate the world using translation and silver. But it's so much more than that. My favourite aspect was the found family that the characters were able to form. But the main part is really the study on colonialism. On how the implications permeate through all aspects of society, leading everyone to be complicit in the horrors that colonialism forces on the world.

Although this is a fantasy novel, it gave me a much deeper insight to what actually happened in history and kind of made me feel ashamed of some of the institutions that I have previous felt proud of, as a British person. A book that makes me reassess my own world views is an important book that will stay with me for a long time to come. The fantasy element is light and could be replaced with something from the 'real world', but I love etymology and have previously read several books on the subject, so having all of that information scattered throughout made it even more fascinating to me.

Ok, so why is this not a 5* book? For me it's just because I didn't feel the emotional pull that is needed for me to award a book a perfect score. When things happened to our main characters, I wasn't devastated. And additionally there are very light hints here and there of the true feelings of the characters that remained unexplored and I think had they been, that would have given the reason to emotionally latch on to the characters and lead me to be able to identify with them more. Additionally, I felt that there was a short breakdown in logic with the actions of the characters after they got back from Canton. I felt that there was a much more simple way to resolve the situation which seemed to entirely escape these purportedly extremely intelligent individuals.

Having said all that, it's still a superb book that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to any light fantasy fans out there.

I was given access to the audiobook by the Publisher via Netgalley. The narration was generally excellent, however was lightly peppered with obvious re-recordings of several words and phrases throughout the first 3rd of the book, which I found slightly distracting. The way that the footnotes were read by a different narrator was a great idea because it was clear what was happening.

Comparing Babel with Poppy War isnt fair because it is like comparing apples and oranges. Both are healthy and full of vitamins, but have different appearances, different tastes and different way before comsume. I will try to share plenty facts so potential readers, especially PW fans, will know whether this book will live up to their expectations.

First of all Audio narrators team give us extraordinary result, especially with all those foreign vocabularies. The pronunciation is clear and I can follow the plot perfectly. I cant grab each vocabularies in Chinesse, Latin or Germany but I can felt how passion and growing emotions from our characters about their fave subjects. Well done.

Babel is an alternative literature book of historical fiction set on the Oxford campus, especially the faculty of translation in England. Mostly students are geniuses who master at least 4-5 languages, handpicked scholarship and recruited by Babel professors.
Our MC Robin is an orphan from Canton who was picked up and trained by his guardian to master Latin and Greek in addition to Chinese and English which he already mastered in preparation for subscription to Oxford.

If reader expects to get fantasy scenes full with epic fighting and action scenes or magical creatures, Babel will not provide it. This book gives us academia battles with languages magic system as the main strength and silver bars as media. Many parts of this book, especially the early 30 percent, contain banters and discussions of ancient literatures and manuscripts from around the world. Robin and his cohorts discover the dark secret behind their passionate studies and try to solve global issues because of it.

Babel is unique and rich with details. It also provides spotlight on the Kuang's big strengths as author. She give us unique story ideas, intelligent and alluring narratives, memorable characters with depth and compelling arc who develop strengths throughout the story and smart provoke scenes. This soft fantasy book is beautiful written and touches so many emotions on me, but i am realizing it is not for everyone.

4.5

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, HarperVoyager for provided me with this audio copy. I am truly grateful and my thoughts are my own.

I feel like I am going to have to approach this from so many different ways and even then I am never going to fully explain the greatness that is this book🗝

🕯This book has everything, everything in it to grab you by the heart and by the brain, and never ever let go. This book is unputdownable and yet teaches you more than history class at school did. It’s a masterclass in politics, history and human rights. The magic system is so real, so tangible, it doesn’t seem like magic anymore. The characters are so vivid, so strong, that they will leave long lasting impressions.

🗝This book is dark academia while acknowledging so much that is wrong about academia itself, and the aesthetic too. It’s about struggle and hate and love and friendship and knowledge and wisdom and power. This book is truly a master piece

I really enjoyed this so much! It was sometimes difficult because it is quite complex but I love the themes that are in twined into this book.

I love dark academia and this did it so well. I also really enjoyed listening to this audio book and I have ordered the book so I can read it myself!

This, is pretty much agreed to be the most anticipated fantasy book of 2022 and as with countless other Poppy Wars fans I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and was ‘chuffed to bits’ when I was sent an advanced Audio book in exchange for an honest review.

I truly expected to unequivocally profess my amazement at this book and sing it’s praises and to an extent I can do this. The premise is brilliant and quite unique, the magic system is fascinating, the social commentary is inspired and although not easy reading is important. However I have one or two buts…

The characters were not fleshed out enough which made some of their decisions difficult to understand. The focus on language for the basis of a magic system is a genius idea but after the first few times didn’t need the nuts and bolts explaining, it was a bit like watching a kung fu movie and having every move explained, it distracts from what is actually happening in the story and makes it disjointed (this could have been purely because I was listening to an Audiobook rather than reading it).

Overall, this was an incredibly ambitious piece of writing, more historical fiction and social commentary than fantasy but an incredibly worthwhile read just the same.

This was truly a literary masterpiece. The amount of research into linguistics this would have taken is startling. I can appreciate that from an academic point alone.
I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it.
An original take on fantasy and incorporated a lot of broad themes such as politics etc as well
4.5/5 stars.
Going to go on and read the authors other works now.

The narration was quite good and I have no complaints regarding that, the story has been described by other reviewer's as phenomenal and a masterpiece, for those reviewer's I am glad but for me this book far from those descriptions

I read this mostly from a physical copy but used the audio book galley to mix things up a little bit and also to relive some chapters in a different way too.

Thoughts on my experience with the audio book aspects first, I wasn't hugely keen on the voice for Letty, I felt Robin and Victoire especially were nicely done though!

Spoilers Ahead

On to the book in general, phenomenal.

RF Kuang is an immensely talented author that manages to get across her points and present her themes in a way that is so central to the plot, but doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the book. It has a strong anti colonial message and also tackles the social class divide and workers taking action in the form of strikes. Seen as the book is set in the early 19th century, these are some startlingly relevant themes to the current day.

Babel is unapologetically pure dark academia vibes. Their times studying at Babel are written in such a way that can only come from someone that lived that life the way Kuang did. You can feel that she has blurred the lines between fiction and memoir and has based the struggles of fitting in in an elitist society as both a woman and a foreigner on her own experiences doing so. Kuang has put part of herself into this story and it has helped elevate it to the top tier of dark academia fiction. Mysteries, secrets and split loyalties from trying to fit in are hallmarks of dark academia and all feature in Babel.

Kuang has a talent for writing characters, particularly protagonists, who are firmly in the grey when it comes to morality and there are definitely some similarities between Robin and Rin from The Poppy War. Both begin with the best of intentions, both find themselves struggling to identify which side are the good guys and which are the bad guys and both slowly descend further into chaos and instability whilst trying to grapple with the enormity of the task ahead and how small they are in the grand scheme of things. Both embark on revolutions and both fall on their own terms rather than live in a world they no longer see a place for themselves in. You find yourself in a place where you are not entirely sure if you are supposed to be rooting for them to win or not.

I personally love the minimal emphasis on any romance in the story. Instead Kuang prioritises the importance of friendship and platonic love, of having a strong support network when times are tough and of family truly being who you choose and not who you are given.

Babel is a love letter to words, language, translation, the power of reading and books. It highlights the importance of diversity in languages and how some words can only truly exist in their native language. How translation can only ever tell half of the story and how anglifying things can be harmful and limit the true understanding.

This is one of the easiest 5 stars I have ever and will ever give.

Nothing short of a masterpiece. I am confident nobody can read BABEL without having their life altered by it.

**Listened to the audiobook**

So this book was just so complex, and full on that the audiobook just lost me. I couldn't get on with it at all.
The pacing was slow - but I wouldn't have wanted it any faster as I was lost as it was.

The narrator was good, and was great with accents - which made it easier to follow in some aspects.

I would like to try again with this book, but it would need to be the print version.

I loved it! I already had the chance to read Babel prior to the release, and I think the audiobook truly enhanced the reading experience. It is obvious that Babel is R. F. Kuang's passion project. You could feel her enthusiasm in languages and translation and I loved how she made learning fun. If RFK wrote a history textbook i think I'd devour it. The themes here, of empire and decolonialism I think were very well done. Hard-hitting, well-written, and a refreshing take on dark academia. Truly a delight to read and definitely cements R. F. Kuang's position as one of my favorite authors.

I received a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for a fair review.

Absolutely wonderful. This was one of my most highly anticipated books for 2022. I even suggested to HarperCollins multiple times that I might raid their offices to steal myself an ARC. It did not disappoint. This book is fantastic, but it’s not just a book, it’s one of the most immersive stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of falling into. I’ve already pre-ordered two copies of this book for friends and plan on re-reading this again – something I barely ever do. The world and characters are so beautifully constructed that I would truly expect Babel to be present in Oxford if I were to visit.

This is a book that would certainly make fantasy fans swoon, it’s peak dark academia and sets the bar for the genre so much higher. It’s a true masterpiece arguing the importance of tradition and creativity…. and so insightful into the particular cruelties of the British Empire and how money and weapons control power.

I loved it, five stars, instantly one of my favourite books. I can’t wait to re-read it again and again. The audiobook in particular is so well performed, the footnotes don’t take you out of the pacing and instead immerse you even more. It’s nothing short of excellent. It’s perfect. I thoroughly recommend the audiobook version as you get to hear the correct pronunciations of everything in a book that expresses the importance of language.