Kuang is bloody brilliant. As a translator I loved it and appreciated it and I hope she will keep writing so brilliantly.

I want to start this off by saying that I've never felt so represented and so in love with a story.

The use of language as a magical system really cements my love for R.F Kuang - she has created a world of words and the power they hold through translation.

As someone who speaks multiple languages, the quote "An act of translation is an act of betrayal." Feels so accurate.

Kuang has created fully fleshed out characters who all can bond over their mutual love of languages and studying, but with key differences.
For example 3 of the characters are POC and 1 is not - I found this dynamic extremely intriguing and appreciated it.
I also LOVED the twists and the way in which this book ended had me gasping.

R F. Kuang, I will inhale everything you write just give me a chance, please!

A clever, compelling and enthralling entry into the ever enticing genre that is Dark Academia. I thoroughly enjoyed Babel from start to finish, although I am VERY late to this particular party.

What can I say that hasn't already been said? This book deserves every bit of praise it has already received.

Although the themes here are not subtle, they are impactful, and I think the story being told here is an ideal vehicle for some very important messages. Above all else I enjoyed the conversations about translation and language throughout, and the magic system which was a particularly clever idea, and not one I've read before. It felt properly new and innovative to me, which was refreshing, and I'm glad to have Babel added to my Academia collection.

This was a fascinating and highly intelligent examination of colonialism through the lens of the acquisition of magic and the subsequent distribution thereof. I thought the core characters were well drawn, but I did find Robin quite irritating to follow, given his propensity to stubbornness and quickness to completely change his mind about something, and then obsessively follow a new path. The discussions about language and the power/problem of translation were incredibly detailed and there were times when the points being made were a bit beyond me, but that did nothing to impact my enjoyment of the book. Overall, this was a very timely and well constructed narrative that further cements R.F. Kuang as an excellent author in my mind.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is beautifully written and packed full to the brim with world building. In all honesty without the audio book o would have been completely lost!

Okay so it might have taken me a hot minute to make my way through Babel because it’s chonky but I also wanted to savour it because the world building and writing was just so damn sumptuous!

I fell in love with Babel and the world of the book from the very first page. The world building was so rich and the characters were so beautifully fleshed out and brought to life, like Kuang never misses and the way the magic system and history of the time were woven together were truly excellent.

The pace is steady with Kuang really taking her time to weave everything together in order to build this atmospheric, immersive world up around the reader! Yes, I did find it a little slow here and there but the time taken to build everything up was necessary and I need to be a bit more patient, I think!

I enjoyed getting to know Babel and the characters and seeing them all bond and I should have KNOWN Kuang was going to emotionally eviscerate me. I’ve read Poppy War, I saw all these friendships blossoming, all this camaraderie and yet still I found myself surprised when my heart was broken towards the end of the book and I was left kind of sitting there staring into space feeling like I was having an emotional crisis.

Let’s just say there’s big Les Miserables vibes towards the end in more ways than one. Prepare yourselves because you go from singing “Do You Hear The People Sing?” in your head to sobbing pretty quickly.

Another thing I enjoyed was the footnotes! I really loved getting to know more about the words and language used throughout the book, I thought it was fascinating and brilliantly done. As was the way big, important topics were tackled such as colonialism and the use of language and power within it, among other things.

There are some important discussions handled in this book alongside everything else and while i might have found things a tad slow here and there, ultimately I was enthralled by this book and I find myself gutted that we won’t be exploring this world any further!

A fantastic and eye opening novel that utilises fantasy in an academic setting to absolute perfection. It is a story with heart and morals and no small amount of sadness and will likely stick with readers long after they leave the book. Beautifully narrated as well - a perfect reading experience.

Babel is a stunning novel that combines the best of both fantasy and historical fiction genres, creating an immersive and unforgettable world. R.F. Kuang's writing is truly masterful, seamlessly weaving together the power of language and the violence of colonialism to create a complex and thought-provoking narrative.

Set in Oxford in 1836, Babel follows the story of Robin Swift, an orphan brought to England who finds himself a student at the Royal Institute of Translation, Babel. At first, it seems like a paradise, but as Robin soon discovers, the Institute is more like a prison. As he struggles to find his place in the world, he begins to question the power structures that keep him and others like him oppressed.

Kuang's ability to paint a vivid picture of both the world of Babel and the larger Empire is truly remarkable. The protagonist, Robin Swift, is a relatable and engaging character, and the sacrifices he makes in the face of empire are both heart-wrenching and inspiring. Through Robin's journey, we see the cruelty of empire and the importance of resistance in the face of oppression, making Babel a truly monumental achievement.

Overall, I highly recommend Babel to anyone looking for a thought-provoking and engaging read. Kuang's writing is both beautiful and powerful, and the themes explored in the novel are relevant and important. It is a book that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page.

This will stick with me ! It really struck a chord, and it was a great critque of empires and imperialism, showing the horrors of what its like to be under the thumb of it. I found it a fun start but I felt Robin was a tad shallow but he really grew to a character I really cared for, and I loved the dynamics between the quartet. I knew going in this was going to be a tragedy, and it let you mourn for what could have been if the world under the thumbs of the empire could have been.

5*’s – no notes, what a great book. Made me want to go back to uni and given how much I did not thrive in my university experience that is impressive. I found the way that complexities in morality, colonialism, fraught family dynamics, capitalism, racism etc were dealt with very well. I also loved the way the choices the characters were making, whilst terrible, made sense with their motivations. I would have loved this to be a multi part series exploring the world in more depth but that is not the story that was being told and the pacing and plot progression worked so well when taken as a whole. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of the book.

I found this to be an amazing and interesting read! And the cover is so lovely!! Looking forward to the author's next story!

Unfortunately i had to DNF this audiobook. The narrator ‘s voice just didnt gel with how i envisioned the character.

But, i will say, i think this wouldnt have been an issue had i not originally started the book physically. Because then i would have not already formed a picture of the character(s) in my head already.

This was my first audiobook requested via Netgalley and was one I was very excited by as I loved reading Yellowface and saw all the hype surrounding this one. It’s an easy way to digest such a big book

There are many reviews that can express the significance and magnitude of this book far more eloquently than I am able. However I do want share my thoughts about the audiobook.

I read the physical copy in tandem with the audiobook and to me this was an amazing immersive way to experience this epic story. The narrator Chris Lew Kum Hoi was fantastic, he has the ability to make characters come alive in distinct and different ways, I could have listened for days. Billie Fulford-Brown also did an excellent job narrating the footnotes throughout. Overall I would highly recommend reading this book along with the audio.

Thank you to Harper Collins Uk Audio, Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this stunning audiobook.

An intellectual and vastly engrossing story of a young boy trying to find his place in a world where his face doesn’t always fit.
The story is intricate, and while a little slow at times tells the narrative of the mystical power of language.
I don’t want to say much as to avoid spoilers, but definitely one for anyone who loves Six of Crows and Discovery of Witches.
The audio book it’s brilliantly read with a narrator that captures the story perfectly.

I was given an audio-arc of this a long time ago, and only listened to a small amount of it before deciding to wait for print. There wasn't anything wrong with the narration, I just felt this needed to be read rather than listened to. This book is getting a lot of plaudits, and it definitely deserves the hype it's getting. An original concept for a fantasy-meets-dark-academia, that makes sure to put an emphasis on the DARK. Kuang pulls no punches with this, as usual, and you come away with this knowing exactly how she feels about colonialism and the British Empire. There is something dreamlike (perhaps nightmarish) about Kuang's conception of an only slightly different history of Oxford, plopping an extraordinary building right in the middle of its famous centre - the whole thing leaves you with a haunted feeling right in your gut. Letty's character, without spoiling, should give all white readers pause, and I found her to be an effective weapon in Kuang's unsparing narrative. I understand why this book has been seen as provocative in some corners, but honestly? We need to learn to sit with our discomfort and use it to interrogate our own unexamined beliefs and behaviours.

I'm surprised this has had such broad pop-cultural appeal, given that it's laden with lengthy etymological explanations and historical research. Kuang is evidently very heavily personally invested in these topics, inviting the reader to come along with her as she clearly lays out her case, all whilst couching it in an engaging and pacey fantasy storyline. The only real fault of this strategy is that occasionally the dialogue lurches into the unrealistic, as one of her characters lays out a technical explanation on a certain political or historical point. Additionally, sometimes the author will make a wry joke about something historical, and then explain it all in the footnotes, bleeding the humour out of a particular line. Sometimes you can just let your readers google something themselves.

" ‘What you don’t understand,’ said Ramy, ‘is how much people like you will excuse if it just means they can get tea and coffee on their breakfast tables. They don’t care, Letty. They just don’t care.’ "

Firstly Babel had just absolutely immaculate world building, in the author notes Kuang mentions how she physically slotted the Tower of Babel within the landscape of Oxford without changing anything else and it felt exactly like this with the silver smithing. It was seamlessly woven into the history of the Empire and Victorian society to the extent that I almost forgot I was reading a fantasy novel.

I also loved that whilst reading I felt like I was getting an education in translation and etymology alongside Robin. The process and philosophy of translation is so intriguing and the exploration of that within Babel was so well done. .

However reading Babel wasn't a wholly enjoyable experience, at times it was uncomfortable. It really portrayed the implacable, indifferent face of racism. I have theoretically understood how Eurocentric my viewpoint is but never before reading Babel have I so deeply felt it. It was so powerful and sad that we were never even told Robin's name.

So many of the most affecting parts of the book were so understated, Letty needing to be comforted, the silence of the tower before the destruction and a banner being spoken.

4.5
I read this as an audiobook from Net Galley but also visually read a physical copy which is how I like to listen to my audiobooks.
This was one of those books where the world sucks you in and you love everything down to the description of the buildings.
The narrator wasn't my favourite but I think it is down to personal preference.
The chemistry between main characters was really well done and I felt that the found family aspect was comforting yet heart-breaking.
This reminded me of a more modern version of Six of Crows in ways and would recommend to people who enjoy that duology.

This was a book that I've been looking for for a long time and after reading it, it took me a long time to write a review.
I loved linguistic counterpart of the book, it was really exciting.
I liked characters, but then again, they also did not feel real. And I feel antagonist friend was rather too much.
I was lacking the plot of the story.

An ambitious thematic book exploring colonialism, language, and the power of connection, this novels' success is one that is largely in the experience of the reader. More than any other book I have read recently, this one is where the power is with the reader and the connection they have, or not, to the themes explored, so this review places even more emphasis than usual on how I personally connected to this book.

Firstly, a quick summary, the book follows it's central character, Robin Swift, who is taken from his home in Canton (Guangzhou) China by a mysterious guardian/patron, Professor Lovell, who sees that Robin attends Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation, at the University of Oxford. What follows is an exploration of language, the importance of understanding etymology and culture behind words and phrases, and the losses that can occur when words and works are translated by foreign cultures, particularly conquering or colonising ones, and how dismantling such structures ultimately therefore requires a revolution in education and recasting the links between languages.

So, here's how I connected with it. As an archivist, the thing connected with me most when reading about the work of the translators, and the subtlety, nuance, and power of language, is how historical records, and what we choose to keep, what we choose to display, the language we use to describe and interpret those records, and who makes those decisions has much more influence than we might imagine just doing our day-to-day work. The power of language is really coming to the fore in the UK right now, as media outlets and politicians still use inflammatory language to stoke fear about issues that deflect from the failings and corruption of the people in power today. I felt like this was particularly well done in the first half or so of the book.

There were other elements I connected with less, one was the fantasy element, it served a purpose in showing the connections between words, and how monopoly over a powerful resource can corrupt and empower one group of people, and lead to the subjugation and dehumanisation of another, so theme-wise it was a useful tool, but in terms of fantasy world-building, it didn't really do anything, and when viewed from a different angle, seemed to undermine the exploration of colonialist Britain. The silver magic was the main cause and reason for Britain's power over other nations, but obviously, in real life, Britain, and other western powers have managed the same thing without magic, and the silver magic did not seem to make the 'fantasy' world of Babel different to the real world in any significant way.
I also didn't connect with the characters, Robin's friends didn't have much personality of depth, they were representatives of their various viewpoints, though Letty, towards the end, served more of a purpose than a viewpoint, and for a book exploring nuance, the plot and characters became less and less subtle as the novel progress, which was perhaps deliberate, but again, gave me personally less to connect with. For fans of action and a faster pace, the latter half of the book had more to offer, for me I preferred the first half.
I didn't always connect with the footnotes either, settling into the academic nature of the book, I enjoyed them, I liked the ones that provided context and historic understanding of words and phrases, though some seemed more author's commentary, for example a little dig thrown at English cheese, which felt out of place (though that's from the perspective of an English person who likes English cheese - as well as cheese from other cheese-making nations), it meant that I found it difficult to know who the narrator's voice was - who was the author of the footnotes, author or narrator?
The plot itself was pretty simple, the nuance and subtlety was focussed on language, not on story, and the book is more about themes rather than plot, I didn't mind that, as I find the themes interesting and important to discuss and explore, and the academic beginning suited what I was in the mood for, but readers who like intricate or convincing plotlines may not connect with this as much. I think the writing also got more heavy-handed towards the end too, there was quite a bit of repetition towards the end, Robin 'finally understood what Griffin meant' at least twice in quick succession, even though Griffin's words had been quite clear in the first place. Robin's slow-dawning of understanding seemed at odds with his intelligence and journey, and his conclusions kind of flawed as he saw a need for violence (title reference), when connection was what actually mattered: <spoiler>people joining forces over a common enemy, or different needs - same solution, and strikes or with-holding pivotal services was more effective.</spoiler>

I also wouldn't really class this as an adult novel, it is longer than most YA fiction, and has more 'weight' I guess, but it reads as if it's aimed more at a YA audience, to me, maybe the age and experience of the main character combined with a pretty simple plot leads me to that feeling., and maybe that the academic nature of it can feel like the author is delivering a lecture or paper, so the audience therefore feels like they should be student-aged. Rating this as a YA, however, I would give this a high rating as I really appreciate the conversations that this book starts, the sheer amount of work and research that went into it, and there are elements that will stay with me.

Anyway, that's my garbled review, for an effective summary of this, my reaction to this book is pretty much a mix of those on youtube by @ReadswithRachel and @bookishsabrina so I recommend checking those out.