“That’s just what translation is, I think. That’s all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they’re trying to say. Showing yourself the world, and hoping someone else understands.”
The moment R.F. Kuang announced a new novel, I was already excited and waiting to order it. Last year I read the entire Poppy War trilogy and was absolutely blown away. I didn’t really know what to expect from Babel, but it turned out to be the perfect fall read. It’s a mix of fantasy, dark academia, and contains many well-researched historical aspects as well as something I personally always enjoyed in school: languages. For me, this novel had everything I wanted to read this fall. I think the author did a great job of balancing the different components. There was a lot of history, a large number of languages, a bit of fantasy, and very little romance. Babel felt like a history class in school, except I was more interested in exploring all the historical figures and events. In my opinion, reading history through the lens of fiction/fantasy can be a great inspiration to delve deeper into the different decades. The focus on colonialism was well chosen as it benefited the plot and events in the book. But I also enjoyed the look at the languages, as you came across the etymology of some of the words that you read. As for the magic system, I am rather neutral. For me, Babel is more a work of historical fiction than fantasy. It has fantastic elements, but the whole system does not overshadow the main concern of the protagonists. Personally, I didn’t feel particularly connected to any of the main characters, but rather to a people/ethnicity. However, the one person who did manage to stir up anger in me was definitely one of the main characters. You’ll see why! But on top of all the good stuff that I really liked, there were a few things that I didn’t like quite as much. First and foremost, the ending fell flat. I didn’t like that the author included an epilogue as the last chapter. The ending would have been much more impactful if she had let it end that way. Another thing that I didn’t really feel was appropriate execution was the interludes. It might have been better to either extend them throughout the book and make the chapters larger or just leave them. These are just personal opinions though, it may work for other people. Nonetheless, Babel is a book for history and dark academica readers, thick and suspenseful novels, and language lovers.
