Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang

From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford University's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation--also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working--the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars--has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire's quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide... Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

When Professor Lovell finds Robin sick with Cholera, waiting for the illness to take him as it has his entire family, he hands Robin a silver bar. Once the words engraved on it are spoken, Robin finds his body healing. Whisked away from his home in Canton, Robin is placed in the Professor's home and begins studying a variety of languages. And Robin soon learns the roof over his head and food in his belly comes at a price. He has no choice but to excel in his studies. And as he joins Oxford University's translation program, that price will rise even higher.

The first half of Babel lays down the foundations of the world and political ideologies. The British Empire views foreigners as nothing more than tools to be used. Enlisting those with the ability to dream in their native language to extort their abilities at silver working. But the students of Oxford University’s translation program chosen to do silver working must study various languages for years. And while they are given a roof over their head, and money in their pockets, it is nothing short of extortion. If they do not live up to the University’s needs, all the pleasantries will be taken away.

The history and language development took over half of the book to solidify. For readers who enjoy in-depth and detailed worldbuilding, Babel will be the perfect read for you. However, for those who prefer to see an even mix of character development alongside world-building, this will not be an easy read. Once the foundations are laid down, events escalate rather quickly and the pacing takes off. Yet there is a marked point where it once again falls away as the characters settle on a slower path of choices leading to the end of the novel. This uneven pacing almost left Babel as a DNF.

However, the silver working itself was fascinating. Students of Babel are able to match word pairs and engrave them onto silver bars to enable magical effects. Depending on the pair, the bars can be used to make a carriage go faster, make someone turn invisible, or be weaponized. The possibilities are endless. But it requires the engraver to have a wealth of knowledge of languages. Given this detail, it makes sense for the beginning of the novel to focus so heavily on languages. Yet, there is only a brief time spent on silver working and the bars do not fully come into play until near the end of the story. Had the silver working been more active in the story and more time spent on the students working with silver, the story may have been more entertaining.

Babel is a book for those who enjoy historical fiction. Do not approach this book expecting it to be filled with fantastical elements. If the creation of languages and root words fascinates you, this will be a wonderful read. But for those who prefer more magic and fantasy, you may want to pass on this one.

So. Much. Eyerolling. The characters are all one dimensional, with no real motivation for any of the things they do. This is a world supposedly with “magic” that is exactly like the actual world; the author used zero imagination and might as well have forgotten this part of the story because it added zero to it. It's clear the author can put sentences together but has no ability to craft a story. She improves in the last 100 pages or so - but that leaves an incredibly boring 450 odd pages to get to that point. I kept reading only because I thought that surely these characters would eventually go on a personal journey, learn a lesson, something. Nope. No profound reveal at the end that these characters are wrong in their outlook, that extremes in either direction are bad. I wanted her to astound me with her clever plot twist. But no. The entire point of this seems to be that white people are evil and you can only be on the same side as someone who is just like you. This book is trash. When I started reading it, I jokingly said to myself that if I didn't know better I would say that the CCP paid for this to be written. That got less and less ridiculous the more I read. That someone actually published this astounds me. The last 100 pages could have some redeeming value as a jumping off point for debate on the actions of the characters...but I doubt that in today's society that would be allowed. What a complete waste of time.

R F Kuang really know how to use fantasy as a tool to approach difficult topics.
Her portrait of colonialism, racism, white feminism and class war is brilliant. Their protagonists journeys are fascinating. I highly recommend this read as this book is one of a kind.
Only fault, the story have some pace issues and the author passion for linguistic despite being essential to the story creates unnecessary length bits.

Please don't be deterred by the length of this book, or concerns that it might be too dry or dense considering the subject matter. I kept putting it off because of those reasons, but I found it very engaging. I am a language fan, though, so that could have some influence. Until the revolution, it gives excellent dark academia vibes. I'm hesitant to say it, but it felt at times like a Harry Potter for folks who care about social justice issues 😬 but so much more. It's much more in-depth, educated, and intelligent. I found myself feeling blown away by Kuang's knowledge.