The Fall of Babel

The Fall of Babel provides a dramatic finale to the Books of Babel. The cast of characters that had been dispersed are brought back together, the machinations of the Bricklayer, the Sphinx and Luc Marat are all brought to their conclusion. This book does a good job in tying together all of these ends in a mostly satisfying way. There are some occasional miss-steps: I am not sure about the ultimate purpose of Nebos - it feels a bit of a cop out in some ways and the resolution between Marya and Tom is not as satisfying as I had hoped. But on the whole, the characters feel like they get what they deserve. Wrapping it up is an expansive operation though - this is by far the longest book in the series.

The Books of Babel feel like some kind of fever dream, unlike anything else in modern fantasy I have read. Do the later books hold up to the initial promise of the first book? I am not sure - the problem with this type of weird and wonderful pastiche is that the longer you stay in it the less it surprises you. This is not to diminish these works in any shape or form - this is wildly creative genre bending stuff - but perhaps the chonkiness of the series is to its detriment.

More is still to come - there is a short story collection that I will definitely pick up. This is one of the most bonkers fantasy stories you will ever encounter and it is definitely worth the trip down the Carrollesque rabbit hole.