(Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for an ARC audibook in exchange for an honest review).

Babel is a work of historical fiction, set in an alternative England where magic is real and the industrial revolution has been replaced by the "silver industrial revolution". While the story has one key protagonist, Robin, we're also focussed quite heavily on the three other members of his cohort once he begins his undergraduate studies.

So let's begin there:
While I'm sure few people will be interested, I was utterly blown away by how strongly this book managed to invoke nostalgia for my undergraduate years in Oxford: especially given that as a scientist I didn't have the same experience of the small intense cohort. I don't just mean the odd fond memory: this was a bit like a brick to the head and I can't pinpoint what it is that makes it so impactful. My point, I suppose, is that this is fine writing to evoke such an emotional response.

As the title might suggest, the book includes a lot about the interaction of languages and etymology and where words come from. I don't want to say too much about why as [SPOILERS] but it all served as a very interesting aside (which didn't particularly move the plot on, but was highly interesting nonetheless].

The characters feel well-fleshed out, and the story has a certain pleasing arc to it. Truth be told, I was 80% of the way through and enjoying myself marvellously, with one small exception. The book (rightly) has a big anti-colonial slant, and in order to get across how different this was to the current world there are a number of characters who espouse some really racist views. This is to the point where - had I not gone into this, knowing it was written by somebody with Chinese heritage - I would genuinely have been tempted to stop reading, as it made me so uncomfortable. Knowing about the author made me feel like I should just power through because clearly this was there as a plot device, but even so it was pretty distasteful.

Unfortunately, with about a fifth of the book to go, I stumbled across a review that asked what the actual point of the magic was? How had it made any material difference, not caused by just "the industrial revolution"? And that happened to coincide with a number of places where I felt the plot just came adrift. I can see how people might get used to using silver to make things faster or better and therefore could get sloppy about safety. But the idea that buildings would just clean explode apart without the silver to hold them together just didn't make sense to me. And so the whole back chunk of the book had me rolling my eyes and huffing in annoyance.

In the end I found the whole conclusion to the story a bit of a let down, but the quality of the writing was high and I enjoyed the ride to get there.

I absolutely loved listening to Babel. It's one of those books that grabs you in and holds you in its clutches until the very end.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Robin, Rami, Victoire and Letty. And I connected to this novel on a personal level.

As a once foreign student in the UK I found most of the characters' experiences familiar and relatable, including the casual discrimination they were facing. While not of a different race, I still experience casual discrimination at the work place on occasion. It keeps me on my toes, you know.

Anyway, I loved this book so much because of how much it means to me. I love R F Kuang's writing and her skill at presenting a really good atmosphere helped immerse me in the story even more.

WOW,

Do I even need to say anything else after all the glowing reviews?? This book is a MASTERPIECE! Robin, Ramy and Victoire have my HEART. This audiobook was so beautifully done, and I felt every single emotion. I can assure you this book will break you and I just enjoyed it so so much. It's so powerful and calls out academia for a lot oof things, mainly racism and discrimination, and also led me to discover more about languages and how important translation is for humanity.

I can't believe this book exists!! R.F. Kuang is one of the best writers I have come across, so please please read this book for you to expand your mind and take a look into the world of translation with a dash of magic!

Kuang weaves a beautiful and poignant tale through 19th century Oxford, casting light and shadow across a cohort of students.

Though she is sometimes wont to lead us by the hand and diverges occasionally a little too heavily into her footnotes, the crafting of the characters and story is rich with the tapestry of Robin Swift’s life, his friendships and isolation, his privilege and his powerlessness.

Babel
❤❤❤❤❤ 5 out of 5

‘Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.’

Babel or Royal Institute of Translation is Oxford University’s prestigious faculty, where students from around the world train in translation and silver-work, which allows practising magic through words written on silver bars. Two words having the same meaning in different languages are used to manifest the specific effect. The art can only be performed by those fluent in both languages and aware of the whole meaning and etymology of used words, which is why translators are in constant demand. Babel, with the best scholars and an enormous library, is a world-renowned centre using the empire's wealth to the full extent.

When Robin Swift enters Babel, he is amazed by the Institute’s magnitude. Orphaned at a young age, he was brought from Canton to London by Professor Lowell. After years of rigorous study in Chinese, Latin and Ancient Greek, he begins his journey as Babel’s student. Soon, he starts to understand the importance of knowledge Babel possess and its role in supporting the empire and the colonial expansion...

Babel is now, officially, my favourite book. It is ambitious, brilliant and surprisingly accessible. I was fully absorbed in the spellbinding world-building presented by Kuang. The world in this novel is similar to Victorian England, with the addition of the magical effects of silver-working. I loved the atmosphere of old streets, full libraries, books read by the fire, and the love for knowledge, books and words. I found the magic system based on the impossibility of perfect translation fascinating and unique. I also loved how the novel becomes involved in the history and politics of the period, touching on the crucial topics of imperialism, racism and the silver trade.

The most captivating elements of Babel are the complex characters that inhabit its pages. They all have their distinct personalities and backgrounds. Not only the main characters but even the professors and some older students seem very vivid and well-written. As Babel was the only Institute that accepted women and students from the Colonies, the issues of gender and race became an essential part of the plot. Kuang writes skillfully, leaving the reader emotional and engaged in the characters' lives and all the inequalities or injustices their encounter.

I simply love this book, and I think I will always recommend it to everyone.

My review:
https://abookishdaydream.wordpress.com/2022/10/04/babel/

I really enjoyed this audiobook of Babel! The narrator was fantastic and of course the story was great! I love that it was a combination of real historical facts mixed with some fiction and a little bit of magic! Racism was a big theme in Babel and an important part of the narrative of this book. It is terrible how people were treated in that time period solely because of race, but it’s even more terrible that people still experience things like this today. I loved the characters and their dynamic!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book!!! Following Robins story is so fascinating and gripping and I wanted to know what happened next as he grew up! The whole intricately of words and how their made up, plus their link to the silver bars was interesting and I found myself actually believing that this is how London used to be! Gorgeous scene setting with very developed characters and a wonderful world/empire built throughout the story. The ending did leave me a little unsatisfied, but probably as I wanted to know more about their rebellion has changed the world and what Victorie ended up achieving with her life, but all in all, very solid 4.75 stars! ( the 0.25 is the ending!)

Epic in scope, I adored every minute of 'Babel'. R. F. Kuang's skill, in melding historical fact with fiction, is awe-inducing. I read the ebook and also listened to the audio version. Narrators Chris Lew Kum Hóí and Billie Fulford-Brown do an excellent job bringing the book to life.

'Babel' is a vastly ambitious, and cleverly constructed, piece of work. It's a book I expect to revisit many times in future and pick up something new each time. A thoroughly engrossing read from an incredible talent. Highly recommend!

A tour de force of riveting ideas and lengthy discussions. This is a book that should not be only read but discussed. The ideas and philosophy on display are a rare sight and compelling. Though the book blends magic into the story, its appearance is only a tool, not a story which is unique in today's culture.

I expect to see this on the list of top books of the year likely at the top of many charts.

I have read the physical copy of this book so I know how amazing it is, so was pleased with the narrators and how easy and comfortable they are to listen to, the main narrator read Babel really well and helps take you into this amazing world built around the British empire & colonialism!

Escape from the real world is often what draws people to fantasy, but R F Kuang leaves no room for this within Babel as Real history is honed rather than softened by her. It truly is invigorating to listen to it despite the few errors and possible voice edits of words i can only assume where to hard for the original narrator to read. It is an amazing story to listen to and the added foot notes which may come across as confusing to begin with soon become parts you are eager for,

A great addition to my yearly read and listen

OMG I LOVED THIS AUDIOBOOK SO MUCH!!
The narrators did a fantastic job with this book!
This story was amazing, loved the characters and the dynamics between them. The book talks a lot about colonialism and racism in the backdrop of historical Oxford. Beautiful dark academia novel.

Set in the 19th century, Robin Swift is taken from amongst his family's corpses by Professor Lovell, raised in England and sent to Babel, the school of translation and magical silver working in Oxford.
During his time there, he makes three friends in Ramy, Victoire, and Letty, as well as encounters the Hermes society, who opens up the possibility for Robin to make a difference and help to halt the British Empire from waging war on Robin's homeland.
I found Babel to be a hugely enjoyable book, with each character well drawn. The only issues I had with this book were the last part and there did not seem to be any grey areas with the character development. You were either good or bad.
Still, this is a great read and even felt it would have been better as a trilogy so as to flesh out the characters and their relationships with those around them even more.

This book deals with a lot of hard stuff, but it does it in so well. Kuang's writing is so easy to get lost in. She writes characters that are just so darn believable, you can't help get attached. I loved this book from beginning to end, and will be recommending it to everyone.

Gripping, thought provoking, and so beautifully written and narrated, I absolutely loved this book.

It is a bit slow to start, but the world building and characters development is done so seamlessly that I can understand why the author took her time kicking the story off.

The amount of work and research that went into writing this book is huge, I loved all the linguistic aspects of it, that just add a very unique dimension to the narration. The choice to have a different voice to narrate the footnotes was a great one, as it made everything clear and smooth.

My only criticism is that I feel some part of the book dragged a little and I felt like not much progress was made, but this is still a solid 4 stars for me, and a book that I will recommend to anyone loving dark academia.

Thank you NetGallery and HarperCollins UK Audio for the audiobook.

Wow. Just wow.
This book is a masterpiece.
Just to clarify, I listened to the audiobook alongside reading the physical copy.
You can tell R.F. Kuang has poured her heart and soul into this. There’s no betting feeling than reading a book by an author who is so knowledgeable in the topic that they’re writing about, and this shows in abundance with Babel. It reads almost like a combined historical fiction/non fiction book, and I devoured every single page of it. It’s very dense and for me personally was quite a slow read. You almost feel like you’re attending Babel yourself, as you experience big parts of the lectures alongside Robin and his friends. The language aspect of this book is where Rebecca really shines as an author. You have all her knowledge and expertise laid out in front of you, and she makes a subject that you may not know much about, utterly enjoyable. If she wasn’t an author I’d suggest she go into teaching, as I feel she has a talent for sharing what she knows in the most interesting and immersive way.
If you wasn’t into translation before, you will be after this book. I can guarantee it.

Throughout the book we mostly follow Robin, who as a child was taken from his home country and raised by a professor, for the sole purpose of attending Babel and becoming a translator.
His story is heartbreaking and you see him try to come to terms with what has happened to him, as his battles with what is wrong and what is right.

Rebecca, as always, is guaranteed to crush your heart. This book is no different. It had me in floods of tears multiple times.

Regarding the audibook, i highly recommend listening to it alongside reading the physical copy. It has 2 narrators who do a good job of distinguishing the different characters.

Overall, I highly highly recommend this book. Even if you’re not interested in language or translation, I’d bet on this book being able to change your mind. My book of the year and one of the best of all time. We’re blessed to have R.F. Kuang writing these outstanding books for us. I will forever pick up anything she writes.

I have seen the hype for this book of course, and didn’t know a book could live up to that amount of hype to be honest, however this book and it’s audiobook are incredible from beginning to end and this audio allow the voices of these incredible characters to come to life and I love this book for it.

This book is intense, it’s impactful, it’s sobbing at stupid hours of the morning, it’s enough to make you want to go back to university and get a gown, it also makes you think academia should never be stuck behind walls in the first place and learning should be for the many not the few and not be used as another weapon. It’s a book that leaves you with alot of feelings, that I can tell you.

R.F. Kuang’s style of putting little footnotes and explanations as well is perfection and makes this book live up to it’s academic roots – if this book came with the references, Harvard Method style I’d listen to them too, this book is so good it makes you want to know more, to google things and make you wonder about the world, and that is the sign of an incredible book in my opinion.

Every twist and turn of this book leaves you deeper in to this story, and it’s intensity as the stakes get higher is just incredible. I just really appreciate everything about this book. Every character has so much dimension and you care about every single one right until the very last page and it leaves you slumped in your chair thinking what did I just go through?

Fantastic, I need a few weeks to fully to take it all in.

Wow this was a fantastic read. I loved every minute of this book. It was amazing and so very unique like nothing I had ever read before. I listened to the audiobook and loved the fact it had 2 narrators. They were both used brilliantly and perfect for the novel. It actually felt like I was reading a non fiction book and I loved all the different languages used and how words were explained . Which made me feel like I was learning so much. I loved the magical elements in this book. I loved how you were lead to believe one thing and as the story developed you start to realise all is not as it seems making it a darker story. I won't say anything but the ending is very shocking and you won't see it coming. This book is full of dark twists which on the most part I didn't seem them coming which is brilliant. You are definitely in for a brilliant roller coaster ride. I loved the length of this book it really allowed for the characters to develop really well and I became emotionally invested in them and found that my heart was in my mouth at times. Its such a fantastic story line. I really loved the swift character so much especially when he picked his own name. It was really amazing reading about their university days and some of them becoming involved in the underground society. I just can't believe how talented this author is especially keep such an amazing fast pace throughout the whole book.

I really can't recommend this book enough it is totally worth a read even with the audiobook being 22 hours long. You won't want to miss even a minute. 

Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating this stunning page turning novel which will definitely hit my top 10 reads of 2022 and that big seen as though I'm close to hitting 300 books this year. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this fantastic author. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/babel-by-r-f-kuang-hapercollins-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

In a Nutshell: This was mind-blowing! The personal connect for me as an Indian might have made a little difference but even without that, the impeccable weaving together of facts and fiction with a tinge of magic astounded me.
NOTE: This has been classified as a fantasy. It is not so. Go in with the right expectations. Magical realism fits the content better, though it is mainly ‘dark academia’.


Story Synopsis:
Robin Swift, a Cantonese orphan, is brought to England by his mysterious guardian and trained in classical languages such as Greek and Latin as well as Mandarin (though he knows Cantonese.) Robin knows his destination once he grows up. He is to join Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford.
Babel begins as a paradise for geeky Robin, with its endless books, scholars and ‘silver-working’. However, soon he discovers that things aren’t as hunky-dory as they appear. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and it soon boils down to how far Robin is willing to go? How much will he be willing to sacrifice for Babel?
The story comes to us mostly in the third person limited perspective of Robin, with a couple of brief interludes providing a glimpse into the lives of his close friends.



Where the book worked for me:
✔ For a change, the audio ARC had an author’s note, and more importantly, this was right at the start of the book. It clearly delineated how much was fact and how much fiction.

✔ The book presents an alternative history narration of Oxford in the 1830s. But it does such a thorough job that the lines between fact and fiction begin to blur. The author’s research is impeccable, and it shows. I’ve never been to Oxford and yet it came alive before my eyes through the author’s words.

✔ The “magical” part in the story involves using silver and translated words to enhance/add functionality to various objects. It sounds silly when I write it, but it is nicely incorporated into the storyline. The ‘silver revolution’ is supposedly the cause of the real-life industrial revolution, thus the author skilfully takes many real developments such as the steam engine and the telegraph machine and adds her ‘silver magic’ to historical facts. Yet again, kudos to her research.

✔ Just like a scholarly research tome, the book contains quite a few footnotes. Some of this are real incidents, most are fictional. However, their presentation was so authentic that I couldn’t help be dazzled by them. They added just the right level of background detailing to the plot.

✔ The dual identity of the narrator Robin comes out well. While his Cantonese roots make him want to be loyal to China, his British upbringing and education and privilege also makes him want to fit in his adopted country and be of value there. The complications of “belonging” to a one country while resembling a citizen of another are covered well, as are the ideas of racial and colour-based prejudice.

✔ Having a few Indian characters in key roles did add to my fun.


Where the book still worked for me but might not work for other readers:
⚠ I geek out on lingual content. So this book was like a treasure chest for me, what with numerous elaborations on word etymologies, languages, translations, and the interconnection between the tongues spoken across the world. (The author’s background as a translator and scholar reveals itself through these nuggets.) Loved every bit of the vocabulary-related elements. However, if you aren’t too fond of such subject matter, you might be a little bored because there is plenty of it in this book.

⚠ I feel a part of your experience of this book will depend on your own ethnicity and your stance on colonial rule. (Note that I said ‘experience of this book’, not whether you will like it or not.) I am an Indian, and while I don’t believe in continued finger-pointing at what happened in the past--(it’s been 76 years since independence! High time we focus on the future instead of crying about the past, right?)—I still fume at what was done to my nation by those “rulers”. The book doesn’t just focus on the ruthless side of colonial thinking but depicts it in an equally ruthless manner, with no concessions or compromises afforded to the colonial governments. Reading it was almost cathartic! It felt good to see the colonial powers of the past get a taste of their own medicine.

⚠ I knew where things were going towards the finale because the proceedings seemed very much like that the climax of a cult favourite Hindi movie of the mid- 2000s. (If I tell you the name of the movie, the end of the book will be spoilt for you.) Realising the similarity helped me be somewhat better prepared for the end, otherwise I might have been disappointed by it.

⚠ I went into this assuming it was a historical fiction. Seeing the fantastical elements surprised me, but I loved them anyway. I later realised that this book has been classified variously as “Fantasy”. “Urban Fantasy”, “Science Fiction Fantasy”, and “Historical Fantasy.” I think it would be better if you don’t look at it as a Fantasy because that aspect is not the dominant factor in the story. As I said in my initial note, Magical Realism is the best description of the ‘fantasy’ content in the book. You keep that in mind, and you won’t feel let down by the lack of world-building and complicated fantastical components.


Where the book could have worked better for me:
❌ The final quarter becomes too dark and slightly farfetched. (I do see how it was the best direction for the story, but that doesn’t mean I had to like it.)

❌ Most of the Whites are villainous and the people of other ethnicities akin to heroes. It seemed somewhat like reverse discrimination. I wish it wouldn’t have been so caricaturish of the Whites.

❌ It was way too long. Having the audiobook helped, but some content in the second half could have been easily trimmed.


The audiobook experience:
The audiobook clocks at a massive 21 hrs 46 min. But when the narrators are great, the length really doesn’t matter much. The main story is narrated by Chris Lew Kum Hoi, and the footnotes are voiced by Billie Fulford-Brown. This dual narration technique works very well for the story because there are an abundant number of footnotes in the content. Having a female voiceover for them makes it easier for us to understand when the book has shifted from the main content (voiced by the male narrator) to the footnote and back again.
Both of the narrators do an excellent job. Considering the length and writing style of this tome, the audiobook is definitely the way to go if you read audiobooks. There is a downloadable PDF map on the publisher’s site if you want a glimpse of Oxford while hearing the story.


I have been impressed many times by either characters or plots, but this is the first time ever a third factor has surpassed both of these – research. How well reality has been fitted around fantasy! I am simply amazed at the mind of this young author. The book does have flaws but in the grand scheme of things, the flaws appear minuscule. Strongly and wholeheartedly recommended.

4.5 stars.

My thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story.
This is my first experience reading anything by this author and I’m not going to lie I was completely intimidated at first.
Set in the early 1800 this is not my usual era and the book itself is very academic, not a surprise since it’s set in Oxford and revolves heavily around language. However the audiobook was perfect! I didn’t feel out of my depth at any point and the characters become friends as you go through what is a hefty 22 hours of world/character building.
Robin is a young child when he is brought to Britain from Canton by professor Lovell. Sounds like the a rags to riches tale and I suppose in a sense it is for a little while but as Robin ages and begins his time at Oxford we start to see behind the scenes and they are not as first assumed.
I loved this book! It’s much more political than I first thought but it’s definitely powerful. I love the characters and fought with them every step of the way! Beautiful writing 💕
The narrator was perfect for this story, a very pleasant 22 hours were spent listening to his soothing voice. My only criticism would be that the footnotes are read by a different narrator (female) and j found some of these to take me completely out of the story at the switch over.

Thank you to publishers and Netgalley for the Audio book of Babel

I've heard a lot of good things about the novel Babel and when I saw the audio book was up for request, I decided to request it instead of the ebook.
One because I'm branching out in audio and two I'm on the go so it's perfect to listen to.

I must admit I am hit and miss with audio books but this one was something else.
I loved the narrator and how he played each character different to the other, so you knew instantly which characters where which.

The story overall was great and it was good to get lost in the fantasy world.

For me though the narration made this novel complete. It felt like I was listening to a movie, it was that good!