Babel

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution

by R.F. Kuang

Harper Voyager, 2022. 544 pages. Fantasy

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. 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. 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?

Babel is an engrossing, detailed story that's written in such an immersive style, you'll feel like you're studying at Oxford too. While the magical element of silver-working is one of the driving plot-points of the book, this reads more like historical fiction, with discussions of colonialism and racism mixed in with the themes of magic and academia. I also appreciated the footnotes found throughout the book, in the style of those used in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell or The Historian. If you're looking for an atmospheric read full of moral questions and a bit of turmoil and magic, this book is for you.

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