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

Pages: 560

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Released: 23rd of August 2022 

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

Oxford, 1836.

The city of dreaming spires.

It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world.

And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows.

Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift.

Until it became a prison…

But can a student stand against an empire?

What I Have to Say 

This book. Omg. It was everything I could have asked for. A beautiful and necessary book on the colonialism and racism in British history. Full of magic and knowledge as well as betrayal and pain, Kuang's Babel institute is the perfect example of the horrors of colonialism and the injustices that Britain is built on. 

This book was everything to me, but I can see how it would be a marmite book. Be aware that it is full to the bursting of language facts and language roots with the most complicated magic system I have ever seen. If you love languages as much as I do, then this is the book for you, but if it's not consider how much language nerding you can cope with. Don't be put off too much by the complexity though. Kuang does a really good job of explaining everything. There were a couple of bits that I had to reread to make sure I understood fully and the silver working needed the three examples she gave to explain, but I kept up very well. 

At it's heart though Babel is the story of people and their reactions to the mistreatment they encounter. The characters are really easy to like and feel for. This is definitely a book you will need tissues for! 

This is  a book that's going to stay with me for a long time. 

5 stars 

My thanks go to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for providing me with this book to review.