‘Babel (or The Necessity of Violence): An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution’ by R.F. Kuang

⭐⭐

Rating: 2 out of 5.

This is an historical fiction fantasy with an anti-colonial/anti-Oxford focus. It’s a weird mix of social justice things like revolution and colonial resistance, as well as nerdy things like language etymology and the challenges in translation.

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 colonisation.

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 realises serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organisation dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide whether powerful institutions can be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

There were some things that I liked about this novel, but in the end it just wasn’t for me. I actually enjoyed some of the finer points of word etymology and language translation, which others may have found boring. And I found Robin to be a likeable relatable character whose journey was compelling, but I nearly bailed many times because it was all so bleak and cynical and the other characters were never very well developed, nor the plot well paced. Apparently I am an outlier, because many people loved the light fantasy and historical aspects and have given the book high ratings on Goodreads. I only finished it hoping it would come to a more satisfying redemptive conclusion, but in the end, it all (quite literally) fell flat.