THE #2 SUNDAY TIMES AND #1 NYT BESTSELLER
'One for Philip Pullman fans' THE TIMES
'This one is an automatic buy' GLAMOUR
'Ambitious, sweeping and epic' EVENING STANDARD
'Razor-sharp' DAILY MAIL
'An ingenious fantasy about empire' GUARDIAN
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?
An incendiary new novel from award-winning author R.F. Kuang about the power of language, the violence of colonialism, and the sacrifices of resistance.
'A masterpiece that resonates with power and knowledge. BABEL is a stark picture of the cruelty of empire, a distillation of dark academia, and a riveting blend of fantasy and historical fiction - a monumental achievement' Samantha Shannon, author of THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE R.F.
Kuang's book 'Babel' was a New York Times bestseller w/c 11-09-2022.
Staff Choice: Juno
I like when books make me think. I LOVE when fantasy is used as a way to conceptualize issues and questions we deal with in our world. This book is the perfect example. It adds just a bit of fantasy to our world to ask questions about the relationship between language, empire, colonialism and humanity. Kuang creates a magic system that embodies these themes. I won’t spoil more, but if this sounds interesting to you, please go read it!
Staff Choice: Iris
It's hard to talk about this book and all that it encompasses without giving too much away, so here are some buzzwords: historical fantasy, translation and etymology, working magic through silver, colonial oppression, the dark side of academia (not "dark academia" but something much more real), revolution, resistance, and the power of language. The author has described Babel as "a love letter and breakup letter to Oxford", which is a perfect summary of the way she draws you in with her idyllic descriptions of campus life, only to completely shatter your heart a few times over before the end of the story.