REVIEW: Babel (R.F. Kuang)

Book: Babel

Author: R.F. Kuang

Premise: Oxford, 1836. At the heart of the city is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation - a 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?

The premise was really strong and I liked the idea of a magic system based on language. Dark academia, historical fiction and fantasy - who wouldn't love that combo! I really wanted to like this book...but sadly it disappointed me. 

First of all, the pacing wasn't brilliant. A lot of it was really slow, full of lectures on etymology. This set a tone that was hard to shake. When the author brought in the political points about the evils of the British Emprie, it felt still like I was receiving a lecture and a sales pitch (preaching to the choir a bit!). There were some more faster paced, action bits, but they were over very quickly and didn't come up often.

Second, I thought the world building wasn't great. The story is essentially an alternate version of the world but run on the power of words. However, it felt too close to reality and the events of history were pretty much unchanged so it felt to me like the magic system had no real consequence. It wasn't until the last 100 pages where you got to see it working in full force and I started to enjoy it.

Finally, the book is littered with footnotes that I eventually gave up reading. Personally they were more of a distraction and I didn't care enough for these asides.