Reviews

While this book didn't evoke any particularly strong emotions in me, it was fun! A book of the scope of Babel-17 would be around 500 pages these days, and I'm impressed that Delaney made it work in 200. That said, I wouldn't have minded it being longer. Delaney squeezes a lot of interesting ideas into this book that I'd like to spend more time with. The worldbuilding was equally fascinating, as were the characters, and there just wasn't enough time for any of that. I liked Rydra Wong as a main character, but by the end I wasn't very attached to her or any of the others.

Of course, I was here for the language(s). I will reread this book one day, and take more notes on all of that. There was one quote, quite near the end of Babel-17 in part 5 chapter 4, that caught my attention. I'm not sure if Delaney implied anything in Rydra's explanation here:

"Well," said Rydra, "to start off with, the word for Alliance in Babel-17 translates literally into English as: one-who-has-invaded. You take it from there. It has all sorts of little diabolisms programmed into it. While thinking in Babel-17 it becomes perfectly logical to try and destroy your own ship and then blot out the fact with self-hypnosis so you won't discover what you're doing and try and stop yourself."

Absolutely fascinating throw-away comment, especially considering the 'enemies' in the book are called Invaders in English... Well, that sure has connotations, but as far as I can tell it's never addressed again.

My copy of Babel-17 has Empire Star as a 'short side' - it starts at the back of the book, upside-down. Empire Star is a story that canonically exists in the world of Babel-17 , and it was fun to see how it ties into the main book. (Again, I need to reread to really grasp the fine details of that.) It feels like a sci-fi fairy tale, and then it does a fun thing that I appreciate.

Together, the two stories feel retro (ahead of its time but, especially in format, very much from the 60s) yet refreshing. I enjoyed them.

drought_season's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

apageinthestacks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

5.0

zimb0's review against another edition

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5.0

This companion novel is most intriguing. Empire Star is more of a novella, disguised as a story within the universe of Babel-17. Babel, is astonishing. A trip into language and how it determines our operations, our selves. It beckons to the eternal human question asking "how and why so we do what we know?" As a pseudo-first contact story it morphs into an existential quandary not asked enough about potential alien civilizations.
Empire Star, the sister piece is nothing short of a masterpiece. While babel won the awards, Empire Star takes the crown. It's beyond a simple explanation, which is almost the point of both novels. It's as beautiful as a story could ever dream to be. I'm in awe of what it did. Simply magnificent, perhaps the best thing I have ever read.

rproaudio's review

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adventurous informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Fantastic read the could have been written this year.

lyleblosser's review against another edition

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3.0

Nebula award winning Babel-17 is one of the "densest" books I've read in quite some time; the sheer amount of information and concepts that are packed layer-by-layer into such a small space made for slow going at times, but it was not so tough as to make it not enjoyable. The use of language as a central theme was intriguing, and was used quite effectively. The secondary tale, Empire Star, was not quite as "dense" but still it contained some mind-twisting parts which stopped it from being a quick read (although I did not regret any of the time spent).

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