Reviews

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

georgemay's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

5.0

thebeardrew's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoy reading classic sci-fi every now an then because it is interesting to see how different it was back then. Classic sci-fi is just weird, and that's both good and bad. The ideas in this book are interesting. The language provides superpower-like understanding of the world and really messes with the person using it. But also the way the author expressed the feeling of this language and it's effect on events was very loosely defined, and that made events hard to follow.

crys303's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

thechemicaldetective's review against another edition

5.0

Intelligent, twisty, exciting, this novel is perfectly plotted. The narration on the audio version is magnificent. I was new to this writer and happily blown away.

jmneil27's review against another edition

3.0

This book definitely was an early Sci-Fi classic that ticked all the boxes.  I was often reminded of more modern Sci-Fi books while reading and could see it as an early inspiration for that time period's budding authors.  My only complaint was I wish there had been more to round out the story.  Decent sci-fi classic though!

konigtheis13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

4.0

nunzco's review against another edition

4.0

Good book.

smranaldi's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.75

showell's review against another edition

4.0

I’ve never read a book that employed principles of linguistics in this way. My daughter informs me that some of the theories are outdated now (no surprise, the book is from the 1970s), but still a fascinating device for understanding character. In other ways this book felt very seventies, the night out to find the crew in particular, but overall a really interesting listen.

abitofmoxie's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0