Reviews

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

kraghen21's review against another edition

2.0

2.0 - 2.5

arf88's review against another edition

3.0

Interesting book, although I didn't love it the same way so many others seem to have. For the length it starts off slow - so much time in spent introducing characters and world building elements we'll never see again. And then the second half, which is far more entertaining than the first half, rushes through the main plot way too fast. The entire main plot is wrapped up in only a couple of pages. However, there was enough good between the slow start and rushed finish to spike my interest, and I'll definitely be looking for more of this author's work.

murderjail's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

erosabsens's review against another edition

Distracting amount of fatphobia. 

bkclermont's review against another edition

3.5

Good story and I like the flow, but the writing can be hard to understand what is happening, especially when they discuss the scientific parts. I pieced together what was meant by continuing reading but Im still hazy on some of what it means. 

samurai4's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

octaviaatlas's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

emcgillivray's review against another edition

3.0

I wanted to like Babel-17 more than I did. I listened to it on audiobook, which propelled me forward in reading, but it wasn't a book I couldn't wait to listen to again. Sometimes I felt very dumb reading it, but the ending does explain everything that happened.

The entire part about Babel-17 being a programming language and how Delany played with programming languages' lack of "I" made me think a lot about this current hype wave of AI and how inhuman the output of GenAI (text, images, and videos) are.

I found it hilarious that the male audio narrator went full Nathan Lane in The Birdcage when doing the Baroness' voice but just had a normal voice for Rydra.

dittotrainer's review against another edition

creepy Asian fetish stuff

claire_baco's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0