Reviews - Babel | The StoryGraph

64.6k reviews for:

Babel

R.F. Kuang

4.34 AVERAGE

yavin_iv's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

davidcottington's review against another edition

3.0

"But it tastes like rubbish" said Ramy.
"And nothing could be more English" said Reverend Gudslov

I think I knew pretty early doors this book was never going to be for me. I managed about 50% of the physical book before having to move onto audio.

Objectively this is a good book, that has obviously been extensively researched. The authors love for the subject is quite apparent throughout. I guess I read to relax (empty thoughts, all vibes) and this felt a bit too much like going to Oxford for my liking. I can fully understand that there's an audience for this book, and I see why people would love it but it wasn't for me.

Things I liked:
- Robin and Ramy were pretty cute - I wanted them to get gay!
- There are a lot of interesting conversations to be had around race, language and cultural theft in this book.
- I thought the silver bars had so much potentially to make up a really interesting magic system. Unfortunately it wasn't explored much more than just the language used on the bars (I get the book is a history of language!) The scope for what could have been done with these bars was so interesting and never-ending but unfortunately they were always used pretty understated and a bit anticlimactic. Give me Babel but as a full fantasy epic, people flying with silver bars and blowing shit up.

Things I didn't love:
- The characters were a bit flat.
- I stopped reading the footnotes after the first chapter. They really ruined the immersion of the story. That being said - they were a lot more effective in the audiobook because they felt more part of the story (but were read by a different person).

I'm glad I've ticked Babel off my list as it feels like one of them important books of the 21st century. Now the only decision I have is do I sell my pretty Locked Library edition or keep it?