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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
I enjoyed the series so much but found the final two books increasingly frustrating, unfortunately.
They shared the wonderful and creative writing style of the first two books, but that creativity began to feel like it was overextending itself by the end of book three and I was left with a horrible sensation that Bancroft might start to stretch the hitherto fanciful, imaginative and yet restrained concept into one that became astronomical and baffling. In my opinion, this became akin to watching George Lucas drub his Star Wars franchise after the first 3 films, James Cameron pummel his Avatar concept seconds after the first film commenced, and Arthur C Clarke kneecap his Space Odyssey with needless over-explanation and insight with a procession of post-2010 novels only to destroy the wonder.
I really love these characters: Bancroft continues with his knack of fleshing out all the fascinating two-dimensional cameos and intriguing bit-parts into fully fledged characters, though I agree with Mark Lawrence’s assessment that some of the antagonists either did not need it or required some preface in earlier books to justify their introduction alongside Marat, but we did start to lose Senlin in the swamp of new narratives, and this leads me neatly into my absolute biggest problems with these last two books.
I feel that no one explained the obvious to Bancroft regarding the need to break multiple-narrative scripts into easier-to-digest chunks. Across two hefty novels we are sometimes with one, two or three characters in the same environment - a ringdom, the ship, a war engine - for what seems like, and often actually is, the breadth of a mini-novella. And I struggled to remember where we’d left the narrative with the other characters so, when those threads were picked back up, my memory of them was so frayed that I spent several pages trying to remember who other characters were and what events had transpired to have the protagonists behaving as they were. It’s a nice idea to have so many third-person crew members to follow, but not in such exhausting stretches.
And I, for one, was sad that Senlin devolved into a coprotagonist in what I’d thought was his show. And why bring Tarrou and Goll back in only to not bother with fleshing them out alongside the other new and reintroduced players, and then flesh out other players only to have their tales just peter out as the finale approached as if this had really been all about Edith, Adam and Voleta all along? The Sphinx’s death in the background felt clumsy, and what happened to the Stone Cloud? But the biggest injustice and why I couldn’t in good faith give the book 4 stars was the awful way in which Senlin’s tale - and thus the whole saga itself - was concluded.
It’s hard not to personalise someone else’s story, and maybe this is what Bancroft intended all along for the unlikely and weedy hero, but this felt like an amazing first two novels establishing Senlin’s plight, followed by a slightly bungling third book introducing a trove of possibly unnecessary characters and plot mechanics, and then the most frustrating end to Senlin’s story in the last few pages. I, well… I feel robbed.
They shared the wonderful and creative writing style of the first two books, but that creativity began to feel like it was overextending itself by the end of book three and I was left with a horrible sensation that Bancroft might start to stretch the hitherto fanciful, imaginative and yet restrained concept into one that became astronomical and baffling. In my opinion, this became akin to watching George Lucas drub his Star Wars franchise after the first 3 films, James Cameron pummel his Avatar concept seconds after the first film commenced, and Arthur C Clarke kneecap his Space Odyssey with needless over-explanation and insight with a procession of post-2010 novels only to destroy the wonder.
I really love these characters: Bancroft continues with his knack of fleshing out all the fascinating two-dimensional cameos and intriguing bit-parts into fully fledged characters, though I agree with Mark Lawrence’s assessment that some of the antagonists either did not need it or required some preface in earlier books to justify their introduction alongside Marat, but we did start to lose Senlin in the swamp of new narratives, and this leads me neatly into my absolute biggest problems with these last two books.
I feel that no one explained the obvious to Bancroft regarding the need to break multiple-narrative scripts into easier-to-digest chunks. Across two hefty novels we are sometimes with one, two or three characters in the same environment - a ringdom, the ship, a war engine - for what seems like, and often actually is, the breadth of a mini-novella. And I struggled to remember where we’d left the narrative with the other characters so, when those threads were picked back up, my memory of them was so frayed that I spent several pages trying to remember who other characters were and what events had transpired to have the protagonists behaving as they were. It’s a nice idea to have so many third-person crew members to follow, but not in such exhausting stretches.
And I, for one, was sad that Senlin devolved into a coprotagonist in what I’d thought was his show. And why bring Tarrou and Goll back in only to not bother with fleshing them out alongside the other new and reintroduced players, and then flesh out other players only to have their tales just peter out as the finale approached as if this had really been all about Edith, Adam and Voleta all along? The Sphinx’s death in the background felt clumsy, and what happened to the Stone Cloud? But the biggest injustice and why I couldn’t in good faith give the book 4 stars was the awful way in which Senlin’s tale - and thus the whole saga itself - was concluded.
It’s hard not to personalise someone else’s story, and maybe this is what Bancroft intended all along for the unlikely and weedy hero, but this felt like an amazing first two novels establishing Senlin’s plight, followed by a slightly bungling third book introducing a trove of possibly unnecessary characters and plot mechanics, and then the most frustrating end to Senlin’s story in the last few pages. I, well… I feel robbed.
Eagerly awaited all of Bancroft's books after Senlin Ascends. I think it was a reddit comment (and noticeably a quote on the back cover of this book) that said it seems as though you're reading a classic series that hadn't been widely uncovered yet. I agree wholeheartedly.
There are a few points in this book that I didn't love, but its all just personal preference. As with most fantasy, 'plot armor' is abundant. Not every book needs to be game of thrones but I was surprised so much of the cast survived the book.
The ending was both surprising but fitting. I wonder if Bancroft left it open for additional stories on purpose.
Characters as always are extremely well written.
The world of the tower (even if slightly expanded upon here) is tightly written and amazingly described.
A fitting end to an amazing series.
There are a few points in this book that I didn't love, but its all just personal preference. As with most fantasy, 'plot armor' is abundant. Not every book needs to be game of thrones but I was surprised so much of the cast survived the book.
The ending was both surprising but fitting. I wonder if Bancroft left it open for additional stories on purpose.
Characters as always are extremely well written.
The world of the tower (even if slightly expanded upon here) is tightly written and amazingly described.
A fitting end to an amazing series.
While the earlier books in the series had me up late eagerly turning the pages, this one took me forever to read and just felt disjointed. I was so lost in the first few hundred pages trying to remember what happened and why the pivot to the Adam story that I almost gave up, thinking I needed to reread the previous books. The story jumped around quite a lot and unnecessarily so, and I didn't find the conclusion to be satisfying. The series, otherwise, was wonderful, but this final chapter of Senlin's story was disappointing.
The Fall of Babel is a mostly-satisfying finale to the Books of Babel series. It introduces a few important concepts, which are a bit jarring since they've have never been a part of the series. The book also leaves readers with as many questions as they had at the close of Senlin Ascends, but it's the journey... Overall The Fall of Babel is worth a read for fans of the series, but it doesn't quite hold up to its predecessors.
One of, if not, the best ending sentence I’ve ever experienced at the end of a massive series like this. Incredible.
This has been one of my favorite series of at least the past decade if not ever. Bancroft's prose is a joy to read and his world was so unique and imaginative. I loved these characters and all their flaws. This final book was no exception. Very well-written and we finally get closure for many of the character arcs. Having said that, . Nevertheless, this is a fantastic series and I can't wait for more books from Bancroft who recently got signed on by Orbit for a new and different trilogy. Very much looking forward to that.
Spoiler
the ending of this book is left a bit open. Adam, Voleta, Runa, Marya, and Thomas, along with all the other residents of Nebos, are on a space ship travelling god knows where. Marya and Thomas are still a work in progress at the end of the book. As for Edith, Iren, Ann, and Byron; they remain behind at the Tower. Edith is taking up the mantle of the Sphinx but the kingdoms are in disarray if not near-mutiny. So, while the book concludes, there remains a lot more to know. Maybe Bancroft will revisit this world someday and provide some of those answers
Wherein the three distinct threads of our various heroes and heroines come to their eminently satisfying conclusions. Definitely the strongest [and, I think, longest] of the series. Also it seems apparent that JB got some negative feedback about his treatment of women in Book 1, because by Book 4 they're running the place [vague spoiler alert]. Basically I was extremely impressed with how much he grew as a writer and storyteller throughout the series. Would love to see it turned into a movie or TV series.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
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
Doista pad, lepo čovek upozori heheh. Šalu na stranu, kad god dođe do ocenjivanja pročitanih naslova, meni poraste pritisak i počne da rade meta (kopirajt stop) živci i ono sada već tradicionalno pitanje - a šta ja ovde ocenjujem? Kontam da ne ocenjujem literarni aspekt dela, pošto nesam školovala za tako nešto (ako je iko), te onda ostane zaključiti da ocenjujem... svoj dojam knjige? Čudno, dakako, no da se manem toga i kažem otkud trojka kada je počelo tako (TAKO) dobro.
Pa, u suštini, ovo je 800 strana ničega. Jeste, volim ja debele knjige, ali volim i svoj razum i koliko toliko poštujem svoje vreme (da ne pričam kako moram da vodim računa i o oskudnoj koncentraciji). 800 strana koje ne uspeju da daju nikakav kraj, porazbacuju sav karakterni razvitak bez da od toga naprave PoEnTu (doduše, moram da priznam da bih u tom slučaju tek zamrzeo roman), i služe samo kao izgovor za eto malo dobrog pisanja. (Zbog toga i sve u svemu prosečan dojam o knjizi.) A pride su tu i moja nedoumica u to da li je satirični ton ovog toma postojao u ovoj meri (gotovo posprdnog, što se nekako ne meša dobro sa "ozbiljnijim" narativom) i u ranijim delovima, no to se može pripisati a) udaru na mentalne kapacitete dvaespetogodišnjeg muškarca usled poodmaklog životnog doba b) kurcobolji prethodnopomenutog koji sve vreme misli da čita trilogiju c) nezahvalnoj činjenici da kada čitanje prvog i četvrtog dela jednog serijala deli gotovo čitava decenija, ovakve stvari mogu da se dese (čitaj: odgovor je pod c)).
3-
Pa, u suštini, ovo je 800 strana ničega. Jeste, volim ja debele knjige, ali volim i svoj razum i koliko toliko poštujem svoje vreme (da ne pričam kako moram da vodim računa i o oskudnoj koncentraciji). 800 strana koje ne uspeju da daju nikakav kraj, porazbacuju sav karakterni razvitak bez da od toga naprave PoEnTu (doduše, moram da priznam da bih u tom slučaju tek zamrzeo roman), i služe samo kao izgovor za eto malo dobrog pisanja. (Zbog toga i sve u svemu prosečan dojam o knjizi.) A pride su tu i moja nedoumica u to da li je satirični ton ovog toma postojao u ovoj meri (gotovo posprdnog, što se nekako ne meša dobro sa "ozbiljnijim" narativom) i u ranijim delovima, no to se može pripisati a) udaru na mentalne kapacitete dvaespetogodišnjeg muškarca usled poodmaklog životnog doba b) kurcobolji prethodnopomenutog koji sve vreme misli da čita trilogiju c) nezahvalnoj činjenici da kada čitanje prvog i četvrtog dela jednog serijala deli gotovo čitava decenija, ovakve stvari mogu da se dese (čitaj: odgovor je pod c)).
3-
You can trace Josiah Bancroft’s evolution through each book in his Books of Babel series. The pace picks up, the writing gets clearer and the world grows. But it reaches incredible new heights in the fourth and final book, The Fall of Babel, which while imperfect, crafts a truly stunning resolution to this much-talked-about series.
First, the imperfections: This series, while captivating and featuring incredible character work, dialogue and pacing, often struggled with a palpable sense of scale. Literally. The world of the Tower is fascinating and intricately crafted, but Bancroft sometimes fails to describe it in a way I could accurately imagine. Each ringdom truly is its own world, like a level in a video game, but placing that in the context of the Tower often proves difficult. Maybe this is a symptom of me imagining this building in a real-world context, but I often found myself forgetting that these expansive set pieces weren’t happening across vast provinces and distant locales, but rather a… big building. It sometimes left me a bit lost, not so much making the plot hard to follow as hard to envision. But while seeming a bit of a big burden on the reader, this might just be on me. And Bancroft’s ability to tell a story ultimately prevails.
Because as it has throughout the series, The Fall of Babel weaves from its influences an incredible sleeve. I rarely read books in a series back-to-back and after Senlin Ascends wasn’t entirely sure I’d even continue onto book 2. But before I knew it I was turning through the end of Arm of the Sphinx into The Hod King and, against expectations, managed to get an early read of The Fall of Babel on NetGalley. It’s not a perfect book, but it might be the perfect ending. And it’s one tailor-made to be read on the back of its predecessor. At first it feels like Book 3.5, and it takes a bit to get its motor running. But once it takes off, it rarely loosens its grip on the reader.
From the character arcs to each of their trials and tribulations, this is a story that’s incredibly well concocted. These characters are flawed and spectacular and worth rooting for (or against).
Without spoiling the end of this book — an ending I’ll way was truly not something I’d expected — I’ll say this: Bancroft has ensnared himself as a force in the fantasy canon, created a world begging to be further explored, and beyond that, he's done something truly unthinkable: make me enjoy steampunk.
First, the imperfections: This series, while captivating and featuring incredible character work, dialogue and pacing, often struggled with a palpable sense of scale. Literally. The world of the Tower is fascinating and intricately crafted, but Bancroft sometimes fails to describe it in a way I could accurately imagine. Each ringdom truly is its own world, like a level in a video game, but placing that in the context of the Tower often proves difficult. Maybe this is a symptom of me imagining this building in a real-world context, but I often found myself forgetting that these expansive set pieces weren’t happening across vast provinces and distant locales, but rather a… big building. It sometimes left me a bit lost, not so much making the plot hard to follow as hard to envision. But while seeming a bit of a big burden on the reader, this might just be on me. And Bancroft’s ability to tell a story ultimately prevails.
Because as it has throughout the series, The Fall of Babel weaves from its influences an incredible sleeve. I rarely read books in a series back-to-back and after Senlin Ascends wasn’t entirely sure I’d even continue onto book 2. But before I knew it I was turning through the end of Arm of the Sphinx into The Hod King and, against expectations, managed to get an early read of The Fall of Babel on NetGalley. It’s not a perfect book, but it might be the perfect ending. And it’s one tailor-made to be read on the back of its predecessor. At first it feels like Book 3.5, and it takes a bit to get its motor running. But once it takes off, it rarely loosens its grip on the reader.
From the character arcs to each of their trials and tribulations, this is a story that’s incredibly well concocted. These characters are flawed and spectacular and worth rooting for (or against).
Without spoiling the end of this book — an ending I’ll way was truly not something I’d expected — I’ll say this: Bancroft has ensnared himself as a force in the fantasy canon, created a world begging to be further explored, and beyond that, he's done something truly unthinkable: make me enjoy steampunk.