A review by annmeyer
Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

dark emotional hopeful tense slow-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

4.5

oh man. it took me a while to get through Babel between the length + slow pace, but i found the second half to be much faster and the plot picked up a lot of momentum, so once over some of the early hurdles and more invested, i felt naturally hooked. i definitely cried at the end (even the last chapter's epigraph from Aristotle hit hard), but the subject matter of the book is very heavy throughout overall so mind the content warnings if you're thinking of picking it up. also, it's not all too often that i read a book told predominantly from a MMC's pov (and then enjoy it), but i really liked Robin a lot. most of the key side characters were great, too; i loved their vignettes and only wish we got more.

of what i've read, the plot + themes + magic system felt most comparable to m.l. wang's blood over bright haven.

i'd recommend Babel to anyone open to a long read who:
- is a linguistics + languages nerd
- has intense beef with the British empire (for obvious reasons)
- is a fan of dark academia
- loves a good bildungsroman, especially if radicalization (sans any negative connotation) & revolution are involved
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