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theinquisitxor's Reviews (804)
3.5/5 stars
I thought this was an enjoyable first book to a six book series. It was a little slow to get going, and I think this book acts as a foundation to help set up the world, history, mythology, and characters that fuel the rest of the series. I love the Greek inspired setting, and I thought the twist at the end was great. There were a lot of little clues that led up to the realization.
I'm definitely continuing with this series, and with these books being shorter than your average fantasy, I think I'll fly through it!
I thought this was an enjoyable first book to a six book series. It was a little slow to get going, and I think this book acts as a foundation to help set up the world, history, mythology, and characters that fuel the rest of the series. I love the Greek inspired setting, and I thought the twist at the end was great. There were a lot of little clues that led up to the realization.
I'm definitely continuing with this series, and with these books being shorter than your average fantasy, I think I'll fly through it!
I enjoyed this a lot and sped right through it! The gothic horror + the romance + the setting made for such a treat of a novel. This was a great start to spooky season, ans I can see Silvia Moreno-Garcia becoming a favorite author as I read more and more of her works
I have no words for what this book did to me, for the ups and downs, triumphs and sorrows, hopes and despairs. This is truly a masterpiece in my mind, and it will be a book I think about for a long, long time to come.
"Of all the marvels of Oxford, Babel seemed the most impossible- a tower out of time, a vision from a dream. Those stained-glass windows, that high, imposing dome; it all seemed to have been pulled straight from the painting in Professor Lovell's dining room and dropped whole onto this drab grey street. An illumination in a medieval manuscript; a door to a fairy land"
I think of this book in two parts. The first part is delightfully nerdy but does not pull its punches when discussing imperialism or racism at all. Of course, I loved the academia settings and elements of this book, and parts reminded me a lot of my own education. I've studies languages, taken translation classes, and have projects that I have translated myself, and I loved loved the discussions of what makes certain translations work while others don't. All the nitty gritty problems and issues translators face was so delightful to read on page, and Kuang really nails the academic.
"It's like the Ten Plagues...He cast all of Egypt into darkness, and through these feats he made Pharaoh know his power."
As much as I delighted in the Oxford and academic setting, the real overtones of the book begin to shine through past the half-way mark. Yes, the colonialism and racism are present throughout the book, but the dial turns up in the second half. And oh my. It was dark, although not without hope, but conscience of the real world and the horrors that the British Empire inflicted all across the world. The sheer suffering that the characters go through at the end, but also their resilience and willingness to fight was heartbreaking. I was crying through the last chapters.
I really can't praise this book higher, and I am slightly afraid of opening it back up, because I know I will be sucked right back in.
"Of all the marvels of Oxford, Babel seemed the most impossible- a tower out of time, a vision from a dream. Those stained-glass windows, that high, imposing dome; it all seemed to have been pulled straight from the painting in Professor Lovell's dining room and dropped whole onto this drab grey street. An illumination in a medieval manuscript; a door to a fairy land"
I think of this book in two parts. The first part is delightfully nerdy but does not pull its punches when discussing imperialism or racism at all. Of course, I loved the academia settings and elements of this book, and parts reminded me a lot of my own education. I've studies languages, taken translation classes, and have projects that I have translated myself, and I loved loved the discussions of what makes certain translations work while others don't. All the nitty gritty problems and issues translators face was so delightful to read on page, and Kuang really nails the academic.
"It's like the Ten Plagues...He cast all of Egypt into darkness, and through these feats he made Pharaoh know his power."
As much as I delighted in the Oxford and academic setting, the real overtones of the book begin to shine through past the half-way mark. Yes, the colonialism and racism are present throughout the book, but the dial turns up in the second half. And oh my. It was dark, although not without hope, but conscience of the real world and the horrors that the British Empire inflicted all across the world. The sheer suffering that the characters go through at the end, but also their resilience and willingness to fight was heartbreaking. I was crying through the last chapters.
I really can't praise this book higher, and I am slightly afraid of opening it back up, because I know I will be sucked right back in.
I've known about this series since the first book was released in 2015, and I've had high expectations for the series from al the reviews and chatter I've heard about how good this book is. Unfortunately, I was a little let down.
This book feels very 2015 YA fantasy. And I can see why it was so popular then and was a groundbreaking book for the evolving genre. You can count it as one of the developmental books for the genre, but for me, it just wasn't all that I was hoping for. I didn't get attached to the characters or the world, and I found myself reading with only mild interest.
I'm not sure whether or not to continue, since I do have hopes of the second book being better. But it's not something that I will jump on quickly.
In all, I can appreciate what this book was for it's time and what it did for the genre, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.
This book feels very 2015 YA fantasy. And I can see why it was so popular then and was a groundbreaking book for the evolving genre. You can count it as one of the developmental books for the genre, but for me, it just wasn't all that I was hoping for. I didn't get attached to the characters or the world, and I found myself reading with only mild interest.
I'm not sure whether or not to continue, since I do have hopes of the second book being better. But it's not something that I will jump on quickly.
In all, I can appreciate what this book was for it's time and what it did for the genre, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.
Very enjoyable and as someone who studied History and English, I really appreciated this!
I read Parable of the Sower in Spring 2020 (a particularly poignant moment to read it) for one of my college classes. I really enjoyed Sower, and thought that it was a book ahead of its time, and eerily predictable of certain futures.
I think I enjoyed this one even more. It is somehow even more brutal and heartbreaking. But it's even more hopeful and shows us that "Survival is Insufficient" (to quote Station Eleven). With world events going on today, this series continued to hit hard, and made for a difficult and uncomfortable experience at times. But that is important.
This is a series that is hard to call 'enjoyable' or to 'love' but it is very good and very important. I think about Sower all the time, and I imagine I will also think about this book a lot too.
p.s. checking the content/trigger warnings for this series is probably a good idea.
I think I enjoyed this one even more. It is somehow even more brutal and heartbreaking. But it's even more hopeful and shows us that "Survival is Insufficient" (to quote Station Eleven). With world events going on today, this series continued to hit hard, and made for a difficult and uncomfortable experience at times. But that is important.
This is a series that is hard to call 'enjoyable' or to 'love' but it is very good and very important. I think about Sower all the time, and I imagine I will also think about this book a lot too.
p.s. checking the content/trigger warnings for this series is probably a good idea.
Wow! This whole series has been fantastic since page 1, and it's risen to one of my favorite series of all time. I thought the ending of this book was so satisfying and well done. While I still think the second book, Jade War, is my favorite of the series, this one was very good too.
This was good. I had higher expectations and was expecting a 5 star book based on other reviews and the premise. I thought it was enjoyable and entertaining, and it’s a queer sci-fi. It just wasn’t quite all I was hoping for!
