Babel
Or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
By R.F. Kuang
Harry Hartog's review
"Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?" Oh my golly gosh, R. F. Kuang had me falling in love with their written from The Poppy War with it's grimdark genre-blending. Babel is remarkable - it has the weight of a Modern Literary classic. We follow Robin, who as a character feels so real, as he's brought to the tower of Babel. His hunger for knowledge leads him to discovering that he holds so much power over the controlling British Imperial governing body as their translator and siler-worker. Robin must decide between delving into the comfort he's offered or taking action with the knowledge he's gained and stand with the Hermes Society against Britain's abuse? - Peri, Harry Hartog Penrith
Description
THE #2 SUNDAY TIMES AND #1 NYT BESTSELLER'One for Philip Pullman fans'
THE TIMES
'This one is an automatic buy'
GLAMOUR
'Ambitious, sweeping and epic'
EVENING STANDARD
'Razor-sharp'
DAILY MAIL
'An ingenious fantasy about empire'
GUARDIAN
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
Oxford, 1836.
The city of dreaming spires.
It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world.
And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows.
Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift.
Until it became a prison...
But can a student stand against an empire?
An incendiary new novel from award-winning author R.F. Kuang about the power of language, the violence of colonialism, and the sacrifices of resistance.
'A masterpiece that resonates with power and knowledge. BABEL is a stark picture of the cruelty of empire, a distillation of dark academia, and a riveting blend of fantasy and historical fiction - a monumental achievement'
Samantha Shannon, author of THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE
R.F. Kuang's book 'Babel' was a New York Times bestseller w/c 11-09-2022.
- ISBN:
- 9780008501853
- Format:
- Paperback
- Pages:
- 560
- Published:
- Publisher:
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Imprint:
- HarperVoyager
- Weight:
- 380 g