Babel by R. F. Kuang
3.5 Stars
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for the Audiobook version of Babel by R. F. Kuang to read in exchange for an honest review.
Babel is set in 1828 and follows Robin Swift an orphan from Canton brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. Here he is trained in Latin, Ancient Greek and Chinese to prepare him for the day he will attend Oxford University and the institute of translation known as Babel.
The tower is the world's center for translation and magic, specifically silver working which is the art of finding lost translation using enchanted silver bars.
For Robin Oxford is a utopia but as his time there continues he realises that as a Chinese boy in Britain he is betraying his motherland. As his time progresses he is recruited by the elusive Hermes society an organisation dedicated to stopping imperial expansion and the unjust war against China.
My thoughts on this book were mixed areas of the title I vastly enjoyed and I was wrapped up in the story other areas I felt could be cut down or not included at all.
This was an incredibly long audio book at 14 hours and it took me a while to finish it. The audio narration was very good I will say that but due to the length and wordiness of the book this title at points dragged, mostly due to a vast amount of reputation from the author or I suppose wordiness of sentences.
I wanted to love it as I had heard such great things but I had to deduct stars for that alone.
Overall I really enjoyed the characters and the group dynamic between Robin, Rami, Letty, and Victoire. This portion of the story I found incredibly interesting. However I am not sure I would ever reread this title again.
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