Book Reviews

8/3/2022

‘Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution’

R. F. Kuang’s Poppy War Trilogy lives rent-free in my head years after I read it, so I picked up her newest book with buckets of anticipation and high expectations. Lucky for me, “Babel” more than met every bar I set. 

Set in the world of a subtly fantastical academia, this is an alternate history with deep ties to the real world. For all, it’s a magic-filled fantasy. While this book has a wildly different setting and tone, it is soaked with a familiar thread of dread and realism that echoes her first books.

Robin Swift immigrated to London in 1828 after losing his parents in his native China. Taken under the wing of a shadowy professor, he’s soon enraptured with the world of Oxford — high academics and mysterious magic that make the British Empire incredibly wealthy. The extent of their colonial efforts is seemingly endless as a result. Soon, though, an unjustified war against Robin’s homeland calls everything he’s been working on into question and upends his life in profound ways.

If you’ve never read a R.F. Kuang novel, prepare yourself to confront the dark side of humanity in ways both profound and intense, all while being highly entertained. ♦ 

— Review by Julie Goodrich

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‘The Book Eaters’

Do you remember the first time you discovered “real” fairy tales? The dark and deliciously brutal versions of “Cinderella,” “Snow White” and “Hansel and Gretel” were nothing like the sweet, fluffy stories we were told as children. It seemed like a secret, exciting new world. That’s what this book feels like: a decadent, gothic horror fable filled with monsters and magic and a moral that has less to do with obedience and more with how humanity can be both beautiful and, frankly, appalling.

Devon is raised in an isolated family that places no value on women. The family are book eaters — magical folk who can physically eat a book and retain the information therein. Devon, however, is limited to boring, moralistic meals — for her future is set. She will be sold off as a wife to create more book eaters — no matter what she wants. 

When her son is born with a rare family curse, everything suddenly changes and Devon is forced to flee to protect him. Now left to her own strength, she will discover the true meaning of family and what it means to be a monster.

Full of gorgeously haunted prose and stark characters, this is a lovely, sad tale that will stick in your mind — however you consume it. ♦ 

— Review by Julie Goodrich