Set in 1828, during a cholera outbreak in Canton, orphan Robin Swift is brought to London by a linguistic professor. He studies Latin, Greek, Chinese, and English in preparation for his eventual enrollment in Oxford's Royal Institute of Translation, also known as Babel. The prestigious institute employs translators who apply silver-working, the art of leveraging different meanings between translated languages to manifest magic. Silver-working at Babel has enabled the expansion of the British Empire and continues to support the Crown's quest for colonization through language. While Robin happily immerses himself in this academic utopia dedicated to pursuing knowledge, Britain is waging war with China over opium and silver. Robin and his cohort must reckon with their roles in Babel, for an act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

Babel is the most unique, original, and thought-provoking book I've ever read. There are so many things to love about Babel that you could write another book about it. I'll focus on a couple that really stood out to me.

Kuang brilliantly explores the complexities of minorities and the harmful assumption that all marginalized experience the same discrimination. Robin's class consists of a diverse cohort, a half-Chinese man, an Indian man, a Haitian-French black woman, and an English white woman. The differences in their upbringings allow the readers to glimpse how racism, colorism, and sexism differentially affect each character, influencing their interpretation of the British Empire and their actions toward anti-colonialism.

Importantly, Kuang's nuanced but paramount illustration of these divergent viewpoints doesn't point the finger at a specific population. Rather, it explores our blindspots and complicity in our inactions. And this is the part that breaks my heart into a million pieces.

As an academic institute, one would imagine Babel scholars solely focusing on their research instead of getting involved in politics. Here, Kuang encourages the readers to think deeply about the validity of "academia as a non-political and neutral institution." It's clearly not the case when Robin and his classmates, primarily non-British POCs, are requested to use their language skills to benefit the British Empire and further asked to be thankful for this "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." In Babel, and perhaps in the modern day, academia and elite education is yet another form of erasure and subjugation in many ways.

There are so many other themes explored in Babel. I particularly enjoyed the passages on what entails a revolution: scholars with their political debates, the working class and their first-hand experience, monetary incentives, and most importantly, whether violence is necessary to topple a well-established empire. It's chilling how the injustice portrayed in Babel, a story set in 19th century Oxford, is still prevalent today.

Finally, I adore Babel's world-building, especially around silver-working rules. It's extremely well thought out and makes sense to me. Not everyone cares if the magic makes sense in fantasies, but reading something intricately designed with mechanisms that leverage different languages and etymology requires tremendous research. And I am in awe of Kuang's brilliance and efforts in writing this masterpiece.

At its core, Babel asks the question: when standing up for injustice requires sacrifice, what path will you take?

Babel is a phenomenal work that examines critical social issues in a profoundly humane and methodical way. This book will stay with me forever, and I encourage you to pick Babel up and start reading it today.