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Babel, or the Necessity of Violence 2022
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution is a 2022 speculative fiction novel written by R. F. Kuang, taking place in a fictional Oxford of 1830s England, with the narrative ending in 1840. The story shares thematic elements with The Poppy War (2018–20), Kuang's debut series. This book examines British imperialism, racism, and capitalism, as well as how academia, knowledge, and language support and sustain these systems.
In this alternate universe, Britain’s dominance across the globe is powered by magical silver bars that derive strength from what gets lost during translation between languages with similar but not identical meanings. The Royal Institute of Translation, known as "Babel," was formed at Oxford University to locate such matching linguistic pairs. The novel follows four new students who gradually realize their scholarly work upholds Britain’s imperial control. They debate how to stop the First Opium War and eventually turn to violence.
The book topped The New York Times Best Seller list upon release and received Blackwell’s Books of the Year for Fiction in 2022, as well as the 2022 Nebula Award for Best Novel.
Crew
- Cover artist
- Nico Delort
Details
- Publisher
- Harper Voyager
- ISBN
- 9780063021426
- Pages
- 545
- Format
- Print, ebook
