Babel: An Arcane History by RF Kuang

"The English are never going to think I'm posh, but if I fit into their fantasy, then they'll at least think I'm royalty." 

Robin Swift is a Cantonese boy rescued from cholera and spirited away to London by his new caretaker, Professor Lovell. Professor Lovell impresses upon Robin the importance of words and makes him spend every moment studying language. Robin works hard to impress the Professor and before long he's accepted into the college of Babel... A school designed to study language so it can be translated into magic.

I really liked this book. To start with, the writing was absolutely impeccable, including very literal word play, and even though I'm no linguist, the translations seemed well-researched. The setting is designed to mirror our own world, making it easy to imagine the fantasy is real. Within the story, the author included footnotes that added to the story's intrigue rather than slowing it down. The plot had plenty of meat on its bones for those looking for deep-diving literature, including themes of colonialism, racism, and sexism. Robin and his friends must learn the difference of what is right and what is wrong and how to stand up for what they believe in. The characters are fully flushed out, from their personalities to their unifying desire to belong to a society that was bred to oppress them.

Although this book isn't about books, I'd still classify it as a book for book lovers. If you love words, then you'll probably love this book. The author gives us a world where the bigger your vocabulary the more power you have over it.

I normally take time to say what I didn't like about the book, but I can't think of a damn thing I want to critique which in turn keeps this review fairly short. And with that, I'm out of things to say for today.