Babel
Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution
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Babel
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Narrated by:
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Chris Lew Kum Hoi
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Billie Fulford-Brown
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By:
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R. F. Kuang
About this listen
THE #2 SUNDAY TIMES AND #1 NYT BESTSELLER
‘One for Philip Pullman fans’
THE TIMES
‘This one is an automatic buy’
GLAMOUR
‘Ambitious, sweeping and epic’
EVENING STANDARD
‘Razor-sharp’
DAILY MAIL
‘An ingenious fantasy about empire’
GUARDIAN
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
Oxford, 1836.
The city of dreaming spires.
It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world.
And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows.
Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift.
Until it became a prison…
But can a student stand against an empire?
An incendiary new novel from award-winning author R.F. Kuang about the power of language, the violence of colonialism, and the sacrifices of resistance.
'A masterpiece that resonates with power and knowledge. BABEL is a stark picture of the cruelty of empire, a distillation of dark academia, and a riveting blend of fantasy and historical fiction – a monumental achievement’
Samantha Shannon, author of THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE
Delve into the heart of an alternative UK, where Babel reigns as a top entry among gaslamp fantasy books. It's a great, bestselling read, peppered with the essence of urban exploration and thrilling action, an adventure that will leave you breathless and wanting more. For fans of Rebecca Yarros (Iron Flame), Leigh Bardungo (Six of Crows), Brandon Sanderson (The Way of Kings) and Olivie Blake (The Atlas Six) and Samantha Shannon (The Priory of the Orange Tree).
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 R.F. Kuang (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Kuang has crafted a masterpiece that resonates with power and knowledge. Babel is a stark picture of the cruelty of empire, a distillation of dark academia, and a riveting blend of fantasy and historical fiction – a monumental achievement, from the footnotes to the final page." (Samantha Shannon, author of Priory of The Orange Tree)
"Ambitious, sweeping and epic." (Evening Standard)
"An ingenious fantasy about empire’." (Guardian)
What listeners say about Babel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Hannah Mark
- 14-11-22
Flat
I really wanted this to be great - the concept and world building is some of the most I retesting I’ve seen for a while! But ultimately it just a fell very very flat.
I’ve been trying to figure out what it is about jt that didn’t work for me and the thing that keeps coming to mind is the cast of characters. I don’t think characters need to be good or likeable to be interesting, but they do need to be interesting to me that story compelling, and I can’t say I felt much interest in any of the characters. They were doing interesting things, giving interesting proclamations, but they all felt very shallow and half sketched out.
Super happy to see more stories like this about the looming spectre of colonialism and especially colonised languages, but this one wasn’t quite it chief
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Isabelle
- 19-11-22
Best read of the year!
I LOVED this book.
beautifully written. Fantastically unique story and magic system. I fell in love with all the characters
off to get a physical copy so I can force my friends to read it too!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Louise Shaw
- 25-01-23
Brilliant
Thorough enjoyed the book and the narration was amazing! - some of the best I have heard on audible
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 15-02-23
Great story
Very good story, captivating throughout. Performance was marvellous too. Looking forward to reading more from R.F. Kuang.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sara
- 28-01-23
Not quite good enough
The social injustice parts are a bit too repetitive and don't quite mesh into the story
The story is a bit too random, and sometimes the opposite, too easy to predict
The characters are good and the university setting is cosy and fun
I think I would have liked a shorter version better
And I would have liked it to be more about translation and translation magic, but that's just me
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fran
- 27-05-23
Wow. Just wow
Not only was this narrator incredible in capturing the characters voice, the story itself pulled me in at all levels. Kuang is a master of her craft and her research is everything
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- CMV
- 05-04-23
Great concept but ultimately disappointing
I enjoyed the first ½ or so of the book but the final half failed to deliver on the initial promise. Instead, it almost became a heavy-handed and unconvincing political manifesto.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ms. L. Billington
- 14-01-24
The person doing all the characters in this audiobook is incredible.
The person doing all the characters in this audiobook is incredible and the story is absorbing from the beginning, with historical references scattered throughout. Blew my mind that the author was just 27 years old at the time of publication.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kate
- 21-02-24
Masterpiece
Incredibly well written, sharp commentary on imperialism but also a fantastic piece of historic fiction.
Simply brilliant and masterfully narrated.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Mark Kelly
- 06-04-24
Very tame story
The book was just to long for the content that was in it. it was the last hour or so before I found a bit I was looking forward to going back to.
I guess this one was just not for me but hopefully it will be down your street.
Allot of history that I was not to interested in.
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