Babel

I liked this quite a bit.

The first half is a Harry Potter-style narrative of the joy of finding your place in a school, of being able to study. I relate very well to this concept and the author does a great job conveying the joy of being an academic. But then it's all tinged with rot, from the beginning, and it's all kind of awful while simultaneously being appealing. Interesting writing trick!

The second half is more of an adventure and story of rebellion. Honestly I felt the politics in the book and the action seeing out those politics were a little simplistic. But hey, it's a fantasy novel, it's OK that it not be too deep or subtle.

And it's a fantastic story of rebellion. Mapping industrial revolution England to a magic university was a stroke of genius. And rooting a novel like this in 19th century opposition to colonialism feels like a vital, necessary story to tell. Really enjoyed that.

Wanted to highlight a couple of themes. One is magic coming from the mismatches in meanings in translation. Really great literary device and clearly the author had fun researching etymologies. The other is the theme of the narrator being mostly sympathetic but doing monstrous things in reaction to external events. That was a big thing in the Poppy War trilogy as well and it's kind of upsetting, honestly, particularly to the extent the main character feels like an author stand-in in places. Interesting choice!

The book is at its strongest when she references real-world historical events, like the revolution in Haiti. it's at its weakest when she's fabricating her own fictional historical narrative, the details of Robin's story. Particularly towards the end once things get going with Hermes, just too simple and rapidly written to feel truthful.