❤️ loved this book because...
Wow, what an achievement. A truly fresh story with lots of undercurrents, so smartly written without being too pedantic. I think the only other book that comes close in terms of great story+deep thoughtfulness is Philip Pullman's “His Dark Materials” series.
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Loved Most
🥇 Originality 🥈 Immersion -
Writing style
❤️ Loved it -
Pace
🐇 I couldn't put it down
16 authors picked Babel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
THE #2 SUNDAY TIMES AND #1 NYT BESTSELLER
'One for Philip Pullman fans'
THE TIMES
'An ingenious fantasy about empire'
GUARDIAN
'Fans of THE SECRET HISTORY, this one is an automatic buy'
GLAMOUR
'Ambitious, sweeping and epic'
EVENING STANDARD
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…