Babel, or The Necessity of Violence

So many mixed feelings about this book. I found the lectures fascinating, the concept for the magic system was intriguing and unique, overall I loved the first 50% of this book... but the second half felt like a death march. The foreshadowing is pretty heavy throughout and ultimately It was a long time to wait for the inevitable to occur, but no less heartbreaking when it finally did. I usually go to fantasy for escapism, or for a safe place to explore some bigger philosophical ideas, or new perspectives. This did not feel like escapism, the parallels that this book explores are pretty much one-to-one with the real world. I think I would have been more okay with that if the book had more to say about it. Why introduce magic at all if it doesn't change anything? The other issue I had is the characters didn't seem to understand their own objectives... what if we win? Don't know. They want a more equal society? but none of their plans are designed to realize that dream... their cause is just, but Ill conceived and deeply tragic.


The writing is really wonderful throughout, it has great moments and I alternated between both hating and loving all the main characters, which is exactly how I want to feel about my protagonists. They felt real and flawed and relatable... for the most part. (The whole cover-up felt ridiculous, and a lot of the decisions in the last half felt motivated by plot rather than character) The feeling that this book left me with was sadness in a non-fiction sort of way. Like, sad for the world and humankind and helpless to change it. The ending did have some lovely symmetry (Robin's name) and ultimately there is a lot to dig into here, for a book club or something similar. Like I said I loved the first half. As a whole though, I can't say I enjoyed it but I am glad I read it. Soooo read it? But be ready to feel, bad, sad, helpless, and uncomfortable.