The Hod King
Ratings91
Average rating4.5
Two in a row! Right after reading Elantris, a new all time favorite, I read another all time favorite, The Hod King. Books of Babel might just be my new favorite series. Not only are the characters fleshed out, but the plot AND the setting are ingenious.
Each book in this series has made an impression, but the Hod King is so far the most significant chapter. It's in this book that we see so much payoff, but we also see a sociopolitical theme that hits the mark on our nation's current perception of the world. I'm not usually the one who search's books for these type of standards, but I'm the one who looks for relatability.
The Fall of Babel, the finale, comes out in a few months and I'm too ready for it.
Our exploration of Bancroft's Steampunk Tower of Babel continues with this penultimate entry to the series. The invention of this series is second to none - weird and wonderful worldbuilding unlike anything else I have encountered. Here we are largely focused on the Ringdom (kingdom) of Pelphia.
Tom has been separated from the rest of his crew and sent to infiltrate first (under strict instructions not to try and contact his wife) whilst the rest of crew make their way there in the Sphinx's own airship. We finally begin to get more info on Tom's wife and more info on what the Hod's are up to.
The story continues to race along in its wave of whimsy. Bancroft has a wonderful gentle wit that permeates everything he writes. The characters are flawed but interesting and the world is fascinating. The Books of Babel are unlike anything else I have encountered - a highly recommended read!
crazy this book is crazy. I loved it. wasn't the biggest fan of the way the book is layed out with by following a character and then going back and following them and going back, but once i had finished the book it made more sense why it was done that way.
Bancroft really knows how to keep up the suspense/anticipation. everytime we leave a character it is at exactly the wrong moment because something has just happened and now what. a different POV and i have to catch up to that time again. Well Done, Well Done
i'm glad that this book answered most of my questions from the last book mainly questions about Marya's baby but i'm glad to report its Senlin's and that Marya still loves himLoved the purpose of Pelphia as a giant circuit breaker. made a roller coaster for replacing fuses.
Senlins story this part was great and i'm anxiously awaiting what happens in book 4
I stopped reading at 35%, because I don't find it that interesting. I really liked the previous books in the series, but the thing here is that one third is from Senlin's perspective (I like him, I like this, obviously), then we skip to one third for Voleta, who to me is the epitome of annoying quirky hyper girlie (hello Kizzy, my old friend) and then supposedly Edith is the last, whom... I don't really have that much of a problem with, but I also don't love. I would have probably kept reading longeri f Edith came before Voleta, but as things are I'm kind of bored.
I will most likely try reading this later again, so I'm not going to rate this now, but I need something I enjoy more.
Two things were immediately apparent to me as soon as I finished this book. First, this is the best book in the series yet. And second, this will be the most divisive book in the series so far. The former is just my opinion, but the latter seems to be coming up in many of the reviews I've seen.
So why the division?
The Hod King has an unusual narrative structure. Instead of going linearly from start to finish, we get the story told from three distinct POVs. We start with Senlin entering the ringdom of Pelphia on a mission for the Sphinx, rewind to show the same time period from Voleta's perspective, and then rewind once more to see what Edith is up to. While we don't experience the exact same timeframe with each head hop, there is a good bit of overlap.
This slows down the pacing a bit, but I loved every moment of it. I'm a sucker for revisiting a scene from another POV and having to readjust my entire understanding of what actually went down. Plus I've always seen the Babel books as more character-driven than plot-driven, so there was no retreading the same ground from a character arc point of view.
Picking up immediately after the end of the second book, The Hod King follows Senlin and the others on a series of misadventures in Pelphia. Marya has never been so close to being rescued before, though Senlin is plagued by doubt as to whether she desires rescue in the first place. Voleta and Iren are sent in to infiltrate high society, and Edith is charged with the duty to collect Pelphia's Ogier painting for the Sphinx. Things don't go easy for any of the crew, and it's almost always their fault.
Whenever gray morality is mentioned, it's often referring to grimdark antiheroes who are willing to commit heinous acts of violence to accomplish their goals. This has always seemed a narrow application of the term to me. There are more variations than good, bad, and halfway between.
Take Thomas Senlin, for instance. Some readers love him, finding him a relatable everyman hoping to rescue his wife. Others hate his self-absorption and harmful naivete. Neither are wrong, and that's one of the reasons why I love Senlin as a character. As the story progresses, I don't know if I can call him “good”, but I certainly wouldn't label him “evil”. He's somewhere between, but bears no resemblance to the gritty antiheroes that rose to popularity in recent years.
The same is true for most of the other characters. They're all complex individuals with flaws they struggle to overcome. Well, it might be more fitting to say their flaws propel them through one unfortunate turn of events after another, and if they grow from their mistakes it's because they've somehow survived. When the characters are unlikable, it's not because they're acting in ways that are utterly repulsive. It's because we as readers can see in them our own shortcomings, and their mistakes could easily mirror our own. With a bit of dramatization, of course.
Rather than eliminating players once they've been taken off the board, Bancroft simply slips them back into his pocket to be brought back out again later. But rather than this feeling like cheating, we simply realize that the game being placed is different than what we though all along.
This was also my first experience with the Books of Babel series in audio. John Banks captured the essence of each character in their voices, building them up in a way I hadn't experienced in the text alone. And for a series with characters as brilliant as the Books of Babel, that's saying a lot.
The Hod King was a strong addition to the series, and I'm thrilled to see where the final book goes.
Loved this book and can not wait for the last book in the series to come next! Come the Hod King!
What an awesome ride! I loved the splitting plotlines and the re-convergence. I loved the opening quips of the chapters and the couple of new main characters. Very well done!
4.5 out of 5 stars
In this third installment of The Books of Babel series, author Josiah Bancroft shakes up the narrative structure yet again and we're presented with three distinct, non-concurrent storylines that all take place over the same period of time. This doesn't push the overall story forward very far, but it provides us with sustained and worthwhile time with several wonderful characters.
Bancroft could write a kitchen appliance manual and I'd happily read it. The fact that he's built such a wondrous world and a story that makes such perfect use of his unique voice and style makes it all the better. The witticisms, turns of phrase, vivid images, fully drawn characters, and the magnificent setting all coalesce into something truly remarkable.
In my review of Arm of the Sphinx, I concluded that this series “has the makings of a modern fantasy classic.” Well, makings have been made. This series is a modern fantasy classic.
Come the Hod King.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
