Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

560 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality—her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world—that is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion.

Review

This was probably my most anticipated read of the year, and it (mostly) lived up to my expectations. I loved the concept of this book. I enjoyed that it felt like the characters were the experts, and I was just a witness to their genius. It was so close to being a 5 star book for me, but I just didn't absolutely love the ending. The little bit of romance we get in this was also just okay to me. Still, Kuang stays up there as one of my favorite authors with this one.

Babel by R. F. Kuang

Babel by R. F. Kuang

544 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

Review

So good! It's very dense, but incredibly well researched and tackles such interesting topics, especially the relationship between colonialism and language, and also race, class and academia. And I loved how the magic was based around language.