From the author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel is a towering work of fantasy with 1830s Oxford as its center. Robin Swift, orphaned by a cholera outbreak in Canton and brought to England as the ward of the severe Professor Lovell, grapples with the extractive cruelty of the British Empire even as he falls in love with the study of translation and the arcane magic of silver-working. Robin is forced to choose between assisting the underground Hermes Society and its goal of redistributing the wealth of empire and preserving his life and friendships at Oxford. This is a deeply felt and tightly plotted exploration of the interpersonal and global trauma of colonialism that takes its strength from both its true-to-life relationships and the ingenious mechanics of its fantastical elements.
