An Empyreal Retinue

The Books of Babel

by Josiah Bancroft, Todd Kidd (Illustrator)

Expanding upon the world of The Books of Babel, this collection of short works builds upon the Tower in directions both acquainted and strange.

Herein, readers will find a heartbreaking account of the Sphinx as she prepares to receive expected but unwelcome guests.

Intrepid bibliophiles will be dazzled by Byron’s bravery as he charges headlong into a paperwork labyrinth and locks horns with a misanthropic minotaur.

Sensitive witnesses will delight in John Tarrou’s evolution from romantic naïf into sickly waif languishing upon porcelain shores in the grips of a theatrical cure.

Devotees of poetic justice will find satisfaction in Finn Goll’s grasp for redemption with hands caked in gun powder and book glue.

In addition to these familiar sagas, this volume contains a number of new meditations upon the spire’s innumerable facets: a bookseller tries his hand at racing airships; a youthful orphan seeks sanctuary in a ruin; an ambitious vendor of fleece is reacquainted with the value of his own pelt; and two explorers of the cruising Nebos stumble upon an unexpected stowaway.

To guide visitors, the author supplies a preamble in which he attempts to account for these tales that seek to enrich tourists, zealots, and hods alike.

Table of Contents:

Author’s Note
Of Opals and Imposters
An Unexpected Guest
The Stars Behind the Stars
Into the Misanthropolis
The Buzzard Men
We Sorry Lot of Martyrs
The Merchant of Blue Wool
An Empyreal Retinue

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Novella, Collections, Science Fiction

176 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2023

About the author

Before settling down to write fantasy novels, Josiah Bancroft was a poet, college instructor, and aspiring comic book artist. When he is not writing, he enjoys recording the Crit Faced podcast with his authorial friends, drawing the world of the Tower, and cooking dinner without a recipe. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Sharon, their daughter Maddie, and their two rabbits, Mabel and Chaplin.

Reviews

[Melanie (meltotheany)]

[august 10th, 2023] as of today, you can still get the the trade hardcover version from subterraneanpress.com!

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1.) Senlin Ascends ★★★★★
2.) Arm of the Sphinx ★★★★
3.) The Hod King ★★★★★
4.) The Fall of Babel ★★★★

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Empyreal Retinue by Josiah Bancroft is a collection of side stories to the Books of Babel. Some were things that had originally been in the books but removed in the editing process, some were ideas he never fully developed, and some were created for other purposes originally. We see Finn Goll, John Tarrou, the Sphinx, Byron, Ann, and assorted other figures from the Books of Babel. This is filled with spoilers, and should not be read until you've finished the main Books of Babel sequence. I expect superfans will love it. As a more casual fan, it was interesting, but I didn't find anything to get overly excited over.

[Emma Cathryne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've spent the past year mourning the Books of Babel following the final novel, so imagine my delight when Josiah Bancroft announced the release of several short stories set in the universe! I love when author's conceive a short story collection as a way to expand their universe while still letting the series standalone. Yoon Ha Lee's Hexarchate Stories is a great example of this, as is Brandon Sanderson's Arcanum Unbound. "An Empyreal Retinue" scales Bancroft's Tower of Babel, reintroducing familiar faces and exposing new corners of the magnificent, fickle Ringdom's stacked within the tower. My personal favorite stories were "The Ballad of Harirette and John Tarrou" which adds revealing backstory to a complicated side character, and "Into the Misanthropolis" which reunited me with Byron, Ann, and Iren for a jaunt into the Tower bureaucracy, and finally the titular "Empyreal Retinue" which serves as a mini epilogue to the Fall of Babel, and teases at possible future entries in the series/world.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being such a massive fan of The Books of Babel series, it was really painful giving An Empyreal Retinue 3 stars. The book consisted of several short stories taking place in the same world as the original series. Although some of them were nostalgic as you see some familiar faces, others are new but disappointing as I was looking forward to revisiting some of the main characters from the original. Thats not to say the new stories are bad, but there’s not much to be done in a story that’s in total around 10-15 pages long. They are quick and fun reads.

If you’re a huge fan of the original series as I am, it’s definitely worth a read, especially since it’s so short. But be prepared that you won’t see much of the original story or characters.

[Cal Craighead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Josiah Bancroft W. Highly recommend to all Books of Babel fans.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars!

An Empyreal Retinue is perfect for those like me who aren't ready to completely say goodbye to Bancroft's Babelverse. This collection is comprised of one-offs within the world along with chapters that were edited out of the final books. As such I'd only recommend this to those who have finished The Books of Babel.
The one-off stories really did help further flesh out the world of the Tower. For those seasoned readers of the series you could already expect that these stories don't really have happy endings. They're wistful at best and depressing at worse (The Merchant of Blue Wool does serve as an excellent case as to why the Tower ought to be burned down and salted over). But Bancroft's stunning prose does help highlight the wonder that can be found.
The edited out chapters were fun to read! It was nice to revisit some of our old friends: John Tarrou, Byron, Edith, etc. However, I do agree that Bancroft made the right call in removing these stories out. Ones like Into the Misanthropolis, We Sorry Lot of Martyrs, and An Unexpected Guests were meant to be included in The Fall of Babel and I do believe they would have bogged down an already beefy book. A lot of people already had gripes about the length and pacing of the final book and while I don't agree, I must admit the inclusion of any of these stories would have been stretching it. That being said it was nice to see what little side scenes could have made it to the series.
Overall, this was a satisfying read. I'm perfectly at peace with how The Fall of Babel ended and the conclusion to the arcs of the characters. But I'd game to see Bancroft revisit the world of the Tower!

Favorite stories:
Of Opals and Imposters
Into the Misanthropolis
An Empyreal Retinue


"But this cosmic book had letters of light and pages of dark, whose entirety could be seen and read all at once if only one's eyes had time to adjust. And every word was in its rightful place: each perfect in itself and perfect in its accord with every other utterance. All was a blissful congruence, a crystalline equivalence, a resounding and eternal harmony."

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Spoilers*

I see why these stories didn't make the cut, but at least one answer from the main series was revealed!

Luc's consciousness is indeed in the spaceship like Reddleman's. What that means? Who knows. We learn he led a handful of navigators to their deaths and has been camping out at the ship's hangar waiting for new souls to wander by.

We follow two new explorers who are convinced by the mysterious voice in the ship (Luc) to take one of the small spacecraft for a test drive, with his consciousness aboard this time.

They encounter "parasitic space insects" (actual biological space creatures or faux life (manufactured by the Bricklayer/one of the Sphinxes?) and Luc seems interested in destroying them.

Why didn't either have alarms going off in their head when he admitted his name was Luc? Especially the former Hod? I guess their situation was pretty distracting, and the girl did decide not to connect the fuel line when they returned in order to keep Luc stuck in the small spacecraft.

And for the rest of the stories, besides the backstory for John Tarrou, they were kind of...disappointing. I wanted more answers and just got more philosophy and conjecture.

So... in the end we're again left with just more questions.

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This small book is a companion to the author's Books of Babel. As he points out in an introduction, these stories contain spoilers for the series, so should be read after the series.

Of course, it is unlikely someone unfamiliar with the series would even attempt to read this book, as the stories would be extremely puzzling without the context of the series.

So, how do the stories rate? It is great to revisit the world of Babel, with Bancroft's trademark wit and sly wordplay. One gets the impression he really enjoys his characters, even the ones who come to a dismal fate. The stories are, in the main, very ancillary to the books themselves and often include the sort of character backstory that one finds in these kinds of supplementary books.

Nevertheless, and despite the fact that some of them were cuttings from the main books, they hold up nicely as little vignettes that provide some additional ornamentation to the bauble of Babel.

Now I'm beginning to write like Bancroft. I'd better stop now.

[Anjali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me state right off the bat that I thoroughly loved the Books of Babel series. Bancroft is a talented writer who is great at both world-building and character development. This slim collection of short stories set in and around the world of the Tower is a fine addition to the series, but overall left me a little disengaged. I think this is probably because the books themselves were so immersive, and in general I don't connect very well with shorter forms of fiction. If you loved the series, definitely pick up the collection. Ideally, you would read this after finishing all four novels, but before too much time has passed (probably the greatest set-back to my enjoyment of this collection). I will definitely read any future novels set in this world, but I just need to remind myself that short stories aren't my jam with a very small number of exceptions. Thank you to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for a digital review copy.

[Ryan Schaller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining stories but highly recommend having read the first three Books of Babel before starting on these. More-so to understand the setting than for spoilers. Bancroft doesn't spend much time introducing various elements of the tower and its residents in these. Probably confusing if you tried to read these first.

Last story needs to be saved until after finish the 4 book main series.

This is (currently) only available from Subterranean Press which is a small/limited press in the fantasy and sci-fi genres. The physical book and its artwork are both top notch.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story collection set in the world of his Babel series, although some of the stories are more like 'deleted scenes' from the series rather than stories in their own right. One of the fascinating things about the series was discovering new part of the titular tower and I think Into the Misanthropolis, which explores a dystopian ringdom of bureaucrats, was one of the highlights. The title story, which is the only one to be set after the events of the series, probably has the most interesting narrative. I think fans of the series should find this collection interesting, but it's not really essential.

[Hunter Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

After DNFing Hexologists, I was hoping to reignite the same spark Babel left me with for Bancrofts work, and most of the stories hit the spot. I wasn't huge on the last one, since it wasn't what I expected, and as a closing story it left me a bit on a sour note. Totally on account of my expectations and not his writing, because the actual writing of it was great.

[Josse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun to be back in the Tower, even for a little bit. This was a fun collection of short stories set in and around the Tower where Bancroft can show his writing capabilities the best. Some were very short and a little less good than others, but overall this was a good collection. Favourites were Into the Misanthropolis, The Merchant of Blue Wool, and An Empyreal Retinue itself.

[Michael Frasca · Rating 5 out of 5]

**Spoiler warning** - don't read this book until after you finish Josiah Bancroft's Tower of Babel tetralogy.

A collection of outtakes, deleted scenes, and back stories for the tetralogy along with one original tale that takes place after the end of the The Fall of Babel.

Bancroft did a very nice job reworking the material into good stand-alone stories.

[Edie · Rating 3 out of 5]

some stories worked well but others felt meh when tying into the original babel series. enjoyed the new one-off story quite a lot though. still always a blast to revisit the tower and my favorite characters regardless.

[Dima · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic companion piece to the Tower of Babel books. Some stories fall flat, but the majority retain the same energy and vivacity as the main books. Many stories were particularly cynical (delightfully so!), especially the story about Mr Nelson.
A must have for any Bancroft fan.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this world a lot, but all this material felt like it would be a good edition to an omnibus, rather than a standalone volume. I liked the stories well enough, but I wanted a little more from almost all of them.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories fall a bit flat but overall I enjoyed most of them, especially, the final story.

[Haley Parish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josiah, I really hope you're planning on writing more! Especially after the jump scare at the end!!

[Austin Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

96/100

5 stars - 90/100
4 stars - 80/100
3 stars - 70/100
2 stars - 60/100
1 star - 50/100

[India (IndiaReadsALot) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have read this straight after I finished the series as my brain was working overtime trying to remember the plot and some of these characters.

[Jia Cherng · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of short stories that nicely supplements the main series. It’s a good and engaging read that adds depth to the world and characters fans already love.