Babel

The Books of Babel #1-4

by Josiah Bancroft

Genres: Fantasy

Kindle Edition

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

[Carie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is my ultimate comfort read. I've revisited it multiple times, and what keeps me coming back are the subtle inner world connections that reveal just how much thought and planning the author poured into the series. Bancroft explores serious questions of society, power, and relationships. For example, he addresses the female experience of threatening toxic masculinity with deep understanding. Yet, his writing is a delightful blend of wit and wry humor, with wordplay that'll leave you grinning. The snappy back-and-forth dialogues between characters is pure gold. It's a perfect balance of intelligence and fun. I keep coming back to spend more time with Senlin and his crew.

[Chris P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the overall themes and ideas of this series of four books. However, I found that it turned into an effort to keep going to the end, despite wanting to see how the story finished. This was mainly due to the author’s overly descriptive and flowery writing style that felt as if he added unusual and archaic words to prove his vocabulary, rather than to enhance the reader’s experience. It also felt as if the four books could easily have been condensed by a large margin while still retaining a satisfying narrative.