Daniel Chen’s Reviews > Babel > Status Update

End of Book V: The sentiment of the final passages is very beautiful and poignant, but I feel that it is an ending lifted from another story and grafted onto this one. I can see how the first 1/2 of the book leads here, but the way in which Kuang brings us there doesn't land in the "can't stop reading" way. Who are Ibrahaim / Juliana? Who is Prof. Craft? Why do they make the choices they do? Really hard to say.

The story is going off the rails, the narration and decisions are becoming a little too clean and clinical for my tastes. The observations about capital and racism are sharp and to-the-point, but they are a stated in a way that doesn't seem consistent with the characterization. Something about the finale is ringing false in general, lots of big action, little character development.

End of Book II: As deftly paced as Book I, but fraying at the seams of its character webs and story intricacy. It feels like Robin is following the templatic bildungsroman of dystopian empire instead of organically wrestling with the incongruities and impasses of his education. The omniscient narrator is doing a lot of heavy lifting when the unsaid gaps between headlines, to me, can more lovingly reveal themselves.

Book I: Compelling introduction, Kuang's worldbuilding is crystal clear and it's easy to find value in the literary world Robin finds value in. I like how academic and storied the footnotes feel too. Not a huge fan of the "prophetic doom" omniscient narration, hopefully that doesn't become a recurring trend. Rooting for continued (hopefully not endlessly one-sided) Robin-Ramy sexual tension!