What do you think?
Rate this book
The Books of Babel #4
The Fall of Babel
The incredible final book in the word of mouth phenomenon fantasy series that began with Senlin Ascends.
"The "Books of Babel" are something you hope to see perhaps once a decade — future classics, which may be remembered long after the series concludes." -- (Los Angeles Times)
As Marat's siege engine bores through the Tower, erupting inside ringdoms and leaving chaos in its wake, Senlin can do nothing but observe the mayhem from inside the belly of the beast. Caught in a charade, Senlin desperately tries to sabotage the rampaging Hod King, even as Marat's objective grows increasingly clear. The leader of the zealots is bound for the Sphinx's lair and the unimaginable power it contains.
In the city under glass at the Tower's summit, Adam discovers a utopia where everyone inexplicably knows the details of his past. As Adam unravels the mystery of his fame, he soon discovers the crowning ringdom conceals a much darker secret.
Aboard the State of Art, Edith and her crew adjust to the reality that Voleta has awoken from death changed. She seems to share more in common with the Red Hand now than her former self. While Edith wars for the soul of the young woman, a greater crisis looms: They will have to face Marat on unequal footing and with Senlin caught in the crossfire.
And when the Bridge of Babel is finally opened, and the Brick Layer's true ambition revealed, neither they nor the Tower will ever be the same again. Also by Josiah Bancroft: The Books of BabelSenlin AscendsArm of the SphinxThe Hod KingThe Fall of Babel
"The "Books of Babel" are something you hope to see perhaps once a decade — future classics, which may be remembered long after the series concludes." -- (Los Angeles Times)
As Marat's siege engine bores through the Tower, erupting inside ringdoms and leaving chaos in its wake, Senlin can do nothing but observe the mayhem from inside the belly of the beast. Caught in a charade, Senlin desperately tries to sabotage the rampaging Hod King, even as Marat's objective grows increasingly clear. The leader of the zealots is bound for the Sphinx's lair and the unimaginable power it contains.
In the city under glass at the Tower's summit, Adam discovers a utopia where everyone inexplicably knows the details of his past. As Adam unravels the mystery of his fame, he soon discovers the crowning ringdom conceals a much darker secret.
Aboard the State of Art, Edith and her crew adjust to the reality that Voleta has awoken from death changed. She seems to share more in common with the Red Hand now than her former self. While Edith wars for the soul of the young woman, a greater crisis looms: They will have to face Marat on unequal footing and with Senlin caught in the crossfire.
And when the Bridge of Babel is finally opened, and the Brick Layer's true ambition revealed, neither they nor the Tower will ever be the same again. Also by Josiah Bancroft: The Books of BabelSenlin AscendsArm of the SphinxThe Hod KingThe Fall of Babel
636 pages, Paperback
First published November 9, 2021
About the author
Josiah Bancroft
15 books3,512 followersBefore 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,041 reviews
October 10, 2023
Out today!
I spent a long time reading this one. It's a long book and I was in no hurry to finish since it marks the end of a truly excellent quadrillogy.
Endings are difficult. In the midst of a story you can toss out new characters and twists and worldbuilding with scarcely a care (GRRM). At the end there is an accounting to be had. Many great authors stumble at the last hurdle. I'm not sure I've ever read a great ending to a Stephen King book, but that didn't stop me hugely enjoying the beginning and the middle, and even the book as a whole.
Bancroft has given us Senlin, Marya, Olivette, Iren, Ann, Edith, Voletta, Adam, Bryon, Reddleman and a host of lesser characters to care about, and each needs an ending, or one very large explosion. Not only that, but he has seeded the previous three books with all manner of mysteries that we, the reader, ache to be ... unmystified. We want to know the purpose of the tower, the reason for all these scattered pictures, the nature of the bridge that will be unlocked, we want to know what the Bricklayer was up to. We want to know how the sparkmen knew everything about Adam, goddamit.
Set against all that. Set against the resolutions required ... 650 pages begin to look too few. And, indeed, the font was very small, requiring this old man to reach for his reading glasses for the first time ever!
All of this sounds as if I'm preparing you for disappointment. And I'm really not. It's a great book. An easy 5*.
It wasn't my favourite of the four. In fact, whilst reminding you once more that it's an easy 5*, it was my least favourite. It was still, however, a top notch book, exciting, imaginative, moving, full of razor sharp writing and great observation.
One small testimonial to Bancroft's writing skills are the scores of boxed snippets above each chapter number. A line or three snipped from some imagined book, guide, diary, or memoir. The wit and observation in these alone constitutes a lake of talent. I would struggle to come up with half a dozen of these given days to think about little else. Bancroft apparently plucks them from the air.
The truth is, that the effort of giving endings to all these people, plots, and mysteries, places an extra burden on the story. And the fact that it carries on at a jaunty pace beneath all that is highly commendable.
The book opens with a lengthy chunk of storytelling about Adam, who was separated from the rest of the characters at the end of ... book 2, I think, and was absent for book 3. But it's a really good bit of story that brings him to life, illuminates some mysteries, and introduces us to the top of the tower, where the story has always been wending its way.
Luc Marat provides the villainy, aiming his Hod King into trouble. We're introduced to a cast of rogue wakemen who, as Marat's henchmen, provide a foil for Captain Winter's crew. There are quite a few fights between these folk and Edith, Iren, Voletta, and Reddleman. Some may feel too many. And it might have been nice to have met these people in earlier books given their role here. But these are minor gripes.
The main takeaway is that The Fall of Babel does its job admirably. We get the worldclass prose, the wit, the observation that we've come to expect. We get large doses of our favourite characters. Mysteries are unraveled. Endings are given. There's a little bitter in the sweet, but you need that or the sweetness would be cloying.
It's a great read, and together the four books are just a brilliant addition to the fantasy genre that everyone should read, and that will be enjoyed for years to come.
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year mailing list #prizes
..
I spent a long time reading this one. It's a long book and I was in no hurry to finish since it marks the end of a truly excellent quadrillogy.
Endings are difficult. In the midst of a story you can toss out new characters and twists and worldbuilding with scarcely a care (GRRM). At the end there is an accounting to be had. Many great authors stumble at the last hurdle. I'm not sure I've ever read a great ending to a Stephen King book, but that didn't stop me hugely enjoying the beginning and the middle, and even the book as a whole.
Bancroft has given us Senlin, Marya, Olivette, Iren, Ann, Edith, Voletta, Adam, Bryon, Reddleman and a host of lesser characters to care about, and each needs an ending, or one very large explosion. Not only that, but he has seeded the previous three books with all manner of mysteries that we, the reader, ache to be ... unmystified. We want to know the purpose of the tower, the reason for all these scattered pictures, the nature of the bridge that will be unlocked, we want to know what the Bricklayer was up to. We want to know how the sparkmen knew everything about Adam, goddamit.
Set against all that. Set against the resolutions required ... 650 pages begin to look too few. And, indeed, the font was very small, requiring this old man to reach for his reading glasses for the first time ever!
All of this sounds as if I'm preparing you for disappointment. And I'm really not. It's a great book. An easy 5*.
It wasn't my favourite of the four. In fact, whilst reminding you once more that it's an easy 5*, it was my least favourite. It was still, however, a top notch book, exciting, imaginative, moving, full of razor sharp writing and great observation.
One small testimonial to Bancroft's writing skills are the scores of boxed snippets above each chapter number. A line or three snipped from some imagined book, guide, diary, or memoir. The wit and observation in these alone constitutes a lake of talent. I would struggle to come up with half a dozen of these given days to think about little else. Bancroft apparently plucks them from the air.
The truth is, that the effort of giving endings to all these people, plots, and mysteries, places an extra burden on the story. And the fact that it carries on at a jaunty pace beneath all that is highly commendable.
The book opens with a lengthy chunk of storytelling about Adam, who was separated from the rest of the characters at the end of ... book 2, I think, and was absent for book 3. But it's a really good bit of story that brings him to life, illuminates some mysteries, and introduces us to the top of the tower, where the story has always been wending its way.
Luc Marat provides the villainy, aiming his Hod King into trouble. We're introduced to a cast of rogue wakemen who, as Marat's henchmen, provide a foil for Captain Winter's crew. There are quite a few fights between these folk and Edith, Iren, Voletta, and Reddleman. Some may feel too many. And it might have been nice to have met these people in earlier books given their role here. But these are minor gripes.
The main takeaway is that The Fall of Babel does its job admirably. We get the worldclass prose, the wit, the observation that we've come to expect. We get large doses of our favourite characters. Mysteries are unraveled. Endings are given. There's a little bitter in the sweet, but you need that or the sweetness would be cloying.
It's a great read, and together the four books are just a brilliant addition to the fantasy genre that everyone should read, and that will be enjoyed for years to come.
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year mailing list #prizes
..
May 5, 2023
ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.
1.5/5 stars
The Fall of Babel is not just a title; it is a state. A state where the quality of the series ends up.
Josiah Bancroft, please do not read this review. I love your previous books, and I would prefer your memory of my thoughts on your books remains that way; leave it in the state of innocence and happiness just like Senlin before he entered the Tower of Babel. Now, let’s get on with the review.
I will not lie; I am incredibly disappointed with The Fall of Babel. I never expected I would give such a low rating to this book. Those who’ve read this book will know where my first issue lies. The decision to put Adam Boreas as the only POV character in the first 200 pages was simply excessive. Instead of immediately reading the continuation of The Hod King, we’re forced to spend our time with Adam Boreas as he lives in a new Ringdom named after his name: Boredom. It took me almost a WEEK to read through the first 200 pages; I usually read 150-200 pages a day. That’s how disconnected and uninterested I was with Adam’s storyline. And to make things even worse, Adam’s section felt almost entirely unnecessary to be put in the front of the novel; it belongs in a separate novella or at the end of The Hod King. I’m not saying Adam should be excluded from The Fall of Babel, but this is also the final book of the series, and he was entirely absent in the previous book that it’s hard for me to care what’s going on with him. The Hod King was brilliant, and the way it ended makes me want to get back to my beloved characters as soon as possible. Instead, we’re forced to read Adam Boreas’s boring story with some brand new characters I didn’t care for about 200 pages. The effect of this, after struggling through the first part for a week, which is a new record for the slowest reading time I’ve ever had, by the time I got back to reading the other characters, I already don’t care about the any of the characters beside Senlin, Marya, and Byron. I just wanted to be done with the book as soon as possible.
But that’s not all. It actually took me another week to finish the rest of the novel; this makes The Fall of Babel the longest time I ever spent to finish a book. It’s insane, The Fall of Babel consists of 241k words but it felt like 600k words. For comparison, Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson (460k words) took me a week to start and finish, and The Stand Uncut Edition by Stephen King (468k words) took me ten days. I don’t know about you, but often I can measure how invested and enamored I am by a book through how fast—not intentionally, but I always feel like I WANT to continue reading—I can read through it. Yes, the immense pacing issues I had with the beginning of this book could’ve been fixed simply by having all the POV characters appearing interchangeably instead of doing it in a large chunk. It’s also true that this worked in The Hod King, but it didn’t in here, not for me anyway. But The Fall of Babel felt like four novellas combined into one book, and the only sections I loved from the book were the four long chapters titled “From the Belly of the Beast” and some of the chapters in the last part of the novel, at least until the ending happened.
Here’s the thing, I’m invested in Senlin’s journey to be reunited with Marya; this has been the case since Senlin Ascends, and this remains the main focus of the previous three books. Even in The Hod King where other characters like Edith and Voleta take the central stage, Senlin remains the main character of the series. But not in this final book; Senlin is put in a secondary role. The “From the Belly of the Beast” chapters I mentioned were the only Senlin chapters we get, and they’re amazing. That’s it, though. Honestly, this book reminded me of reading The Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan; Vaelin was the focus in Blood Song, but he has become a side character in the final book. This is what happened with Senlin, and other than him, Marya, and Byron, none of the characters captivated me anymore.
The Fall of Babel is well-written, just like always; I highlighted a myriad of epigraphs. But beautiful prose alone isn’t enough for me to love a book. Investment in characters needs to continue, revelations need to make sense, and the narrative has to be able to captivate me, among many things. On several levels, The Fall of Babel to achieve this. Also, unlike the previous three books, The Fall of Babel is bursting with action scenes, and in my opinion, they’re not engaging because Bancroft’s prose isn’t suitable for it. This is, as I said, mostly caused by the lack of investment I had with the characters besides Senlin’s story. And other than that, the action scenes from other POV characters ran on too long for their own good. It even almost felt like they were put there for the sake of making the novel even longer. Then there’s also the hallucinations, dream sequences, and also ‘time travel’ that felt out of place. And finally, the ending, which was extremely disappointing and unsatisfying. The resolution between characters left a lot to desire, revelations given felt like they came out of nowhere, unanswered questions are still at large; it was one of the worst endings I’ve ever read. Seriously, after everything, I can’t believe the book concludes Senlin and Marya’s story like that. Stephen King could write a better ending than this, and I consider him one of the worst when it comes to endings.
I’m sure this review is just an unpopular opinion, I can already feel all the spoon of Bancroft's fans being raised, and I genuinely hope people love this book and series. But in my opinion, The Fall of Babel was utterly disappointing. I wanted to love it. I really do. I mean, I even reread the previous three books just to refresh my memory before I read The Fall of Babel so I can enjoy every detail of it. For those of you who don’t know, this is something that I rarely do due to my mountainous TBR pile, but I did it for The Books of Babel because I highly enjoyed the first three books. I chose this as the last fantasy book I read in 2021, it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and unfortunately, it ended up being the disappointment of the year.
Series review:
Senlin Ascends: 4.5/5 stars
Arm of the Sphinx: 4/5 stars
The Hod King: 5/5 stars
The Fall of Babel: 1.5/5 stars
The Books of Babel: 15/20 stars
You can order this book from: Blackwells (Free International shipping)
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Andrew, Annabeth, Ben, Blaise, Diana, Dylan, Edward, Element, Ellen, Ellis, Gary, Hamad, Helen, Jimmy Nutts, Jennifer, Joie, Luis, Lufi, Melinda, Meryl, Mike, Miracle, Neeraja, Nicholas, Oliver, ReignBro, Reno, Samuel, Sarah, Sarah, Scott, Xero, Wendy, Wick, Zoe.
1.5/5 stars
The Fall of Babel is not just a title; it is a state. A state where the quality of the series ends up.
Josiah Bancroft, please do not read this review. I love your previous books, and I would prefer your memory of my thoughts on your books remains that way; leave it in the state of innocence and happiness just like Senlin before he entered the Tower of Babel. Now, let’s get on with the review.
“You could resent yourself for your imperfect enjoyment of your life, but that seems to me like a never-ending chore. A thankless one, too. I think that if we really knew how good our lives were while they were good, we’d be too scared to do anything, change anything. We’d never take a risk, or explore, or grow. You can hate yourself for not fully appreciating your happy days while you had them, or you could look back and be warmed by the memory, couldn’t you?”
I will not lie; I am incredibly disappointed with The Fall of Babel. I never expected I would give such a low rating to this book. Those who’ve read this book will know where my first issue lies. The decision to put Adam Boreas as the only POV character in the first 200 pages was simply excessive. Instead of immediately reading the continuation of The Hod King, we’re forced to spend our time with Adam Boreas as he lives in a new Ringdom named after his name: Boredom. It took me almost a WEEK to read through the first 200 pages; I usually read 150-200 pages a day. That’s how disconnected and uninterested I was with Adam’s storyline. And to make things even worse, Adam’s section felt almost entirely unnecessary to be put in the front of the novel; it belongs in a separate novella or at the end of The Hod King. I’m not saying Adam should be excluded from The Fall of Babel, but this is also the final book of the series, and he was entirely absent in the previous book that it’s hard for me to care what’s going on with him. The Hod King was brilliant, and the way it ended makes me want to get back to my beloved characters as soon as possible. Instead, we’re forced to read Adam Boreas’s boring story with some brand new characters I didn’t care for about 200 pages. The effect of this, after struggling through the first part for a week, which is a new record for the slowest reading time I’ve ever had, by the time I got back to reading the other characters, I already don’t care about the any of the characters beside Senlin, Marya, and Byron. I just wanted to be done with the book as soon as possible.
“But understanding nothing, or very little of the world, and having no desire to understand more than you already do, well, that invites entitlement. What was a privilege becomes a right. And that, I think, is dangerous.”
But that’s not all. It actually took me another week to finish the rest of the novel; this makes The Fall of Babel the longest time I ever spent to finish a book. It’s insane, The Fall of Babel consists of 241k words but it felt like 600k words. For comparison, Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson (460k words) took me a week to start and finish, and The Stand Uncut Edition by Stephen King (468k words) took me ten days. I don’t know about you, but often I can measure how invested and enamored I am by a book through how fast—not intentionally, but I always feel like I WANT to continue reading—I can read through it. Yes, the immense pacing issues I had with the beginning of this book could’ve been fixed simply by having all the POV characters appearing interchangeably instead of doing it in a large chunk. It’s also true that this worked in The Hod King, but it didn’t in here, not for me anyway. But The Fall of Babel felt like four novellas combined into one book, and the only sections I loved from the book were the four long chapters titled “From the Belly of the Beast” and some of the chapters in the last part of the novel, at least until the ending happened.
“What is a poison to the simple may be a liquor to the wise.”
Here’s the thing, I’m invested in Senlin’s journey to be reunited with Marya; this has been the case since Senlin Ascends, and this remains the main focus of the previous three books. Even in The Hod King where other characters like Edith and Voleta take the central stage, Senlin remains the main character of the series. But not in this final book; Senlin is put in a secondary role. The “From the Belly of the Beast” chapters I mentioned were the only Senlin chapters we get, and they’re amazing. That’s it, though. Honestly, this book reminded me of reading The Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan; Vaelin was the focus in Blood Song, but he has become a side character in the final book. This is what happened with Senlin, and other than him, Marya, and Byron, none of the characters captivated me anymore.
“Those who claim to be “ready for anything” are overpacked and invariably unprepared for the one obstacle every adventurer must eventually face—disappointment.”
The Fall of Babel is well-written, just like always; I highlighted a myriad of epigraphs. But beautiful prose alone isn’t enough for me to love a book. Investment in characters needs to continue, revelations need to make sense, and the narrative has to be able to captivate me, among many things. On several levels, The Fall of Babel to achieve this. Also, unlike the previous three books, The Fall of Babel is bursting with action scenes, and in my opinion, they’re not engaging because Bancroft’s prose isn’t suitable for it. This is, as I said, mostly caused by the lack of investment I had with the characters besides Senlin’s story. And other than that, the action scenes from other POV characters ran on too long for their own good. It even almost felt like they were put there for the sake of making the novel even longer. Then there’s also the hallucinations, dream sequences, and also ‘time travel’ that felt out of place. And finally, the ending, which was extremely disappointing and unsatisfying. The resolution between characters left a lot to desire, revelations given felt like they came out of nowhere, unanswered questions are still at large; it was one of the worst endings I’ve ever read. Seriously, after everything, I can’t believe the book concludes Senlin and Marya’s story like that. Stephen King could write a better ending than this, and I consider him one of the worst when it comes to endings.
“I suppose books are like a surgeon’s scalpel. The same blade that can kill when wielded by a fool can save lives in the right hands.”
I’m sure this review is just an unpopular opinion, I can already feel all the spoon of Bancroft's fans being raised, and I genuinely hope people love this book and series. But in my opinion, The Fall of Babel was utterly disappointing. I wanted to love it. I really do. I mean, I even reread the previous three books just to refresh my memory before I read The Fall of Babel so I can enjoy every detail of it. For those of you who don’t know, this is something that I rarely do due to my mountainous TBR pile, but I did it for The Books of Babel because I highly enjoyed the first three books. I chose this as the last fantasy book I read in 2021, it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and unfortunately, it ended up being the disappointment of the year.
“I don't think there's any shame in doing your best. Of course, in hindsight, it's easy to see a better course, a wiser choice. When I look back, I see a thousand small missteps that altogether brought me here. I try not to dwell on my mistakes because it doesn't change them; it only changes me."
Series review:
Senlin Ascends: 4.5/5 stars
Arm of the Sphinx: 4/5 stars
The Hod King: 5/5 stars
The Fall of Babel: 1.5/5 stars
The Books of Babel: 15/20 stars
You can order this book from: Blackwells (Free International shipping)
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Andrew, Annabeth, Ben, Blaise, Diana, Dylan, Edward, Element, Ellen, Ellis, Gary, Hamad, Helen, Jimmy Nutts, Jennifer, Joie, Luis, Lufi, Melinda, Meryl, Mike, Miracle, Neeraja, Nicholas, Oliver, ReignBro, Reno, Samuel, Sarah, Sarah, Scott, Xero, Wendy, Wick, Zoe.
October 6, 2021
wow. i cant believe i am here and that the ending of the series has finally arrived. its definitely a lot to process.
i will say that with books #2 and #3, i was worried the story had lost its way. but im glad this conclusion finally brings the story back to where it all began - senlin reuniting with his wife.
im also glad to see the things that annoyed me about book #3 - the formatting and lack of senlin - are fixed in this final installment. all of the character POVs are integrated throughout, which makes the story feel more cohesive and progress more smoothly. it also allows the characters to show up more consistently, rather than just appear only for their POV section and then never be seen for the rest of the book. so the narrative definitely improved and, with it, so did the story and characters.
and the ending to this is one i think will be surprising to most readers, as it was to me. with a title like ‘the fall of babel,’ it isnt hard to get a certain idea of how things are supposed to play out, but i found JBs ending to be completely unexpected. especially as it leaves rooms for additional books/possible companion series.
all in all, i think this is a very satisfying ending to a long-awaited conclusion. if you havent already, i highly recommend reading the first book, ‘senlin ascends,’ as its a modern work of wonder.
a massive thanks to orbit books for the ARC!
↠ 3.5 stars
i will say that with books #2 and #3, i was worried the story had lost its way. but im glad this conclusion finally brings the story back to where it all began - senlin reuniting with his wife.
im also glad to see the things that annoyed me about book #3 - the formatting and lack of senlin - are fixed in this final installment. all of the character POVs are integrated throughout, which makes the story feel more cohesive and progress more smoothly. it also allows the characters to show up more consistently, rather than just appear only for their POV section and then never be seen for the rest of the book. so the narrative definitely improved and, with it, so did the story and characters.
and the ending to this is one i think will be surprising to most readers, as it was to me. with a title like ‘the fall of babel,’ it isnt hard to get a certain idea of how things are supposed to play out, but i found JBs ending to be completely unexpected. especially as it leaves rooms for additional books/possible companion series.
all in all, i think this is a very satisfying ending to a long-awaited conclusion. if you havent already, i highly recommend reading the first book, ‘senlin ascends,’ as its a modern work of wonder.
a massive thanks to orbit books for the ARC!
↠ 3.5 stars
January 5, 2024
1.) Senlin Ascends ★★★★★
2.) Arm of the Sphinx ★★★★
3.) The Hod King ★★★★★
Blog | Instagram | Youtube | Ko-fi | Spotify | Twitch
2.) Arm of the Sphinx ★★★★
3.) The Hod King ★★★★★
Blog | Instagram | Youtube | Ko-fi | Spotify | Twitch
November 7, 2021
A fantastic conclusion to one of my favorite series.
Full review at: https://youtu.be/zgH87UVBWP4
Full review at: https://youtu.be/zgH87UVBWP4
Shelved as 'dnf'
May 12, 2022DNF at page 406.
I’m not sure if it’s me - if I waited too long between books to start this last instalment. Or if it’s just because the tone of this one seems so different to the previous books. Senlin Ascends was my favourite but I feel like this series lost its way as it went.
It is so dense, and I’ve lost interest sadly 😔
************************
As expected. I wasn’t able to finish this in time before it needed to be returned to the library 😞
Making a note here that I am on page 300. And when I reorder it hopefully I can pick up where I left off
************************
Time to clear my schedule because this book is in transit from the library and it is 600 pages!!
Excited for this! Love this series!
I’m not sure if it’s me - if I waited too long between books to start this last instalment. Or if it’s just because the tone of this one seems so different to the previous books. Senlin Ascends was my favourite but I feel like this series lost its way as it went.
It is so dense, and I’ve lost interest sadly 😔
************************
As expected. I wasn’t able to finish this in time before it needed to be returned to the library 😞
Making a note here that I am on page 300. And when I reorder it hopefully I can pick up where I left off
************************
Time to clear my schedule because this book is in transit from the library and it is 600 pages!!
Excited for this! Love this series!
December 20, 2021
...And, finally, we have undoubtedly learned that this whole quadrilogy had really been all about Senlin... NOT.
... And we finally had all the answers about The Tower and it‘s nature and The Brick Layer and The Sphinx... NOT.
... But at least it ended, like, you know, properly. With an, um, you know, proper ending – when everything, more or less, ends, or at least gets wrapped up, and all the plot lines are resolved or at least gets addressed and, you know... NOT.
You know, this final book had been a tough read for me. It‘s very sort of a hit-and-miss for me, and not only for those reasons, mentioned above. Yes, Senlin gets relegated to a secondary character, but I could have dealt with it no problem. I even can deal no problem with not getting all the answers and even with THAT ending. But what really disappointed me the most, was the loss of narrative and even more – the manipulation by Bancroft. I mean, he created an impressive world with some peculiar, but logical and strict rules and thoroughly held to them, especially during the first two books. And here, in the final book, he started breaking these rules. His characters – both villains and protagonists – are suddenly able to do the things they couldn‘t before. Almost like whenever they want to do something, they are simply able to. Add some illogical action, lots of oddities, ever-changing natural laws and behavior... And I'm a bit unsure about this, but my gut feeling is that it seems at some point Josiah Bancroft decided to turn this book into some sort of psychedelic hallucination, mixed with a travelling freakshow. Why? Because it is The Tower, and in The Tower anything goes and anything is. So... WHY NOT? At least, that‘s my impression – overdoing the writing, oversaturating the colors and, it might be a strange thing to complain about as a reader, but the longer I think about this book, the more a shade of simply generally overtrying looms above it. It's a funny thing to look for realism in a fantasy book, but even fantasy books have to be "real" - have their inner logic, laws and rules. Unless, of course, one's willing to make himself a name in writing psychedelics, where anything can happen haphazardly and without any reason. Alas, we all know that "The books of Babel" is not this case.
Speaking of writing – „The books of Babel“ had never been an easy read for someone who‘s not a native speaker (that's me, obviously). The language used in the series had been very advanced and containing quite a few dictionary rarities. Still, while it was challenging, it was beautiful and stimulating at the same time. In this book, the last of them all, the writing turned from beauty to the beast – it became unnecessarily pompous, cumbersome, even vexing at times. As I‘ve wrote before – the general feeling of overtrying.
And I still have to return to THAT ENDING. While I can‘t say it had been a true Deus Ex Machina, it was... almost absurd and definitely genre-bending. It had nothing to do with steampunk or urban fantasy – two of the genres one would probably associate the series with. No, it was something absolutely new, absolutely, I don‘t know, alien to the whole world and worldbuilding, that I‘m not even sure should I laugh or should I cry or should I just gape at it all.
Yet, the biggest disappointments of them all had been another point. Now, I‘m pretty much sure that everyone will agree that the key narrative during these four books had been Senlin striving to find and retrieve Marya back, especially since we found out that they had a baby daughter. It had been an absolute base of the book – how a man finds strength he didn’t thought he had even in his wildest dreams, how he beats all the odds, how he does everything and anything because he’s absolutely, unbreakably goal-oriented: to recover his lost wife. And finally, FINALLY, it happens. And it’s so lame, so watery, so… so PUSSY, that at the moment I felt like I’ve been kicked from a cool fantasy world to some poor, second-rated YA romance. I’m so perplexed, that I am literally unable to understand, how a man and a woman, who both experienced so much, sacrificed so much, and tried so hard for that moment to happen can make that reunion seem to be so shallow and casual that, in comparison, boiling an egg seems a much more emotional and gratifying occupation. Jesus wept! lol
Ok, enough of kicking the opponent while he’s down.
There were moments I’ve enjoyed, too.
First, and most of all, I enjoyed Edith. Remember me writing that this series is not about Senlin? That’s because this final book proves it. Edith is the main protagonist of the series, not Senlin. It had been Senlin’s quest from the very beginning till the very end, but it was only Edith and due to Edith that they succeeded in that quest and, arguably, it was Edith who grew and rose the most during the series. Senlin's and Edith's brief romance also left a bitter feeling for me. She's been used and thrown out like rubbish for whatever mediocre reasons. Meh!
The other fun part was Adam. I won’t necessary stick to my opinion, but I think that Adam is the only one of lead characters who completed his story arc and reached, as I’ve called it, a proper ending.
Oh, and don’t forget everyone’s favorite (?) stag: Byron is still as cool, as he (it?) ever was.
That said, I still remain very disappointed by this book. I did not get neither the ending. nor the answers I was looking for, and I honestly believe that all the characters, maybe except Adam, did not receive the ending they deserved. Initially, I thought I’ll still rate this book as 3 stars, being probably the weakest 3* I’ve shelled out in a very, very long time and this rating rather reflecting my reluctance to end great series on a mediocre notes than genuinely rating this book as a deserved "I liked it" three stars. But after finishing this book, I immediately started reading another last book in a really great series - "Leviathan Falls". And since this book showed me, how a proper ending to a great series is done, I'm downgrading the rating to two stars, as it probably should have been from the very beginning.
... And we finally had all the answers about The Tower and it‘s nature and The Brick Layer and The Sphinx... NOT.
... But at least it ended, like, you know, properly. With an, um, you know, proper ending – when everything, more or less, ends, or at least gets wrapped up, and all the plot lines are resolved or at least gets addressed and, you know... NOT.
You know, this final book had been a tough read for me. It‘s very sort of a hit-and-miss for me, and not only for those reasons, mentioned above. Yes, Senlin gets relegated to a secondary character, but I could have dealt with it no problem. I even can deal no problem with not getting all the answers and even with THAT ending. But what really disappointed me the most, was the loss of narrative and even more – the manipulation by Bancroft. I mean, he created an impressive world with some peculiar, but logical and strict rules and thoroughly held to them, especially during the first two books. And here, in the final book, he started breaking these rules. His characters – both villains and protagonists – are suddenly able to do the things they couldn‘t before. Almost like whenever they want to do something, they are simply able to. Add some illogical action, lots of oddities, ever-changing natural laws and behavior... And I'm a bit unsure about this, but my gut feeling is that it seems at some point Josiah Bancroft decided to turn this book into some sort of psychedelic hallucination, mixed with a travelling freakshow. Why? Because it is The Tower, and in The Tower anything goes and anything is. So... WHY NOT? At least, that‘s my impression – overdoing the writing, oversaturating the colors and, it might be a strange thing to complain about as a reader, but the longer I think about this book, the more a shade of simply generally overtrying looms above it. It's a funny thing to look for realism in a fantasy book, but even fantasy books have to be "real" - have their inner logic, laws and rules. Unless, of course, one's willing to make himself a name in writing psychedelics, where anything can happen haphazardly and without any reason. Alas, we all know that "The books of Babel" is not this case.
Speaking of writing – „The books of Babel“ had never been an easy read for someone who‘s not a native speaker (that's me, obviously). The language used in the series had been very advanced and containing quite a few dictionary rarities. Still, while it was challenging, it was beautiful and stimulating at the same time. In this book, the last of them all, the writing turned from beauty to the beast – it became unnecessarily pompous, cumbersome, even vexing at times. As I‘ve wrote before – the general feeling of overtrying.
And I still have to return to THAT ENDING. While I can‘t say it had been a true Deus Ex Machina, it was... almost absurd and definitely genre-bending. It had nothing to do with steampunk or urban fantasy – two of the genres one would probably associate the series with. No, it was something absolutely new, absolutely, I don‘t know, alien to the whole world and worldbuilding, that I‘m not even sure should I laugh or should I cry or should I just gape at it all.
Yet, the biggest disappointments of them all had been another point. Now, I‘m pretty much sure that everyone will agree that the key narrative during these four books had been Senlin striving to find and retrieve Marya back, especially since we found out that they had a baby daughter. It had been an absolute base of the book – how a man finds strength he didn’t thought he had even in his wildest dreams, how he beats all the odds, how he does everything and anything because he’s absolutely, unbreakably goal-oriented: to recover his lost wife. And finally, FINALLY, it happens. And it’s so lame, so watery, so… so PUSSY, that at the moment I felt like I’ve been kicked from a cool fantasy world to some poor, second-rated YA romance. I’m so perplexed, that I am literally unable to understand, how a man and a woman, who both experienced so much, sacrificed so much, and tried so hard for that moment to happen can make that reunion seem to be so shallow and casual that, in comparison, boiling an egg seems a much more emotional and gratifying occupation. Jesus wept! lol
Ok, enough of kicking the opponent while he’s down.
There were moments I’ve enjoyed, too.
First, and most of all, I enjoyed Edith. Remember me writing that this series is not about Senlin? That’s because this final book proves it. Edith is the main protagonist of the series, not Senlin. It had been Senlin’s quest from the very beginning till the very end, but it was only Edith and due to Edith that they succeeded in that quest and, arguably, it was Edith who grew and rose the most during the series. Senlin's and Edith's brief romance also left a bitter feeling for me. She's been used and thrown out like rubbish for whatever mediocre reasons. Meh!
The other fun part was Adam. I won’t necessary stick to my opinion, but I think that Adam is the only one of lead characters who completed his story arc and reached, as I’ve called it, a proper ending.
Oh, and don’t forget everyone’s favorite (?) stag: Byron is still as cool, as he (it?) ever was.
That said, I still remain very disappointed by this book. I did not get neither the ending. nor the answers I was looking for, and I honestly believe that all the characters, maybe except Adam, did not receive the ending they deserved. Initially, I thought I’ll still rate this book as 3 stars, being probably the weakest 3* I’ve shelled out in a very, very long time and this rating rather reflecting my reluctance to end great series on a mediocre notes than genuinely rating this book as a deserved "I liked it" three stars. But after finishing this book, I immediately started reading another last book in a really great series - "Leviathan Falls". And since this book showed me, how a proper ending to a great series is done, I'm downgrading the rating to two stars, as it probably should have been from the very beginning.
October 27, 2023
Arguably the worst conclusion I've ever read to a series. It honestly feels like Bancroft just wanted to finish this book asap, because this is one of the worst uses of Deus Ex Machina I've come across.
I've made a full spoiler-free review on my channel.
I've made a full spoiler-free review on my channel.
November 18, 2021
It feels like the spirit of the Tower will continue on without us. Each floor and society will keep ticking away, producing their oddities, building and breaking relationships, creating and sharing secrets, and disrupting the roots of human nature. And the Tower will continue to reflect our own world, showing us the best and worst of us, giving us a chance to chase what is lost, build up our dreams, or providing outlets for anger and fear to take over.
My expectations for this book were astronomically high, and I'm thrilled to say that nearly all of them were met.
The Fall of Babel is a freight train of story threads finally coming to a head, but it is also a love letter, saying goodbye to this weird and endearing group of adventurers and castoffs, far removed from where they all started, now so much further along the journeys of their lives.
For years I had pondered the mystery behind Adam's disappearance and what the surrounding clues meant. Bancroft wrote an original and immensely satisfying explanation that sated my curiosity. The Edith & Marya conundrum was one of the biggest plot points to the story, and its resolution was one of the most heart-wrenching and ultimately human conclusions I could have asked for. And the story ends just as it began: full of mystery, wonder, excitement, and promise.
There are passages that have dug trenches in my mind. In particular, when a character emotes love for the first time. Or when a long-teased action piece culminates into a terrifying, beautiful, and wonderfully sad denouement. But most of all, the simple conversations that feel so impeccably human: words full of fault, grief, apologies, and glimmers of hope. Bancroft's soaring prose and heartfelt characters have restored some of my faith that there is more good than bad in this world.
The Books of Babel is an original and brilliant saga that is even better on the second read-though. It has left an unmistakable footprint in the self-published and traditionally-published world of storytelling. There's nothing else quite like it.
My expectations for this book were astronomically high, and I'm thrilled to say that nearly all of them were met.
The Fall of Babel is a freight train of story threads finally coming to a head, but it is also a love letter, saying goodbye to this weird and endearing group of adventurers and castoffs, far removed from where they all started, now so much further along the journeys of their lives.
For years I had pondered the mystery behind Adam's disappearance and what the surrounding clues meant. Bancroft wrote an original and immensely satisfying explanation that sated my curiosity. The Edith & Marya conundrum was one of the biggest plot points to the story, and its resolution was one of the most heart-wrenching and ultimately human conclusions I could have asked for. And the story ends just as it began: full of mystery, wonder, excitement, and promise.
There are passages that have dug trenches in my mind. In particular, when a character emotes love for the first time. Or when a long-teased action piece culminates into a terrifying, beautiful, and wonderfully sad denouement. But most of all, the simple conversations that feel so impeccably human: words full of fault, grief, apologies, and glimmers of hope. Bancroft's soaring prose and heartfelt characters have restored some of my faith that there is more good than bad in this world.
The Books of Babel is an original and brilliant saga that is even better on the second read-though. It has left an unmistakable footprint in the self-published and traditionally-published world of storytelling. There's nothing else quite like it.
November 10, 2021
Well, now! That ending was something else!
From the very beginning of this series, I was always pretty thrilled that we had something so grounded and fantastical at the same time -- part steampunk, part dystopia fantasy, part swashbuckling, part desperate romance.
So much happened. So many changes to the characters. And by the time we get to book 4, having undergone so many massive reveals as to the nature of Babel, the towering tower of a city, its makers, and the people who supported it, it kinda felt like there was nothing else that could have surprised me.
I was wrong.
No spoilers, but this adventure that gave us more Senlin and a great deal of Adam and others as well, is satisfying in a way that all huge epic fantasies can be. If you've loved the series so far, you will definitely love this as well.
It's big.
From the very beginning of this series, I was always pretty thrilled that we had something so grounded and fantastical at the same time -- part steampunk, part dystopia fantasy, part swashbuckling, part desperate romance.
So much happened. So many changes to the characters. And by the time we get to book 4, having undergone so many massive reveals as to the nature of Babel, the towering tower of a city, its makers, and the people who supported it, it kinda felt like there was nothing else that could have surprised me.
I was wrong.
No spoilers, but this adventure that gave us more Senlin and a great deal of Adam and others as well, is satisfying in a way that all huge epic fantasies can be. If you've loved the series so far, you will definitely love this as well.
It's big.
November 18, 2021
This is the fourth and final book of the series. Fortunately, the book begins with a brief recapitulation. Referring to the fourth book: “[I] … shall hitherto attempt to puff upon the dwindling coals of your enthusiasm for a tale that, like the besotted guest who has begun to drape upon the drapery, departs not a moment too soon!” Even with the recap, this book doesn’t work as a standalone, way too much has happened in the Tower of Babel and a new reader would be missing a lot.
I’ve enjoyed the series, but I’m glad it’s over. This book felt very long. My favorite books were the first and third. I thought this one had way too many battles and confrontations. There were 3 separate groups of characters that didn’t come together until the end. Very briefly, Senlin is trying to stop Marat and the Hod King which is chomping it’s way through the Tower. Adam discovers that someone has possession of his memories and he tries to rescue a group of Hod orphans. Edith and her crew try to recover the paintings that contain a secret code that is vital for the salvation of the Tower. See, you really do need to read all 4 books.
The ending left a lot of loose ends, so if the author wants he can continue with the characters but take them in a different direction. The pleasure in this series came from the author’s wit and wild imagination. I would expect that to continue if more secrets of the Tower are revealed.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
I’ve enjoyed the series, but I’m glad it’s over. This book felt very long. My favorite books were the first and third. I thought this one had way too many battles and confrontations. There were 3 separate groups of characters that didn’t come together until the end. Very briefly, Senlin is trying to stop Marat and the Hod King which is chomping it’s way through the Tower. Adam discovers that someone has possession of his memories and he tries to rescue a group of Hod orphans. Edith and her crew try to recover the paintings that contain a secret code that is vital for the salvation of the Tower. See, you really do need to read all 4 books.
The ending left a lot of loose ends, so if the author wants he can continue with the characters but take them in a different direction. The pleasure in this series came from the author’s wit and wild imagination. I would expect that to continue if more secrets of the Tower are revealed.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
July 14, 2024
A four-star conclusion to a five-star series. While I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Fall of Babel, it did feel like self-parody at times, taking the absurdities of the tower to humorous extremes rather than adopting the more serious tone of the first three books.
Bancroft's writing is witty as ever, and I laughed out loud several times. I was *mostly* satisfied with the ending but wanted a bit more from the relationship between Senlin and Marya.
Altogether, this is an outstanding series and highly recommended for fantasy fans and anyone who enjoys good literature.
Bancroft's writing is witty as ever, and I laughed out loud several times. I was *mostly* satisfied with the ending but wanted a bit more from the relationship between Senlin and Marya.
Altogether, this is an outstanding series and highly recommended for fantasy fans and anyone who enjoys good literature.
November 24, 2021
A solid enough ending, with all of the fun asides and descriptions and tower lore we all wanted.
In the end, as the series went on, I got a bit bored by all the pov characters and their struggles. My favorite part of the series was always the bizarre tower itself and especially the lower bizarre ringdoms. I wish there had been more of a constant weirdness. That said, there were some good weird but quick glimpses into other ringdoms in this one.
Anyway if you made it this far, it's worth finishing.
In the end, as the series went on, I got a bit bored by all the pov characters and their struggles. My favorite part of the series was always the bizarre tower itself and especially the lower bizarre ringdoms. I wish there had been more of a constant weirdness. That said, there were some good weird but quick glimpses into other ringdoms in this one.
Anyway if you made it this far, it's worth finishing.
October 29, 2022
EDIT: I am editing this rating to two stars so that Allen gets off my back, and increases the likelihood of him reading Jade War. Also, I gave this book 3/10, so after emotions have cooled, math prevails.
And so ends perhaps the most disappointing read of my life.
*Four days later*
I was hoping a little bit of time would make me find some positives as I come to grips with disappointment.
But here I am four days after finishing, and two months after starting, Fall of Babel, the final book in Josiah Bancroft's debut series, and I have precious little goodwill to give. This was my most disappointing read of the year, and perhaps ever. I loved the first three books but I wanted to set myself on fire while reading this.
Priming in psychology is when a stimulus unconsciously changes the way you react to something. For example, if you are in a room with smelly garbage, you will be more conservative. If you see a red bench while eating candy, the next time you see a red bench, you may want candy. Stuff like that.
I bring up priming because I think my biggest issue with this book is that it started with 170 page flashback that could have been 50 or, ideally, zero pages. I can't emphasis how little I think this flashback added to the book. And I think it primed me to be uncharitable towards everything else.
Because this is book 4. I know this series is going to be weird. I know the characters are going to be weirdly poetic in situations when they shouldn't. I know there are going to be weird cyborg people. I know there's going to be plot elements that come out of nowhere and that ringdoms are going to be introduced that are too weird to exist. So why did I hate all of it this time?
I don't know. But I really did. I have no positives for this book besides Byron. The two villains set up in the last book become cardboard cut outs in this one and end up vastly unsatisfying. Senlin, our MC, is barely around. His quest to find his wife resolves in the worst way possible. Time travel is introduced in a series that it doesn't fit in. There are 50 fight scenes that are boring and add nothing. An important character is killed off screen for reasons? And nothing comes of it. The ringdoms all act stupid. The characters barely act like themselves and service whatever Bizarro plot is necessarily (the characters were my favorite aspect of the series, so this really bothers me). The ending is terrible in all respects. It is just so unsatisfying and weird and out of nowhere. I can handle lack of total resolution, but not a bunch of random shit that feels unearned. I hate this book.
3/10
And so ends perhaps the most disappointing read of my life.
*Four days later*
I was hoping a little bit of time would make me find some positives as I come to grips with disappointment.
But here I am four days after finishing, and two months after starting, Fall of Babel, the final book in Josiah Bancroft's debut series, and I have precious little goodwill to give. This was my most disappointing read of the year, and perhaps ever. I loved the first three books but I wanted to set myself on fire while reading this.
Priming in psychology is when a stimulus unconsciously changes the way you react to something. For example, if you are in a room with smelly garbage, you will be more conservative. If you see a red bench while eating candy, the next time you see a red bench, you may want candy. Stuff like that.
I bring up priming because I think my biggest issue with this book is that it started with 170 page flashback that could have been 50 or, ideally, zero pages. I can't emphasis how little I think this flashback added to the book. And I think it primed me to be uncharitable towards everything else.
Because this is book 4. I know this series is going to be weird. I know the characters are going to be weirdly poetic in situations when they shouldn't. I know there are going to be weird cyborg people. I know there's going to be plot elements that come out of nowhere and that ringdoms are going to be introduced that are too weird to exist. So why did I hate all of it this time?
I don't know. But I really did. I have no positives for this book besides Byron. The two villains set up in the last book become cardboard cut outs in this one and end up vastly unsatisfying. Senlin, our MC, is barely around. His quest to find his wife resolves in the worst way possible. Time travel is introduced in a series that it doesn't fit in. There are 50 fight scenes that are boring and add nothing. An important character is killed off screen for reasons? And nothing comes of it. The ringdoms all act stupid. The characters barely act like themselves and service whatever Bizarro plot is necessarily (the characters were my favorite aspect of the series, so this really bothers me). The ending is terrible in all respects. It is just so unsatisfying and weird and out of nowhere. I can handle lack of total resolution, but not a bunch of random shit that feels unearned. I hate this book.
3/10
August 9, 2022
“Sometimes the fear of change is just an expression of love for the life you’ve had.”
You know of Babel, right?
Man, as the only one among the living beings on Earth, was the one whom the Creator singled out and placed above the others. Over the years, humankind learned and discovered new secrets of the world and pursued civilisational progress and the desire to know. Its morality, however, followed a different path. When man mastered the technique of making bricks and learnt to construct buildings from them, he decided to commit treason. Driven by pride, immaturity and a lack of humility, humanity wanted to build a tower called Babel, so high that by climbing its steps, one could reach heaven without having earned it with a noble, charitable and benevolent life. However, the Lord, seeing the dishonesty taking shape in the minds of men, confused the builders’ tongues, and the lack of mutual understanding and cooperation was the reason for the cessation of further construction.
It is a classic biblical motif indicating, on the one hand, the attitude of human rebellion against the power of God (the tower itself was supposed to encroach on the divine realm with its immensity), and, on the other hand, a reminder that all of mankind’s ‘sky-high’ endeavours are doomed to inevitable failure (through the inability of all men to communicate - the confusion of languages - their common deed is thwarted).
The title would suggest that in the series Tower of Babel has fallen. The ending of the previous instalment has made it clear that this book will be about the incoming apocalypses. That’s right, more than one! Here lies the catch: In the end, we are still unsure whether the Tower is worth saving. And whether the fact that the colossus is still standing means victory.
My general impression is that your reception of the book is going to be determined by how you’d answer the above questions.
That being said: This series is more than a mere reference to the Tower of Babel; it is a reinvention of a story featuring a great, magnificent and proud building whose creators, in their hubris, were so much convinced of its magnificence that they ultimately allowed its demise. And this demise, dark and painful despite its many solemn and memorable touches, I’d hoped we can finally read about in detail in the grand finale.
To some extent, we can. Ultimately, it is a book of how things get warped and their original shape and forgotten, become a sin of guilt. It unveils the generational responsibilities, discarded like kitschy knick-knack when renovating the house. The fall comes through ascension to a tyranny which gives the illusion of dignity and agency but brings only destruction in its wake. Like the selfish and unconcerned constructors, the ringdoms are unable to communicate. There is an absolute lack of understanding between them. Then, there are the toiling hods.
Is this what the Tower of Babel is supposed to look like? Is this what the Tower of Babel looked like? Blackness, darkness. And in this darkness, a crowd of harried shadows circulates indefatigably. And in this darkness, thunder beats. For a moment, you can see shapes clearly bent under their weight, mouths open in effort and teeth bared in exertion, you can see stones being passed from hand to hand. The thunder beats, knocking bodies from the tower, stones, stones fall to the ground, crushed bodies fall heavily, and low, low clouds gather.
Nah.
Things are not so dramatic. In many places, the rot is hidden behind either stone walls or glamour. The fall is less literal and more figurative. Indolent Voleta functions as a figure showing that what keeps us alive also slowly kills us. Adam’s heart gets drafty so that the ultimate conformist can become a revolutionary. Every single character is an epitome of ignorance or privilege that come in many different guises, from loyalty to blind allegiance, from leadership to self-serving exploitation. This way, truly, the only one enemy is the complacency and the piously small desires for a life of certainties that preclude any grand aspirations so inherently endowed with risks. Of course, we need to ask, is Mr Bancroft referring to some imaginary edifice, or is he describing our own world? I have found terrifyingly apt parallels.
Because, though fallen - the thing still stands! There are no easy ways out, and indeed sometimes there are none at all.
Here comes my biggest grievance: I was promised answers. I was promised “revelations startling, strange, disappointing but a finished and decisive end, at the least” — or were they? Decisive, I mean.
The thing that has fallen for me was the Sphinx. Even before, a lot of the things that the Sphinx did and didn’t do have not made any sense, but here, we learn Sphinx is more of a role, less of a person. In fact, the role is more important than the person that performs it. But Sphinx is a minor fix in the grand scheme of things. What about those other bricks that have built the tale?
We were told again and again that the Tower loathes nothing more than a smug survivor. And here one, Thomas Senlin. I was waiting for the reunion of the two star-crossed lovers and, admittedly, this was one of the most anticipated moments in the book.
From its beginnings, literature has been preoccupied with the unusual, the remarkable, and the intriguing. It has depicted great feelings, great deeds and great characters, probably in the belief that the works of writers should go beyond the everyday, the ordinary, the obvious. Yet, there is no shortage of writers who have had the courage to go against this model. It was not so much a question of a rebellion as of recognising that the everyday, the ordinary and the obvious can be fascinating, that the apotheosis of the average can be delightful.
An exposed feature of many contemporary heroes is their greyness, mediocrity, insipidity, and blandness. I am not talking about the antihero here, but rather about an everyman. Someone from the crowd, not particularly distinctive or unique in any regard. De-individuated, he sometimes seems to be a representative of humanity, someone of average rather than an outstanding individual.
Meet Thomas Senlin, right?
This confused and anti-heroic intelligent with no purpose in life rises and then falls, only to climb up again, but not to greatness, to mediocrity instead. We saw that in how Senlin, from being the fulcrum of the story, becomes one of many POVs, not even the most important one in many respects. He was supplanted by Edith, overshadowed by Voleta, ignored by Adam, and the list could continue. I opened this book thinking: What’s next? And really, minor shenanigans aside, nothing happens. Senlin returns to square one as if nothing that had he had endured mattered. As if nothing had changed in him. As if it was a journey from one mediocrity to another. A huge disappointment; I tried to come to terms with it for weeks and still cannot get over with it.
And then there is the minor issue of a non-decisive ending. It can be a good or bad thing, depending on your take on the whole series. Ultimately, the sequels will tell.
Addendum:
Favourite phrase: prurient urges (oh. Cannot wait for my next YA review!)
Favourite characterisation: Byron who hates tea.
And then: The glimpses into the many of the sixty-four ringdoms, one more preposterous than the other, made me wish we spent ten more volumes gallivanting around.
Also in the series:
1. Senlin Ascends ★★★★☆
2. Arm of the Sphinx ★★★★☆
3. The Hod King ★★★★☆
You know of Babel, right?
Man, as the only one among the living beings on Earth, was the one whom the Creator singled out and placed above the others. Over the years, humankind learned and discovered new secrets of the world and pursued civilisational progress and the desire to know. Its morality, however, followed a different path. When man mastered the technique of making bricks and learnt to construct buildings from them, he decided to commit treason. Driven by pride, immaturity and a lack of humility, humanity wanted to build a tower called Babel, so high that by climbing its steps, one could reach heaven without having earned it with a noble, charitable and benevolent life. However, the Lord, seeing the dishonesty taking shape in the minds of men, confused the builders’ tongues, and the lack of mutual understanding and cooperation was the reason for the cessation of further construction.
It is a classic biblical motif indicating, on the one hand, the attitude of human rebellion against the power of God (the tower itself was supposed to encroach on the divine realm with its immensity), and, on the other hand, a reminder that all of mankind’s ‘sky-high’ endeavours are doomed to inevitable failure (through the inability of all men to communicate - the confusion of languages - their common deed is thwarted).
The title would suggest that in the series Tower of Babel has fallen. The ending of the previous instalment has made it clear that this book will be about the incoming apocalypses. That’s right, more than one! Here lies the catch: In the end, we are still unsure whether the Tower is worth saving. And whether the fact that the colossus is still standing means victory.
My general impression is that your reception of the book is going to be determined by how you’d answer the above questions.
That being said: This series is more than a mere reference to the Tower of Babel; it is a reinvention of a story featuring a great, magnificent and proud building whose creators, in their hubris, were so much convinced of its magnificence that they ultimately allowed its demise. And this demise, dark and painful despite its many solemn and memorable touches, I’d hoped we can finally read about in detail in the grand finale.
To some extent, we can. Ultimately, it is a book of how things get warped and their original shape and forgotten, become a sin of guilt. It unveils the generational responsibilities, discarded like kitschy knick-knack when renovating the house. The fall comes through ascension to a tyranny which gives the illusion of dignity and agency but brings only destruction in its wake. Like the selfish and unconcerned constructors, the ringdoms are unable to communicate. There is an absolute lack of understanding between them. Then, there are the toiling hods.
Is this what the Tower of Babel is supposed to look like? Is this what the Tower of Babel looked like? Blackness, darkness. And in this darkness, a crowd of harried shadows circulates indefatigably. And in this darkness, thunder beats. For a moment, you can see shapes clearly bent under their weight, mouths open in effort and teeth bared in exertion, you can see stones being passed from hand to hand. The thunder beats, knocking bodies from the tower, stones, stones fall to the ground, crushed bodies fall heavily, and low, low clouds gather.
Nah.
Things are not so dramatic. In many places, the rot is hidden behind either stone walls or glamour. The fall is less literal and more figurative. Indolent Voleta functions as a figure showing that what keeps us alive also slowly kills us. Adam’s heart gets drafty so that the ultimate conformist can become a revolutionary. Every single character is an epitome of ignorance or privilege that come in many different guises, from loyalty to blind allegiance, from leadership to self-serving exploitation. This way, truly, the only one enemy is the complacency and the piously small desires for a life of certainties that preclude any grand aspirations so inherently endowed with risks. Of course, we need to ask, is Mr Bancroft referring to some imaginary edifice, or is he describing our own world? I have found terrifyingly apt parallels.
Because, though fallen - the thing still stands! There are no easy ways out, and indeed sometimes there are none at all.
Here comes my biggest grievance: I was promised answers. I was promised “revelations startling, strange, disappointing but a finished and decisive end, at the least” — or were they? Decisive, I mean.
The thing that has fallen for me was the Sphinx. Even before, a lot of the things that the Sphinx did and didn’t do have not made any sense, but here, we learn Sphinx is more of a role, less of a person. In fact, the role is more important than the person that performs it. But Sphinx is a minor fix in the grand scheme of things. What about those other bricks that have built the tale?
We were told again and again that the Tower loathes nothing more than a smug survivor. And here one, Thomas Senlin. I was waiting for the reunion of the two star-crossed lovers and, admittedly, this was one of the most anticipated moments in the book.
From its beginnings, literature has been preoccupied with the unusual, the remarkable, and the intriguing. It has depicted great feelings, great deeds and great characters, probably in the belief that the works of writers should go beyond the everyday, the ordinary, the obvious. Yet, there is no shortage of writers who have had the courage to go against this model. It was not so much a question of a rebellion as of recognising that the everyday, the ordinary and the obvious can be fascinating, that the apotheosis of the average can be delightful.
An exposed feature of many contemporary heroes is their greyness, mediocrity, insipidity, and blandness. I am not talking about the antihero here, but rather about an everyman. Someone from the crowd, not particularly distinctive or unique in any regard. De-individuated, he sometimes seems to be a representative of humanity, someone of average rather than an outstanding individual.
Meet Thomas Senlin, right?
This confused and anti-heroic intelligent with no purpose in life rises and then falls, only to climb up again, but not to greatness, to mediocrity instead. We saw that in how Senlin, from being the fulcrum of the story, becomes one of many POVs, not even the most important one in many respects. He was supplanted by Edith, overshadowed by Voleta, ignored by Adam, and the list could continue. I opened this book thinking: What’s next? And really, minor shenanigans aside, nothing happens. Senlin returns to square one as if nothing that had he had endured mattered. As if nothing had changed in him. As if it was a journey from one mediocrity to another. A huge disappointment; I tried to come to terms with it for weeks and still cannot get over with it.
And then there is the minor issue of a non-decisive ending. It can be a good or bad thing, depending on your take on the whole series. Ultimately, the sequels will tell.
Addendum:
Favourite phrase: prurient urges (oh. Cannot wait for my next YA review!)
Favourite characterisation: Byron who hates tea.
And then: The glimpses into the many of the sixty-four ringdoms, one more preposterous than the other, made me wish we spent ten more volumes gallivanting around.
Also in the series:
1. Senlin Ascends ★★★★☆
2. Arm of the Sphinx ★★★★☆
3. The Hod King ★★★★☆
December 23, 2021
Look, no one is more surprised than me that my most anticipated book of the year (and my life?) was not five stars. I still can’t quite get over the fact that the series is finished.
Objectively, this was a pretty great book (Bancroft is an artist, I will never say otherwise) but I was so personally invested in this series, there was so much riding on this book for me. Honestly, I’ve incorporated this series into my personality at this point given the amount I rave about it and recommend it to everyone and anyone.
Something just felt a little bit off about this one and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Despite the vastness of the tower, the other books in the series all felt much more intimate – there’s a smaller cast of characters, we as readers spend more time learning about individual ringdoms, the laws, the customs, the people. And I didn’t quite realise just how much that impacted my enjoyment of the series - I really missed that aspect in this instalment.
I’ve seen some other reviews of the series say this has a Studio Ghibli vibe which is exactly how I imagine it (though a little bit more twisted). (Side note, if anyone is familiar with Alice the Madness Returns, that is the exact vibe I feel with this series and I adore it.)
By nature of a series finale of course there are more characters – those we’ve met along the way all coming together with their own stories and we can’t stay in the same closed off cities and ringdoms forever. But in all honesty, I felt like there was just a little bit too much going on in this one and it didn’t really need so much action.
Of course, when there’s a larger cast of characters, it’s harder to keep up with what they’re all doing at any one given time, but for the most part it was very well done and only on a couple of occasions did I think “ooh, where’s X” only for them to appear as if I had summoned them. But really, I do think this could have been about 100 pages shorter.
There were still parts that made me cry, had me shocked and I can’t count the number of times I had to put the book down to process and take in what I’d just read because there are plenty of marvellous and genius twists (as I have come to expect with Bancroft).
Which is why it isn’t fair to say I didn’t enjoy the ride – because I absolutely did! But the 500 or so pages of enjoyment ended up being overshadowed by my feelings about the ending.
Basically, I wish this series never had to end and we had 100 more books in the Tower to come. But all good things must come to an end.
I will read everything that Bancroft puts out in the future, make no mistake. I genuinely think he is the best author I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Without sounding cliché – these are my classics. I’ve never wanted to annotate a book before, there’s nothing that I’ve read before that has made me go “that’s profound, I want to save and remember that” – but there was SO MUCH in this series where I just had to read a line over and over again because it was so beautifully crafted. I now understand how people feel when they quote lines from a book because I want to do that too! But only with this series.
I really hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of these characters and this world, because honestly I think this series is too special for this to be the end.
But basically I'm not considering this canon and as far as I'm concerned The Hod King is the most recent instalment and we're still waiting for the finale lol
I may end up adding more to this review as things come to me, just so I don't have to be done with the series quite yet.
--
We have a cover!!! Not long now and I am counting down the days
——
2021!!!!! What no I cannot be having this
Objectively, this was a pretty great book (Bancroft is an artist, I will never say otherwise) but I was so personally invested in this series, there was so much riding on this book for me. Honestly, I’ve incorporated this series into my personality at this point given the amount I rave about it and recommend it to everyone and anyone.
Something just felt a little bit off about this one and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Despite the vastness of the tower, the other books in the series all felt much more intimate – there’s a smaller cast of characters, we as readers spend more time learning about individual ringdoms, the laws, the customs, the people. And I didn’t quite realise just how much that impacted my enjoyment of the series - I really missed that aspect in this instalment.
I’ve seen some other reviews of the series say this has a Studio Ghibli vibe which is exactly how I imagine it (though a little bit more twisted). (Side note, if anyone is familiar with Alice the Madness Returns, that is the exact vibe I feel with this series and I adore it.)
By nature of a series finale of course there are more characters – those we’ve met along the way all coming together with their own stories and we can’t stay in the same closed off cities and ringdoms forever. But in all honesty, I felt like there was just a little bit too much going on in this one and it didn’t really need so much action.
Of course, when there’s a larger cast of characters, it’s harder to keep up with what they’re all doing at any one given time, but for the most part it was very well done and only on a couple of occasions did I think “ooh, where’s X” only for them to appear as if I had summoned them. But really, I do think this could have been about 100 pages shorter.
There were still parts that made me cry, had me shocked and I can’t count the number of times I had to put the book down to process and take in what I’d just read because there are plenty of marvellous and genius twists (as I have come to expect with Bancroft).
Which is why it isn’t fair to say I didn’t enjoy the ride – because I absolutely did! But the 500 or so pages of enjoyment ended up being overshadowed by my feelings about the ending.
Basically, I wish this series never had to end and we had 100 more books in the Tower to come. But all good things must come to an end.
I will read everything that Bancroft puts out in the future, make no mistake. I genuinely think he is the best author I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Without sounding cliché – these are my classics. I’ve never wanted to annotate a book before, there’s nothing that I’ve read before that has made me go “that’s profound, I want to save and remember that” – but there was SO MUCH in this series where I just had to read a line over and over again because it was so beautifully crafted. I now understand how people feel when they quote lines from a book because I want to do that too! But only with this series.
I really hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of these characters and this world, because honestly I think this series is too special for this to be the end.
But basically I'm not considering this canon and as far as I'm concerned The Hod King is the most recent instalment and we're still waiting for the finale lol
I may end up adding more to this review as things come to me, just so I don't have to be done with the series quite yet.
--
We have a cover!!! Not long now and I am counting down the days
——
2021!!!!! What no I cannot be having this
August 5, 2022
Where is Senlin? Iren and Voleta? I kept asking myself these questions as I read the opening chapters of the last book of The Books of Babel. Instead of jumping right into their misadventures, Bancroft first shows the reader what happened to Adam. Remember him? Voleta's unlikable brother? Yes? Good for you. I didn't.
Ultimately, everything turns out okay and all the plot threads are tied together, but the pacing felt off to me for a significant part of the story. Bancroft excels at creative world- building and has a knack for stunning (if slightly baroque) sentences, so I've enjoyed the ride. Just not as much as the first three books.
Ultimately, everything turns out okay and all the plot threads are tied together, but the pacing felt off to me for a significant part of the story. Bancroft excels at creative world- building and has a knack for stunning (if slightly baroque) sentences, so I've enjoyed the ride. Just not as much as the first three books.
December 22, 2021
Full review to come on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/hollyheartsbooks
September 10, 2021
I… I don’t even know what to say.
April 17, 2022
So this is one of the most divisive books that I have ever read. I guess I liked it a bit less than the other three, basically because I have some things I minorly didn't like, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
So uh, here are the cons, that I guess make this a 1 star book?????
This book has more action than the first three. I don't think Josiah Bancroft is good at writing action. And I think he is good at writing basically everything that isn't action, so there is going to be a strong negative correlation in this series between quantity of action, and how much I like it. He goes very detailed, and blow by blow, but it just doesn't feel intense, or engaging. I almost wish Bancroft just cut his losses, and decided to just write action like Tolkien did, and just summarize it.
This book doesn't have a lot of action compared to most fantasy books, but the action it had was kinda boring.(and the ship vs ship stuff is cool)
con 2, the antagonists are kinda weak. It has generally been a series more focused on the protagonists, with the tower itself almost being the antagonist for the first three books. Unlike those in this book there is a group of people who were the antagonist, and they were just a leader who wasn't that interesting, with forgettable followers.
Also some people hate the first 150 pages, I liked them. Yes they don't follow the protagonist, yes it is bizarre, but hey, i'm a fan of MBOTF, and WoT, i'm fine with not following protagonists, and I like how bizarre this series gets.
Ok, now positives, which is most things, because I like this series.
The characters who aren't antagonists continue to be distinctive, dynamic, and they stand out. The writing is really good, although there was a metaphor or two that wasn't clear because in this setting describing grass as emerald grass could mean really green grass, or emeralds that look like lawns.
I also quite liked the falling action, it had something that was insanely creative that I am currently learning some people hate. I thought it was cool.
Ya, I guess it is my least favorite of the 4, but it is in the same ballpark.
7.4/10
So uh, here are the cons, that I guess make this a 1 star book?????
This book has more action than the first three. I don't think Josiah Bancroft is good at writing action. And I think he is good at writing basically everything that isn't action, so there is going to be a strong negative correlation in this series between quantity of action, and how much I like it. He goes very detailed, and blow by blow, but it just doesn't feel intense, or engaging. I almost wish Bancroft just cut his losses, and decided to just write action like Tolkien did, and just summarize it.
This book doesn't have a lot of action compared to most fantasy books, but the action it had was kinda boring.(and the ship vs ship stuff is cool)
con 2, the antagonists are kinda weak. It has generally been a series more focused on the protagonists, with the tower itself almost being the antagonist for the first three books. Unlike those in this book there is a group of people who were the antagonist, and they were just a leader who wasn't that interesting, with forgettable followers.
Also some people hate the first 150 pages, I liked them. Yes they don't follow the protagonist, yes it is bizarre, but hey, i'm a fan of MBOTF, and WoT, i'm fine with not following protagonists, and I like how bizarre this series gets.
Ok, now positives, which is most things, because I like this series.
The characters who aren't antagonists continue to be distinctive, dynamic, and they stand out. The writing is really good, although there was a metaphor or two that wasn't clear because in this setting describing grass as emerald grass could mean really green grass, or emeralds that look like lawns.
I also quite liked the falling action, it had something that was insanely creative that I am currently learning some people hate. I thought it was cool.
Ya, I guess it is my least favorite of the 4, but it is in the same ballpark.
7.4/10
December 18, 2021
I don’t know if you are familiar with Kristen Wiig’s SNL character Sue (if you aren’t, YouTube it): she’s very excited, she tries to hide her excited face in her sweater, and when she can’t contain how freaking excited she is anymore, she inevitably ends up going through a window. Well, I felt like Sue through all 636 pages of this final instalment of the “Books of Babel” series. I didn’t go through a window, but I have it on good authority that I made a lot of weird excited faces and noises as I was reading. So let’s get the obvious out of the way: 5 stars to this whole tetraralogy, it’s amazing, and probably one of the best fantasy/sci-fi series I have ever read.
Bancroft had a very tall order with the conclusion of Thomas Senlin’s adventure up the Tower of Babel: not only did I want/need to know how the headmaster’s story ended, but he had also given me such a wonderful cast of secondary characters to root for – and well, I needed to know what happened to them, too! The third book, “The Hod King” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), ended on a bit of a cliff hanger, with lots of lose strands floating in the wind. Would Senlin be OK? Where had Adam landed? What was going on with the Sphinx? How would Voleta cope with her transformation? Would Edith get her happy ending? What about Marya and Olivet?! See why I was this close to chewing on my sweater and screaming? To my immense pleasure and astonishment, Bancroft took all those strands, weaved them together as only he knows how and gave me the finale this great story deserved.
The first part of “The Fall of Babel” catches up with Adam, who discovers an interesting and bizarre world on the proverbial penthouse – a world obsessed with art, where everyone inexplicably knows who he is. Senlin meanwhile, must find a way to stop Luc Marat’s destructive plan, and avoid getting caught in the crossfire – as Edith and the crew of the “State of the Art” are trying to catch Hod King before it destroys the Tower.
If I were to share more details, I would spoil wonderful surprises and twists, and I can’t do that to you. What I can do is tell you that Bancroft has a wild, ingenious imagination, an amazing sense of pacing (the last hundred or so pages had me on the edge of my seat), a talent for crafting memorable and rich characters – and he has a timeless and lovely prose.
I will miss Thomas, Edith, Byron, Voleta and Iren very much, and I am so happy I get to come back to see them whenever I want. It is hard sometimes to review books that you love as much as I love this series: my words don’t do it justice, both because I don’t want to give too much away and because the only thing I can think of saying is “just read it, you’ll see”.
Bancroft had a very tall order with the conclusion of Thomas Senlin’s adventure up the Tower of Babel: not only did I want/need to know how the headmaster’s story ended, but he had also given me such a wonderful cast of secondary characters to root for – and well, I needed to know what happened to them, too! The third book, “The Hod King” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), ended on a bit of a cliff hanger, with lots of lose strands floating in the wind. Would Senlin be OK? Where had Adam landed? What was going on with the Sphinx? How would Voleta cope with her transformation? Would Edith get her happy ending? What about Marya and Olivet?! See why I was this close to chewing on my sweater and screaming? To my immense pleasure and astonishment, Bancroft took all those strands, weaved them together as only he knows how and gave me the finale this great story deserved.
The first part of “The Fall of Babel” catches up with Adam, who discovers an interesting and bizarre world on the proverbial penthouse – a world obsessed with art, where everyone inexplicably knows who he is. Senlin meanwhile, must find a way to stop Luc Marat’s destructive plan, and avoid getting caught in the crossfire – as Edith and the crew of the “State of the Art” are trying to catch Hod King before it destroys the Tower.
If I were to share more details, I would spoil wonderful surprises and twists, and I can’t do that to you. What I can do is tell you that Bancroft has a wild, ingenious imagination, an amazing sense of pacing (the last hundred or so pages had me on the edge of my seat), a talent for crafting memorable and rich characters – and he has a timeless and lovely prose.
I will miss Thomas, Edith, Byron, Voleta and Iren very much, and I am so happy I get to come back to see them whenever I want. It is hard sometimes to review books that you love as much as I love this series: my words don’t do it justice, both because I don’t want to give too much away and because the only thing I can think of saying is “just read it, you’ll see”.
January 30, 2023
A great capstone to a one-of-a-kind series.
The Fall of Babel, the fourth and concluding in the series, was a worthy if not a tad unsatisfying conclusion to an amazing series. I immensely enjoyed this final installment but have a few misgivings that would have been a bigger deal if I didn't adore the prior books and the series as a whole. I've noticed this book has slightly worse ratings than the rest of the series but I'm here to tell you: yes The Fall of Babel is a great book and worth finishing.
Bancroft did well in this book what he did with the whole series: a wonderous and imaginative world the likes of which I've never read before. The world building is at the pinnacle of fantastical but with a unique twist weaving in lore from the Bible and 1920s Americana along with pertinent themes such as classism, wealth and poverty. This series successfully paints a stunning world that is easy to sink into. The world building is one of the main achievements of these books. The next best thing about this series are the characters. Senlin is the main character but there are several main characters who all get dedicated POVs including Voleta, Adam, Edith, Iren, Ann, The Red Hand and a few more. I LOVED these characters. Their characterization was very polished and I can easily imagine and describe these characters and their personalities. Even more importantly, this is mostly a character driven story, although the plot was forced at some points, particular during this last book.
Bancroft is a master wordsmith. Every sentence is polished and clever. I'm an author and never in a million years could I write the way Bancroft does. His love of language and his wit jump off of every page. Bancroft has reminded me how powerful similes can be to paint an immediate picture in the reader's mind. The prose is simply spectacular and proves that Bancroft is a unique talent with a very bright writing future ahead of him.
Here are the problems with this book: unbalanced plot and rushed resolution. What I mean by this is too much time was spent on things that didn't matter. Too much is invested in the first 2/3 of this book that it loses steam and the grand finale and resolution is way, way too rushed with not enough development. Around 100 pages should have been excised from the first part of the book and then about 30 more pages at the end to help with the resolution. The resolution was also a little perplexing and unsatisfying and not concrete enough for such an epic and long story. I'm confused why he went the direction he did with the ending.
At any rate, this is a must read series. The best book was the third installment, The Hod King. Overall this is a 5 star series and I highly recommend.
The Fall of Babel, the fourth and concluding in the series, was a worthy if not a tad unsatisfying conclusion to an amazing series. I immensely enjoyed this final installment but have a few misgivings that would have been a bigger deal if I didn't adore the prior books and the series as a whole. I've noticed this book has slightly worse ratings than the rest of the series but I'm here to tell you: yes The Fall of Babel is a great book and worth finishing.
Bancroft did well in this book what he did with the whole series: a wonderous and imaginative world the likes of which I've never read before. The world building is at the pinnacle of fantastical but with a unique twist weaving in lore from the Bible and 1920s Americana along with pertinent themes such as classism, wealth and poverty. This series successfully paints a stunning world that is easy to sink into. The world building is one of the main achievements of these books. The next best thing about this series are the characters. Senlin is the main character but there are several main characters who all get dedicated POVs including Voleta, Adam, Edith, Iren, Ann, The Red Hand and a few more. I LOVED these characters. Their characterization was very polished and I can easily imagine and describe these characters and their personalities. Even more importantly, this is mostly a character driven story, although the plot was forced at some points, particular during this last book.
Bancroft is a master wordsmith. Every sentence is polished and clever. I'm an author and never in a million years could I write the way Bancroft does. His love of language and his wit jump off of every page. Bancroft has reminded me how powerful similes can be to paint an immediate picture in the reader's mind. The prose is simply spectacular and proves that Bancroft is a unique talent with a very bright writing future ahead of him.
Here are the problems with this book: unbalanced plot and rushed resolution. What I mean by this is too much time was spent on things that didn't matter. Too much is invested in the first 2/3 of this book that it loses steam and the grand finale and resolution is way, way too rushed with not enough development. Around 100 pages should have been excised from the first part of the book and then about 30 more pages at the end to help with the resolution. The resolution was also a little perplexing and unsatisfying and not concrete enough for such an epic and long story. I'm confused why he went the direction he did with the ending.
At any rate, this is a must read series. The best book was the third installment, The Hod King. Overall this is a 5 star series and I highly recommend.
November 14, 2021
Overall, The Books of Babel is a solid fantasy series that breaks free of the standard fantasy tropes of swords and sorcery with its novel setting, engaging characters, and above average writing. It's the best multi-volume fantasy work I've read in a long while, so if you're looking for something in that vein I recommend it. That being said, this final volume of the quadrilogy is the low point of the series, and features some flaws that Josiah Bancroft had previously managed to avoid. It's a slightly disappointing conclusion, but The Fall of Babel doesn't drag down the series as a whole too much.
The book has three main plot threads, that (as you would expect) converge in the story's finale. Each, to me, highlights a noteworthy flaw in this book. The first thread focuses on Adam, absent from the series since the second volume, who has made it to the paradisiacal city that crowns the Tower and found that he and his sister are somehow well-known to its inhabitants. When Adam's fame was touched upon in volume two I worried that the book would go in a metanarrative direction, which thankfully it doesn't, but this aspect of the book has a different problem: I praised the first volume for revealing that certain plot points that initially seemed to rely on coincidence in fact were not based on coincidence at all, but in this thread (and throughout this volume) coincidence is key. It is only thanks to chance that . And it’s not just Adam’s plot thread that relies on coincidence either, as by the end of the series it’s clear that . While prior volumes made it seem as though Bancroft was crafting a story where each step forward understandably and predictably followed from the last, this final volume disappointingly reveals that such is not the case.
The second plot thread follows Senlin as he works aboard the massive machine named the Hod King and waits to sabotage it and its captain, Luc Marat, who preaches liberation of the hods but actually hungers to rule the Tower. The flaw that this story thread makes clear is that Bancroft fails to give any of the antagonists in The Books of Babel any depth, even when doing so would make the story more engaging and thought provoking. The Tower has real flaws, including corruption, exploitation, and other failures caused in part by the Brick Layer and the Sphinx that have led to much suffering, and the urge of the hods to revolt is warranted. These facts raise interesting questions, like whether the Brick Layer was wrong to have such a laissez faire attitude about the governance of the ringdoms, and whether the Brick Layer and the Sphinx had a moral obligation to try to fix the problems that arose in the Tower, using force if necessary. However, Marat is so unambiguously evil that he doesn’t effectively raise these questions and can’t serve as a representative of the Tower inhabitants’s legitimate grievances. Marat being such a blatant charlatan that merely pretends to care for the downtrodden while actually caring only for power makes him a one-dimensional villain, instead of a more interesting and nuanced figure. Other antagonists, like Ida Allod and Duke Wilhelm Pell, are equally flat without any redeeming qualities (wouldn’t it have been more interesting if Ida’s film, made through cruel exploitation, was actually quite good?). In a way the story of the Tower is a story espousing the virtues of bureaucracy and strong central government—the individual geniuses responsible for the Tower's construction were not enough to keep it in check, and the freedom that they gave to the individual ringdoms nearly resulted in . It’s too bad that there aren’t any antagonists with depth that could allow the narrative to flesh out these ideas; as it stands, the series doesn’t have anything insightful to say about them.
The final plot thread follows Edith, Iren, the newly resurrected Voleta, and the rest of the crew of the State of the Art as it flies around the Tower and tries to foil Marat’s coup attempt. The flaw here is that Bancroft unintentionally portrays almost all of his protagonists as idiots, as this crew does a bevy of stupid stuff: . Needless to say, an author unintentionally making his heroes come off as a bunch of buffoons does not speak well of his writing. Not that the writing in The Fall of Babel is bad, but rather it’s not quite as strong as in prior volumes. I think it may be because this is the conclusion to the series, where everything is serious business, while Bancroft’s writing strengths lend themselves best to lighter scenes. But that’s just a hypothesis.
These are not the only flaws that The Fall of Babel showcases, either. The resolution of the central love triangle is unsatisfying. The use of time travel as a deus ex machina was hackneyed and could easily have been replaced by the Brick Layer leaving a device that communicated the necessary information (which would also have been a deus ex machina, but at least one consistent with everything that had occurred earlier in the series). Now that the series is over, it’s clear that many of the various ringdoms being unknown and mysterious makes no sense, as most are centers of specialized industries that require customers. They would be ferrying tourists in, not hiding from the world. It made more sense in earlier volumes when every ringdom was doing something esoteric, steeped in tradition that somehow presumably served the larger purpose of the tower even if the inhabitants had long forgotten the larger point. Finally, though Bancroft has stated that this is the end of the series, it’s only partially a conclusion, leaving enough questions unanswered and plot threads unresolved that the door is clearly open for Bancroft to write another volume if the urge takes him. I like my finales wrapped up tighter than The Fall of Babel pulls off, though I’m largely satisfied with the answers we did get.
That’s a pretty long list of flaws, but to be clear this book, overall, is solid. It is fast paced, it has great momentum since you want to find out the solution to the mysteries that the Tower presents, and you’ve been with these characters enough that you want them to succeed even when they’re making incredibly stupid missteps. The setting of the series continues to be great, and something different than what you find in the vast majority of modern fantasy books and their endless parade of magic users & dragons. There are a lot of good points, even in this weakest volume of the series.
I think of the conclusion of a series (or a standalone book, for that matter) as the dismount in a gymnastics routine. No matter how good the routine has been up to that point, to bring it home the gymnast has to stick the landing. Sometimes the gymnast lands perfectly and its 10s across the board; other times the gymnast stumbles on the dismount so that, even though it was perfect up to then, the routine is docked some points; and other times, the dismount is so bad that the gymnast breaks their neck. The Fall of Babel is a stumble, not a broken neck, and so the score for the series as a whole takes a hit but doesn’t become retroactively terrible. I give this volume a 3/5, and the series as a whole 3.5/5, rounding up to 4. Despite a lackluster finale, I’d still recommend it of you’re looking for a fantasy series that doesn’t fall into the same old tropes.
The book has three main plot threads, that (as you would expect) converge in the story's finale. Each, to me, highlights a noteworthy flaw in this book. The first thread focuses on Adam, absent from the series since the second volume, who has made it to the paradisiacal city that crowns the Tower and found that he and his sister are somehow well-known to its inhabitants. When Adam's fame was touched upon in volume two I worried that the book would go in a metanarrative direction, which thankfully it doesn't, but this aspect of the book has a different problem: I praised the first volume for revealing that certain plot points that initially seemed to rely on coincidence in fact were not based on coincidence at all, but in this thread (and throughout this volume) coincidence is key. It is only thanks to chance that . And it’s not just Adam’s plot thread that relies on coincidence either, as by the end of the series it’s clear that . While prior volumes made it seem as though Bancroft was crafting a story where each step forward understandably and predictably followed from the last, this final volume disappointingly reveals that such is not the case.
The second plot thread follows Senlin as he works aboard the massive machine named the Hod King and waits to sabotage it and its captain, Luc Marat, who preaches liberation of the hods but actually hungers to rule the Tower. The flaw that this story thread makes clear is that Bancroft fails to give any of the antagonists in The Books of Babel any depth, even when doing so would make the story more engaging and thought provoking. The Tower has real flaws, including corruption, exploitation, and other failures caused in part by the Brick Layer and the Sphinx that have led to much suffering, and the urge of the hods to revolt is warranted. These facts raise interesting questions, like whether the Brick Layer was wrong to have such a laissez faire attitude about the governance of the ringdoms, and whether the Brick Layer and the Sphinx had a moral obligation to try to fix the problems that arose in the Tower, using force if necessary. However, Marat is so unambiguously evil that he doesn’t effectively raise these questions and can’t serve as a representative of the Tower inhabitants’s legitimate grievances. Marat being such a blatant charlatan that merely pretends to care for the downtrodden while actually caring only for power makes him a one-dimensional villain, instead of a more interesting and nuanced figure. Other antagonists, like Ida Allod and Duke Wilhelm Pell, are equally flat without any redeeming qualities (wouldn’t it have been more interesting if Ida’s film, made through cruel exploitation, was actually quite good?). In a way the story of the Tower is a story espousing the virtues of bureaucracy and strong central government—the individual geniuses responsible for the Tower's construction were not enough to keep it in check, and the freedom that they gave to the individual ringdoms nearly resulted in . It’s too bad that there aren’t any antagonists with depth that could allow the narrative to flesh out these ideas; as it stands, the series doesn’t have anything insightful to say about them.
The final plot thread follows Edith, Iren, the newly resurrected Voleta, and the rest of the crew of the State of the Art as it flies around the Tower and tries to foil Marat’s coup attempt. The flaw here is that Bancroft unintentionally portrays almost all of his protagonists as idiots, as this crew does a bevy of stupid stuff: . Needless to say, an author unintentionally making his heroes come off as a bunch of buffoons does not speak well of his writing. Not that the writing in The Fall of Babel is bad, but rather it’s not quite as strong as in prior volumes. I think it may be because this is the conclusion to the series, where everything is serious business, while Bancroft’s writing strengths lend themselves best to lighter scenes. But that’s just a hypothesis.
These are not the only flaws that The Fall of Babel showcases, either. The resolution of the central love triangle is unsatisfying. The use of time travel as a deus ex machina was hackneyed and could easily have been replaced by the Brick Layer leaving a device that communicated the necessary information (which would also have been a deus ex machina, but at least one consistent with everything that had occurred earlier in the series). Now that the series is over, it’s clear that many of the various ringdoms being unknown and mysterious makes no sense, as most are centers of specialized industries that require customers. They would be ferrying tourists in, not hiding from the world. It made more sense in earlier volumes when every ringdom was doing something esoteric, steeped in tradition that somehow presumably served the larger purpose of the tower even if the inhabitants had long forgotten the larger point. Finally, though Bancroft has stated that this is the end of the series, it’s only partially a conclusion, leaving enough questions unanswered and plot threads unresolved that the door is clearly open for Bancroft to write another volume if the urge takes him. I like my finales wrapped up tighter than The Fall of Babel pulls off, though I’m largely satisfied with the answers we did get.
That’s a pretty long list of flaws, but to be clear this book, overall, is solid. It is fast paced, it has great momentum since you want to find out the solution to the mysteries that the Tower presents, and you’ve been with these characters enough that you want them to succeed even when they’re making incredibly stupid missteps. The setting of the series continues to be great, and something different than what you find in the vast majority of modern fantasy books and their endless parade of magic users & dragons. There are a lot of good points, even in this weakest volume of the series.
I think of the conclusion of a series (or a standalone book, for that matter) as the dismount in a gymnastics routine. No matter how good the routine has been up to that point, to bring it home the gymnast has to stick the landing. Sometimes the gymnast lands perfectly and its 10s across the board; other times the gymnast stumbles on the dismount so that, even though it was perfect up to then, the routine is docked some points; and other times, the dismount is so bad that the gymnast breaks their neck. The Fall of Babel is a stumble, not a broken neck, and so the score for the series as a whole takes a hit but doesn’t become retroactively terrible. I give this volume a 3/5, and the series as a whole 3.5/5, rounding up to 4. Despite a lackluster finale, I’d still recommend it of you’re looking for a fantasy series that doesn’t fall into the same old tropes.
August 26, 2022
3.25/5
The Fall of Babel is a really good book but NOT at all in the same league as the previous entries
Quick Summary: The Fall of Babel is an answer to all the questions raised throughout the series.... What is the purpose of this tower ? Where is Adam ? Who is Sphinx and Brick layer ? and most important of them all Will Senlin reunite with his wife ?
WHAT WORKED FOR ME IN THIS BOOK:
Prose: Like the previous works by Josiah Bancroft, the prose in this book were pure brilliant. He outdone himself.
Answers: As the author says in the beginning of this book. All the questions raised in the previous books were answered.
WHAT DIDN'T WORKED FOR ME IN THIS BOOK:
First and the Final Act was without a doubt the weakest segment of this book which is unfortunately the main aspect of every book. It's quite weak that it made me feel like "That's it ???!"
As I said all the questions were answered but only very few delivers the emotional impact the story really REALLY needed.
And it didn't give me the finale feel at all to be honest.
But the Major letdown for me is the lack of Senlin in this one. The reason I started and enjoyed this series up untill this point is because of him. This was his series and we barely see anything of him. The Major storyline i.e Senlin and Maya's felt absolutely flat in the end.
FINAL WORD:
The Fall of Babel is a good book but it's not the fitting finale this series deserves and it's my least favorite in the series.
The Fall of Babel is a really good book but NOT at all in the same league as the previous entries
Quick Summary: The Fall of Babel is an answer to all the questions raised throughout the series.... What is the purpose of this tower ? Where is Adam ? Who is Sphinx and Brick layer ? and most important of them all Will Senlin reunite with his wife ?
WHAT WORKED FOR ME IN THIS BOOK:
Prose: Like the previous works by Josiah Bancroft, the prose in this book were pure brilliant. He outdone himself.
Answers: As the author says in the beginning of this book. All the questions raised in the previous books were answered.
WHAT DIDN'T WORKED FOR ME IN THIS BOOK:
First and the Final Act was without a doubt the weakest segment of this book which is unfortunately the main aspect of every book. It's quite weak that it made me feel like "That's it ???!"
As I said all the questions were answered but only very few delivers the emotional impact the story really REALLY needed.
And it didn't give me the finale feel at all to be honest.
But the Major letdown for me is the lack of Senlin in this one. The reason I started and enjoyed this series up untill this point is because of him. This was his series and we barely see anything of him. The Major storyline i.e Senlin and Maya's felt absolutely flat in the end.
FINAL WORD:
The Fall of Babel is a good book but it's not the fitting finale this series deserves and it's my least favorite in the series.
February 19, 2022
I only wanted to have a look at this series because it was recommended to me by several people - and then I found myself racing through all four books within 11 days.
Yes, they are that good - with the two middle ones fabulous 5 stars because of remarkable character writing and interaction in that kind of witty, self-deprecating prose that I love so much in authors.
I highly recommend this series to everybody who likes Steampunk, mysterious settings that get explored bit by bit, misfit characters who come to their own under pressure, air pirate scenarios with crazy crews, female captains that are amazing, amazons that are big and likeable, distinguished stag-men who look after etiquette, crazy half bio-engineered humans who loose their mind - but in a nice way, headmasters who are completely out of their depths but determined to find their lost spouses.
A truly wonderful series that gets its place in my top 10 series.
Yes, they are that good - with the two middle ones fabulous 5 stars because of remarkable character writing and interaction in that kind of witty, self-deprecating prose that I love so much in authors.
I highly recommend this series to everybody who likes Steampunk, mysterious settings that get explored bit by bit, misfit characters who come to their own under pressure, air pirate scenarios with crazy crews, female captains that are amazing, amazons that are big and likeable, distinguished stag-men who look after etiquette, crazy half bio-engineered humans who loose their mind - but in a nice way, headmasters who are completely out of their depths but determined to find their lost spouses.
A truly wonderful series that gets its place in my top 10 series.
December 13, 2021
The Fall of Babel is the final book in The Books of Babel quartet and a great conclusion to the series, though I still consider The Hod King my favourite of the four. It wraps up character arcs and resolves various threads while further expanding on the unique worldbuilding of the Tower.
Bancroft’s prose is amazing: clever and pithy without being excessively flowery. It can make utterly ridiculous things seem perfectly normal. The baroque nature of the writing and the uniquely consistent bizarreness lends the story a certain charm that conceals the Tower's uneasy darkness while not shying away from its brutality.
The worldbuilding in this series is very out there, and fascinating as a result. The Tower as a whole is a setting that can endlessly be explored. All the ringdoms are wildly different in theme and character, painting a chaotically diverse picture of this gigantic structure. The ones visited here are among my favourites, especially the Cistern and Cilicia, the latter with its large flesh-eating worms and massive vineyards.
The entire cast of characters is also wonderful. Senlin, Edith, Adam, Byron, and all the others have distinctive, entertaining personalities and have grown tremendously from where they started. Senlin's arc over these books has been excellent: his growth from a diminutive school-teacher into a confident and impassioned leader while still retaining his core morality and principles. All while navigating the Tower of Babel, an entity notorious for grinding people down into shells of what they once were.
Adam stands out here, with the entire first chunk being dedicated to finding out what he was up to since he was conspicuously absent in the previous book. I enjoyed this section as it gives Adam some nice character moments while having some uniquely Tower of Babel-ish worldbuilding expansion and depth with the city of Nebos. Though I did think it went on for a few chapters too long. All the minor characters are imparted a certain distinctive flair that makes them stand out in the little page time they get, which helps the setting and story come to life and seem more vivid and dynamic.
Edith is a character that has really grown on me since the first book. Even up to the point where I would consider her one of my favourite characters in this series: her inner conflict about her responsibilities and principles was very compelling to read, and the conclusion of her arc is the one I would consider the most satisfying both character-wise and thematically. This book also somehow endeared me to Reddleman: a portly, enthusiastic, and generous person who revels in the sanctity of precise murder, and I don't know how.
The plot progression and the conclusion I thought was satisfying, both in the way the story played out and the interspersing of the PoV sections. It was steadily paced with a constant sense of story movement, though some of the action scenes I thought extended a tad too long. There are mysteries slowly being unravelled about the nature and function of the Tower after getting bits and pieces peppered throughout the previous books. One of my favourite aspects of any fantastical world is getting to know the lore, figuring out how all of it fits together logically. This series mostly delivers on that front, as there are awaited revelations about the various ringdoms and the Tower, as well as a deeper exploration of the workings of the mysterious red substance.
My only semi-significant gripe is also related to this though. There is quite a bit of information given and hints about the mysterious Bricklayer. Certain mysteries surrounding him that were introduced were never really answered by the end, which was disappointing since there was some build-up about those. I felt that the revelations about those mysteries were promised but not paid off. And I’m pretty sure I didn’t miss anything important.
I needed a few days to settle my thoughts on the ending. It’s definitely unexpected but quite fitting both character-wise and thematically. It wraps up the character arcs satisfactorily with some anticipated confrontations and conversations. And there are a multitude of revelations about the Tower, something speculated on by multiple characters over the series. I think I would have liked if there had been one more chapter at the end, but I am quite satisfied with how it all wrapped up.
Overall, it’s a wonderful conclusion to a unique series that features some great characters, an interesting plot, and fascinating worldbuilding. There is a lot of potential for further stories to be told as well. I’ll read whatever Bancroft puts out after this, whether it be set in this world or something completely new.
[Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for an honest review.]
Bancroft’s prose is amazing: clever and pithy without being excessively flowery. It can make utterly ridiculous things seem perfectly normal. The baroque nature of the writing and the uniquely consistent bizarreness lends the story a certain charm that conceals the Tower's uneasy darkness while not shying away from its brutality.
The worldbuilding in this series is very out there, and fascinating as a result. The Tower as a whole is a setting that can endlessly be explored. All the ringdoms are wildly different in theme and character, painting a chaotically diverse picture of this gigantic structure. The ones visited here are among my favourites, especially the Cistern and Cilicia, the latter with its large flesh-eating worms and massive vineyards.
The entire cast of characters is also wonderful. Senlin, Edith, Adam, Byron, and all the others have distinctive, entertaining personalities and have grown tremendously from where they started. Senlin's arc over these books has been excellent: his growth from a diminutive school-teacher into a confident and impassioned leader while still retaining his core morality and principles. All while navigating the Tower of Babel, an entity notorious for grinding people down into shells of what they once were.
Adam stands out here, with the entire first chunk being dedicated to finding out what he was up to since he was conspicuously absent in the previous book. I enjoyed this section as it gives Adam some nice character moments while having some uniquely Tower of Babel-ish worldbuilding expansion and depth with the city of Nebos. Though I did think it went on for a few chapters too long. All the minor characters are imparted a certain distinctive flair that makes them stand out in the little page time they get, which helps the setting and story come to life and seem more vivid and dynamic.
Edith is a character that has really grown on me since the first book. Even up to the point where I would consider her one of my favourite characters in this series: her inner conflict about her responsibilities and principles was very compelling to read, and the conclusion of her arc is the one I would consider the most satisfying both character-wise and thematically. This book also somehow endeared me to Reddleman: a portly, enthusiastic, and generous person who revels in the sanctity of precise murder, and I don't know how.
The plot progression and the conclusion I thought was satisfying, both in the way the story played out and the interspersing of the PoV sections. It was steadily paced with a constant sense of story movement, though some of the action scenes I thought extended a tad too long. There are mysteries slowly being unravelled about the nature and function of the Tower after getting bits and pieces peppered throughout the previous books. One of my favourite aspects of any fantastical world is getting to know the lore, figuring out how all of it fits together logically. This series mostly delivers on that front, as there are awaited revelations about the various ringdoms and the Tower, as well as a deeper exploration of the workings of the mysterious red substance.
My only semi-significant gripe is also related to this though. There is quite a bit of information given and hints about the mysterious Bricklayer. Certain mysteries surrounding him that were introduced were never really answered by the end, which was disappointing since there was some build-up about those. I felt that the revelations about those mysteries were promised but not paid off. And I’m pretty sure I didn’t miss anything important.
I needed a few days to settle my thoughts on the ending. It’s definitely unexpected but quite fitting both character-wise and thematically. It wraps up the character arcs satisfactorily with some anticipated confrontations and conversations. And there are a multitude of revelations about the Tower, something speculated on by multiple characters over the series. I think I would have liked if there had been one more chapter at the end, but I am quite satisfied with how it all wrapped up.
Overall, it’s a wonderful conclusion to a unique series that features some great characters, an interesting plot, and fascinating worldbuilding. There is a lot of potential for further stories to be told as well. I’ll read whatever Bancroft puts out after this, whether it be set in this world or something completely new.
[Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for an honest review.]
June 3, 2022
This book is surprisingly hard for me to rate. While I thought it was an enjoyable, well-written and fitting conclusion to the series in many ways, I didn't quite enjoy my reading experience as much as the other three books, because I loved them SO much. The first section of The Fall of Babel felt drawn out and less engaging to me, but I acknowledge that the information we learned during that section was important. After Part 1, my enjoyment with the plot increased.
I still thought this was a great book with satisfying plot resolutions, and I still love the characters after all of their growth and the things we have watched them go through! Josiah Bancroft's prose remains some of my favourite, and the epigraphs were also top notch. Overall, this series was a fantastic reading experience, and I highly recommend it :)
I still thought this was a great book with satisfying plot resolutions, and I still love the characters after all of their growth and the things we have watched them go through! Josiah Bancroft's prose remains some of my favourite, and the epigraphs were also top notch. Overall, this series was a fantastic reading experience, and I highly recommend it :)
July 9, 2022
“We can cower behind oaths and excuses, but it does not change the fact that many are suffering and dying. Perhaps we are not responsible for the crimes of our fathers, but make no mistake, we are beneficiaries of those crimes, which makes us answerable to its victims.”
This is an interesting novel, as it's one of the more polarising fantasy novels that’s currently being released. So, what did I think of this final instalment, and do I recommend the series? As non-spoilery as possible, I think this final novel is very good but very flawed. It sums up Bancroft’s biggest strengths and weaknesses as a writer in one package.
Firstly, I will have to talk about the structure, I’m unsure what Bancroft could have done but some restructure probably would have reduced some of the negative reception. An Example, Part 1 serves as that missing Part from The Hod King, but it’s also a link to the Fall of Babel. This section primarily concerns Adam, which was a character missing from the Hod King, what portrays is important no doubt but is the beginning of the odd structure. Maybe Bancroft could have provided a teaser of these events in Hod-Kings epilogue to make that shift less jarring. I knew about this development well beforehand, but the people who aren’t active in certain communities wouldn’t know and could feel jarring. Most of part 1, I would say was excellent, it made Adam interesting and explored an interesting civilisation in the process. There’s some nice relationship building and some interesting lore which connects to the ending quite well. All that said this compromised the first quarter of the novel, with no interaction with our heroes from the Hod King.
Part 2 felt like a proper continuation from the Hod King, and this is where some polarising aspects of the novel are more prominent. Though I will disagree about the assertion of it just being action scenes after action scenes, there’s some merit of truth. In a nutshell, due to a plot development in Fall of Babel, this section can be perceived as a chase that entails the most action scenes throughout the entire series. This type of plot structure is not the Author’s Forte, I said in past reviews, but the action written in a needlessly convoluted way. Which I don’t think is supposed to evoke a sense of confusion. I’ve said this in my previous reviews so it shouldn’t surprise you but here it’s just dialled up even further. However so much this sequence compromises great character banter, chemistry, interactions, some good monologues, fun philosophising, epigrams that are strong as ever and new POVs that are a welcome addition and certain side characters are fantastic. Because the plot is more of a chase, that sense of exploration of the Ringdom’s isn’t as present here, it's not about discovering a world.
Part 3 I thought was mostly excellent, especially at the beginning. There are some awesome reunions at the beginning, and everything was great until we head to the actual climax of the novel, which was underwhelming. It felt like a series that was built on imagination and clever wit, having such a generic climax was a big misstep.
Ending: Though I thought the climax was mediocre but I thought the ending was interesting. Certain developments I wouldn’t have predicted but I did see some aspects foreshadowed at the beginning of the series.
I do like the conclusions for most of the characters mostly everyone in the main cast got a fitting conclusion. I did think certain aspects of Senlin's arc was fitting though certain development, which I’m semi-mixed upon, but I did like how the novel ended overall.
Philosophy:
In this novel, I noticed there was more philosophising in than instalment than prior (at least from what I can tell) which I thought was executed well. Though I don’t think the main antagonist is complex, I do think he represented a certain ideology well. You can see the Borges influence and maybe some Gene Wolfe? Though I could be stretching the later one.
Mostly Positives:
Mixed-Negative:
Writing:
I’ve described the writing in the prior 3 reviews that I don’t have anything else to say on the matter beyond saying it has gone better. The epigrams, at least I felt it was stronger.
Conclusion:
In Conclusion, despite some of the cons I have for this novel I still thought it was very good. Overall, I would recommend the series, it's imaginative, fun and at times philosophical just a great series as a whole.
“The reason we study and learn, the reason we take only what we need, is because we have all been given a great gift—the gift of civilization, the gift of understanding, the gift of mastery over our environment—and if we misuse these, if we take these things for granted, the ones who will suffer most are our sons and daughters. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the fruits of our ancestors’ labor. We should relish the pudding. But that privilege does not relieve us of our responsibility to be faithful custodians of the world we leave for our children.”
7.5/10
January 25, 2023
3.5* for the final installment in the wonderful Books of Babel series
This is a tough review for me to write. I gave the first 3 books in this series 5* each as they were wonderful. Bancroft uses such fluid and descriptive writing and his story through the first 3 books is marvelously intriguing and well paced. However, the first ~35% of this book was very very tough for me to get through. I actually put this down for a month to read something else in-between which is something I never do and really highlights how unengaged I was.
The problem was the decision to spend the entire first third of this book focused on one POV, that of Adam. Look, I don't dislike Adam's character, but he was maybe my least favorite of all the POVs. With the way the Hod King ended I really wanted to keep reading about the other characters, especially those who had such climatic endings in book 3.
So to be honest the first 3rd of this book was a slog. Also, now I've finished, and in retrospect as I look back, I feel a lot of it was totally unnecessary!
Still, lets not focus on the first 3rd. The other 2/3 of the book was wonderful and picks up where the other 3 books were so strong. The ending was pretty cool and I never really saw it coming til the very end which is how you always want it, a great surprise to a great series.
So all in all I loved this series! But book 4 definitely had its issues and as such it did detract from the series overall for me. A shame, as it was 15/15 up to this point and finishes with a very respectful 18.5/20 for the full series review. I recommend you read it.
This is a tough review for me to write. I gave the first 3 books in this series 5* each as they were wonderful. Bancroft uses such fluid and descriptive writing and his story through the first 3 books is marvelously intriguing and well paced. However, the first ~35% of this book was very very tough for me to get through. I actually put this down for a month to read something else in-between which is something I never do and really highlights how unengaged I was.
The problem was the decision to spend the entire first third of this book focused on one POV, that of Adam. Look, I don't dislike Adam's character, but he was maybe my least favorite of all the POVs. With the way the Hod King ended I really wanted to keep reading about the other characters, especially those who had such climatic endings in book 3.
So to be honest the first 3rd of this book was a slog. Also, now I've finished, and in retrospect as I look back, I feel a lot of it was totally unnecessary!
Still, lets not focus on the first 3rd. The other 2/3 of the book was wonderful and picks up where the other 3 books were so strong. The ending was pretty cool and I never really saw it coming til the very end which is how you always want it, a great surprise to a great series.
So all in all I loved this series! But book 4 definitely had its issues and as such it did detract from the series overall for me. A shame, as it was 15/15 up to this point and finishes with a very respectful 18.5/20 for the full series review. I recommend you read it.
September 19, 2021
The Fall of Babel is the long-awaited final volume in Bancroft’s fantasy quartet, the Books of Babel, one of the most amazing and creative fantasy adventures to ever grace the printed page. Those travelers arriving here first without first venturing through the other three books are doing themselves no major favors and missing a huge amount of storyline and character development. Don’t expect the brief introduction to suffice. It won’t.
Set in the Biblical land of Ur sits the works famous Tower of Babel, here rather reimagined. Surrounded by a fair or flea market miles deep, it is that treasured goal of every traveler and dreamer the world over, including, that is, Selin, headmaster of a school, and his wife, Marya. They soon become separated in the giant flea market and Selin enters the giant tower in search of her. But this Tower is so broad that it each level hosts a kingdom or ringdom as they are known. Most of these ringdoms and there’s some 64 of them for good measure are ruled by feudal aristocratics.
All the ringdoms are connected by allegiance to the Sphinx, a shadowy figure who provides technology to the ringdoms from plumbing to electrical to hovering craft that glide from one kingdom’s port to another. The kingdoms are Also seeded with the Sphinx’s wakemen, people altered with engines instead of arms and the like.
As this volume of the quartet opens, the hods who walk the dark stairways in the center of the tower are some in open revolt with one having enlisted wakemen to his side and having built a giant burrowing craft, the Hod King, to tunnel through the ringdoms. Our hero, the mild mannered schoolmaster Selin is a prisoner aboard this mole.
Meanwhile, Selin’s friends are in the Sphinx’s flagship, having rescued Selin’s wife and child, and now bent on securing paintings the Sphinx left in each Ringdom with a secret embedded code because the entire tower is unstable and the energy erupting within rivals the sun. Each of the shipmates are startlingly unique from the Captain Edith with an engine for an arm to the giantess Iren to the half stag half man to the former Red Hand, the most feared man in all the ringdoms. Not to be outdone, acrobat and pickpocket Voleta is among them, but changed so that her batteries need recharging and vials if the Sphinx’s medium must always be at the ready for her injections. She’s on the cusp though if disappearing into the mists of time.
But this volume opens with none of that. It’s Voleta’s brother Adam’s story as he enters the topmost ringdom and ascends to near heaven into gardens and perfection. Of course, in such a place strangers are not welcome and he must be tried by a people with nothing better to do than to consume movies and make biographs about people like Adam.
The world of this amazing tower just keeps getting more and more amazing. Nevertheless, as the crew of the Sphinx’s flagship meets with the crew of the Hod King the battles are so ferocious that there is little time to marvel at the sights. Like all three other books in the quartet, this is first class fantasy with all the tension and excitement you could want.
Set in the Biblical land of Ur sits the works famous Tower of Babel, here rather reimagined. Surrounded by a fair or flea market miles deep, it is that treasured goal of every traveler and dreamer the world over, including, that is, Selin, headmaster of a school, and his wife, Marya. They soon become separated in the giant flea market and Selin enters the giant tower in search of her. But this Tower is so broad that it each level hosts a kingdom or ringdom as they are known. Most of these ringdoms and there’s some 64 of them for good measure are ruled by feudal aristocratics.
All the ringdoms are connected by allegiance to the Sphinx, a shadowy figure who provides technology to the ringdoms from plumbing to electrical to hovering craft that glide from one kingdom’s port to another. The kingdoms are Also seeded with the Sphinx’s wakemen, people altered with engines instead of arms and the like.
As this volume of the quartet opens, the hods who walk the dark stairways in the center of the tower are some in open revolt with one having enlisted wakemen to his side and having built a giant burrowing craft, the Hod King, to tunnel through the ringdoms. Our hero, the mild mannered schoolmaster Selin is a prisoner aboard this mole.
Meanwhile, Selin’s friends are in the Sphinx’s flagship, having rescued Selin’s wife and child, and now bent on securing paintings the Sphinx left in each Ringdom with a secret embedded code because the entire tower is unstable and the energy erupting within rivals the sun. Each of the shipmates are startlingly unique from the Captain Edith with an engine for an arm to the giantess Iren to the half stag half man to the former Red Hand, the most feared man in all the ringdoms. Not to be outdone, acrobat and pickpocket Voleta is among them, but changed so that her batteries need recharging and vials if the Sphinx’s medium must always be at the ready for her injections. She’s on the cusp though if disappearing into the mists of time.
But this volume opens with none of that. It’s Voleta’s brother Adam’s story as he enters the topmost ringdom and ascends to near heaven into gardens and perfection. Of course, in such a place strangers are not welcome and he must be tried by a people with nothing better to do than to consume movies and make biographs about people like Adam.
The world of this amazing tower just keeps getting more and more amazing. Nevertheless, as the crew of the Sphinx’s flagship meets with the crew of the Hod King the battles are so ferocious that there is little time to marvel at the sights. Like all three other books in the quartet, this is first class fantasy with all the tension and excitement you could want.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,041 reviews