@Didactylos I agree. This is a book best read slowly. Absorbing the ideas, and observing them day to day.
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I don't read as often as I should, but when I do, it tends to be scifi/fantasy
Recently discovered that nonfiction is pretty good, too :P
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duck set a goal to read 12 books in 2023
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duck finished reading Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright
duck rated A Mathematician's Lament: 4 stars
![Paul Lockhart: A Mathematician's Lament (2009, Bellevue Literary Press)](https://bookwyrm-social.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/images/covers/c6ff10cc-ddb0-4a77-aa0b-ed79ea45b66e.png)
A Mathematician's Lament by Paul Lockhart
"A musician wakes from a terrible nightmare. In his dream he finds himself in a society where music education has …
duck rated Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England: 3 stars
![Susanna Clarke: Piranesi (Paperback, 2020, Bloomsbury Publishing)](https://bookwyrm-social.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/images/covers/05c3a7a9-7c09-4df0-95fb-cc1034613057.jpeg)
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set …
duck rated Tress of the Emerald Sea: 5 stars
Review of 'Babel' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
It was good, really good. The characters were interesting and three dimensional and enjoyable, the setting and plot was engaging and high stakes, and the translation lectures were tailor made for language nerds like me.
However, don’t do like I did and go into this expecting a fantasy novel. This is, mostly, historical fiction with a magic system reskinning technological progress in Victorian England.
This is not a knock on it, though, saying that it’s superfluous; it has a very interesting, if specific effect on the reader’s relationship with the world. It moves all of the varied goods and services that imperial Britain used to maintain power over their colonies into one spot and one profession: Oxford translators. As I see it, the silver magic system mostly exists to move the political center of Britain into this area. And I enjoyed it if only for this facet, if not for …
It was good, really good. The characters were interesting and three dimensional and enjoyable, the setting and plot was engaging and high stakes, and the translation lectures were tailor made for language nerds like me.
However, don’t do like I did and go into this expecting a fantasy novel. This is, mostly, historical fiction with a magic system reskinning technological progress in Victorian England.
This is not a knock on it, though, saying that it’s superfluous; it has a very interesting, if specific effect on the reader’s relationship with the world. It moves all of the varied goods and services that imperial Britain used to maintain power over their colonies into one spot and one profession: Oxford translators. As I see it, the silver magic system mostly exists to move the political center of Britain into this area. And I enjoyed it if only for this facet, if not for all the other symbolism it brings to the table.
However, I think it’s easy to be misled as a reader, that you will be seeing imaginative “what if?”s that are the bread and butter of alternate history fantasy novels.
To sum up, I recommend giving this novel a try if you are at all interested in Victorian England, in translation/linguistics, or just enjoy a really good, tragic, character driven story.
![Blake Crouch: Upgrade (Hardcover, 2022, Ballantine Books)](https://bookwyrm-social.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/images/covers/14375534-ebb5-4d68-9874-b1ad8fc4ae34.jpeg)
Upgrade by Blake Crouch
“You are the next step in human evolution.”
At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels …
duck rated The Midnight Library: 5 stars
![Matt Haig: The Midnight Library (Paperback, 2021, Canongate Books Ltd.)](https://bookwyrm-social.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/images/covers/getimage_Zd8B46F.jpg)
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Nora’s life has been going from bad to worse. Then at the stroke of midnight on her last day on …
duck rated Brave New World: 3 stars
![Aldous Huxley: Brave New World (Paperback, 1998, HarperPerennial)](https://bookwyrm-social.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/images/covers/0101c55c-8b59-4935-b505-de6a03642b29.jpeg)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley's profoundly important classic of world literature, Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future …
duck rated Good Omens: 3 stars
![Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett: Good Omens (Paperback, 2019, William Morrow Paperbacks)](https://bookwyrm-social.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/images/covers/502ead33-977e-486e-9e27-1055c129dc7f.jpeg)
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett
The classic collaboration from the internationally bestselling authors Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, soon to be an original series starring …
duck rated Parable of the Sower: 3 stars
![Octavia E. Butler: Parable of the Sower (Paperback, 2000, Warner Books)](https://bookwyrm-social.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/images/covers/f80e3b6a-7901-46ad-bc41-1e16db5e1005.jpeg)
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)
In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future. …