Babel

In Babel, R.F. Kuang explores the power of language, translation, and resistance within the heart of the British Empire. Set in 1830s Oxford, the novel follows Robin Swift, a Chinese orphan brought to study at the Royal Institute of Translation—known as Babel—where knowledge is weaponized through silver-working, a magical art that fuels imperial domination. As Robin and his peers grapple with privilege, loyalty, and revolution, Kuang exposes the violence embedded in academia, empire, and translation itself. Blending historical fiction with speculative magic, Babel interrogates the cost of knowledge, the ethics of language, and the moral weight of complicity in systems of power.