R.F. Kuang

My TL;DR, spoiler-free review: Inconsistent and often lazy world-building combined with a very unlikable main character make this a difficult read but the ending opens up the possibility of interesting character development for Rin and the magic system is unique and interesting. Given this is Kuang's first book and how young she was when she wrote this, there is potential that the other books in the series are better and so there's a chance I don't abandon the series just yet.

Time to delve deeper.

The lazy world-building: Fantasy novels are generally influenced and inspired by actual history and mythology, but there's being inspired by history and then there's lazily pulling from history in an inconsistent manner.

At Sinegard Academy Rin studies Principles of War by Sunzi (alternative spelling of Sun Tzu, the author of Art of War), she also reads Fuzi (alternative spelling of Confucious's given name) and Zhuangzi (alternative spelling of Chuang-Tzu, one of the founders of Daoism). In history class, Rin's teacher refers to the last 100 years as the Age of Humiliation (The last one hundred years of the Qing Dynasty was referred to as the Century of Humiliation by early 20th-century Chinese nationalists). There's nothing in the names or history of Nikkara (Manchurian for China, and Manchurians ruled China at this time in our history) that doesn't come directly from actual Chinese history, it's not so much inspired by China as it is taking China.

But then there are other parts of Chinese history that got left behind, the tactics proposed by Rin in her strategy class are ripped from Romance of the Three Kingdoms but are seen by her master as things she invented. So that didn't get transferred over. Jiang credits the invention of martial arts in that world to Bodhidharma, who in our world was a Buddhist monk (and early martial artist). But then there's nothing Buddhist related in any of the religions that Rin studies.

The gods are all taken from actual Chinese gods, but some like Sanshengmu are given their actual names while others are just named after their animal spirit, like the monkey god. Half the characters are given actual Chinese names, but then the other half are fantasy-sounding names.

And it's the inconsistencies that break immersion. It doesn't feel like Kuang spent time building this world, but more wanted early 20th China but slightly different as the setting for her story.

The other countries too. Hesperia is Latin for Spain and a stand-in for the European colonial powers. Incidentally, Spain didn't really ever have a colonial presence in China, unlike Britain, France, Portugal, Russia, and Germany.

On Rin: I like to say I'm a fan of character development, but a character going from being driven and headstrong to the confused emotional wreck Rin is for half the book just isn't a character arc that makes an interesting read to me. I get that Rin is supposed to be the antagonist and that we're supposed to see Rin's slide towards amorality. I just don't like the way it was done.

Her story at the beginning is endearing. The first 1/6th of the story makes you like Rin. She's an underdog, she takes the Keju test in hopes that it will allow her to escape this potentially awful life, and thanks to her hard work and intelligence she scores well enough to get into the most elite academy in the empire. And there she's a serious underdog. She's a peasant, she's a girl, she's from the poorest province in the empire. Any of those facts would make it unlikely that she'd ever get into Sinegard, but the fact that she was able to overcome all three shows just how intelligent and hardworking Rin is when you realize just how much resources rich, aristocrats pour into helping their sons prepare for Sinegard.

Now immediately after getting into Sinegard, there's a slight flag raised early about what she's going to become when she turns to violence way too quickly in her first interaction with Nezha, but that interaction overall didn't really bother me, nothing wrong with a hotheaded main character, especially because her story remained endearing enough.

But getting into Sinegard isn't enough, she has to stay there, and she spends much of her first year coming close to flunking out due to the discrimination she faces from fellow students as well as teachers (as well as the superior resources and prep the aristocratic students had). Early on she makes an interesting choice, getting a hysterectomy to avoid getting periods, which was totally in keeping with her character showing how driven she is and how quickly she's prepared to sacrifice anything to achieve what she wants.

And so up till this point in the story, most readers really like and sympathize with Rin, she is driven by the need to survive and seems to be pretty intelligent and resourceful in order to succeed. But it's at this point that her motivation starts to change, many don't notice this change until much later, but I was bothered by it.

What made Rin endearing was her need to survive against overwhelming odds, but now she has relief, Jiang takes her as a disciple and at this point it's more or less guaranteed that she'll pass, but that's no longer good enough for her. Now it's about being as strong and powerful as possible.

When Jiang realizes how power-hungry she is, he ghosts her. That probably wasn't the right way to react but he was totally right to be disappointed in her there (and man will that same disappointment permeate going forward), but fortunately for Rin by this point it's too late, he's taught her just enough about her powers that when enraged enough she loses control, and now he has to keep teaching her, just in hopes she'll learn control. And he never succeeds, she frequently pushes boundaries, and wants to use the spiritualism Jiang is teaching her to make herself stronger, rather than for the spiritual reasons Jiang wants.

As a slight aside, I don't like that Rin's a speerly. Tearza's ghost really wanted to protect her from the Pheonix and failed. But I sorta liked that Rin chose the Pheonix over her lust for power despite all cautions against it, and I felt like her choosing the Pheonix because that's her people's 'God' takes away from that. In any case, that lust for power is present early, which sorta makes the supposed character arc Rin undergoes from then on a frustratingly pointless one.

So the war begins and Rin instantly becomes this mess of an emotional wreck. Her first actual combat, after being this well-trained tactical genius praised by the greatest military strategist alive, she's left a blubbering mess leading up to and during her first battle. I didn't like this change. I get why this was done, Kuang wanted to show that thinking you're prepared for war and actually being prepared are night and day, and also that the trauma of war changes people. I thought it was done too quickly, it wasn't the war that changed her it wasn't experiencing combat, the fear started before her first battle and it persisted all the way to the end of the novel.

I like to say I'm a fan of character development, and I've enjoyed stories about characters going down increasingly dark paths, but a huge problem I had with Rin's development was just how much it seesawed. Multiple times she went from wanting the power of the gods to fearing it and wanting to follow Jiang's teachings, to quickly wanting it again. And this seesawing stays right till the end of the book, when at one moment she happily justifies what she did, the next she's confused, and the next she's comfortable with it.

I think Kuang wanted to paint Rin as a confused teenager in over her head, but this characterization disappointed me given how different it is from the Rin we saw in part 1, especially given how much she had to overcome to get to where she was. It's also a break from actual history. Rin is loosely based on Mao Zedong, who was in his 30s to 50s during the events that inspired Rin's story. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but if we're trying to explore how humans turn to evil, I'm not sure making the character a confused teenager is necessarily the best approach.

So overall, I get what the book was trying to do, and it's not a bad novel for a first-time author. I liked the magic system, which I didn't really talk about but you can see thousands of reviews praising that and other aspects of the book. But it's not enough to get immersed in the story and I can't overlook this book's flaws.

2/5… (more)

" 'It's like I've known you forever...And that makes no sense, said Robin. 'I think', said Ramy, 'it's because when I speak, you listen...Because you're a good translator...That's just what translation is, I think. That's all that speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they're trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands.'" p. 535

The book has a creative and interesting premise...that the nuances of translation can cause a force that, run through silver, can create magical reactions. These reactions are used in the "silver industrial revolution". The silver lining of machines and roads and homes creates forces that make life in England more livable. This of course comes with a price. Colonialism, poverty, and war. Translators like Ramy and Robin are needed because the more foreign the language is from English, the more powerful the force that is generated.

"Language was just difference. A thousand different ways of seeing, of moving through the world. No; a thousand worlds within one. And translation- a necessary endeavor, however futile, to move between them. "p. 535

For the plot alone I wanted to give the book 5 stars. Unfortunately, long explanatory footnotes were distracting, even though they did explain the etymology of words. I just wish the editor could have encouraged the author to eliminate the footnotes and simply incorporate short etymological explanations within the narrative.

For the first 80% of the story, the book was hard to put down. Set in London, Oxford, and Canton, four classmates at Babel form a deep friendship. Eventually, the four friends become disillusioned.

"And Oxford at night was still so serene, still seemed like a place where they were safe...The lights that shone through arched windows still promised warmth, old books, and hot tea within. still suggested an idyllic scholar's life, where ideas were abstract entertainments that could be bandied about without consequences. But the dream was shattered. That dream had always been founded on a lie. None of them had ever stood a chance of truly belonging here, for Oxford wanted only one kind of scholar, the kind born and bred to cycle through posts of power it had created for itself. Everyone else it chewed up and discarded." p. 431

Their awakening to the true motives behind the University's endeavors leads them to turn to underground means to combat injustice.

"Violence shows them how much we're willing to give up...violence is the only language they understand because their system of extraction is inherently violent. Violence shocks the system. And the system cannot survive the shock." p. 397

Their choice to use extreme measures leads to an unexpected climax. The translators now must make momentous decisions, "to see Oxford broken down to its foundations, wanted its fat golden opulence to slough way..." p. 471 These decisions will hopefully change the history of the country, perhaps avoiding the Opium wars..." but who in living history even understands their part in the tapestry?" p. 537
After that, the last 100 pages were laborious. I won't give details because of spoilers, but several chapters could have been eliminated. The ending seems to indicate that a sequel is possible.
Three stars for a thought-provoking tale of dark academia, political intrigue, disillusionment, friendship, and betrayal.… (more)

This is an urban historical fantasy and dark academia set in Oxford in the Victorian era by Chinese author Rebecca F. Kuang. It features Robin Swift, a Chinese boy who is taken from his home in Canton to Oxford by an English professor to be trained as a translator. He soon makes friends with gregarious Indian student Ramy, Haitian Victoire, and with peaches-and-cream English girl Letty Price. The four of them form a tight unit against all their detractors and together they revel in the learning and the beauty of the languages. In the background is Babel itself, Oxford University’s Institute of Translation, where the scholars use their linguistic powers to fuel the silver magic that sustains the empire itself and its people.

Soon it becomes apparent that all of this has an ugly underbelly and that rampant colonial exploitation is sustained by the institute with its ruthless use of other nations, their knowledge and languages with no intention of sharing the rewards or power. This realisation pulls Robin towards Hermes, a mysterious underworld society fighting against colonial injustice. Will this fight save his mother country from the looming Opium Wars and destruction, or will it merely threaten all he has come to love and hold dear at Oxford?

I adored the fact that this book felt like an ode to linguistics and translation. I loved the setting, and the tight knit foursome. It felt very Harry Potteresque. I enjoyed the interplay between history and magic, and that the fantasy elements were subtle enough not to drown out the story and its themes, although I can imagine real fantasy readers might decry the limited world building. I felt the theme of colonial exploitation was an important one, and acknowledges the great harm England has caused many other countries and peoples.

On the other hand, I felt the characterisation was somewhat flat and simplistic. The characters were clearly demarcated either into the villain or the hero categories, and this seemingly along strict racial lines: pretty much all the white characters were villains and all the non white characters were heroes. In reality life is more complex and nuanced than this, and, irrespective of race, people do not purely fall into the “good” and “bad” categories, but some blend of both. The only character who seemed to escape this classification was probably Griffin, but even he only had one string to his bow.

The ending, well what can I say? The end part of the book certainly became much more melodramatic, and full of ranty, philosophical monologues. Is it a modern trend, post Game of Thrones, that we kill off our characters in an attempt for drama? In this case it was more of an anticlimax than a shock or drama. I wondered if Victoire was then set up to take the lead role in a sequel.

Overall this was a great read which would also make a wonderful movie.… (more)