The Best Fantasy Books about Books

'Babel' is a story of Robin, a half-Chinese survivor from a plague in Canton. Robin is found half-alive by a white British scientist, Professor Lovell, and saved from a death by a magical silver bar. Lovell proposes Robin a simple choice – the boy may travel with him to Great Britain and study in the Oxford University or live in China in the famine and plague. Lovell takes Robin to England and brings him up in his country house. Then, Robin prepares for majoring in translation studies under the tutelage of Professor Lovell and eventually gets in the Translation Department of the Oxford University in the titular Babel Institute. 

Babel, the pounding heart of the British Empire in its finest, is a place where the magic at the base of the Empire begins. The silver bars produced in Babel are fuel used in every aspect of the elite’s lives. The bars are created from the slight differences between similar words in languages and their creation is the mission of the translators of Babel. 

In Oxford, Robin faces both wonderful and painful reality. He grows up with new friends – Rami, Victoire and Letty – and studies with passion and curiosity. However, the university remains a deeply racist, misogynist and elitist place. Thus, Robin with his non-white and female classmates experience prejudices and hatred. In this harsh world of colonialism and imperialism, Robin comes across a man unbelievably similar to him and this event will change his perception of the simplest moral values. 

Named the best book of Rebecca Kuang, 'Babel' is a dark academia book placed in the titular tower, the building of words and poems. In the Babel Institute, the whole magic is took from the words. Perfect for the nerds.