Senlin Ascends: Book One of the Books of Babel

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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. Age-Gap Romance: Senlin and Marya have about ten years between them. They first met as Senlin first took over teaching duties at the village school. 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. 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.

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. 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.Fiction Book Review: Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved 23 November 2018. 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. 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.”

The first book in the word-of-mouth phenomenon debut fantasy series about one man’s dangerous journey through a labyrinthine world. It certainly is busy.” Senlin said, trying not to seem as flustered as he felt, though Marya hardly noticed; she was staring over his head, a bemused expression lighting her pretty face. 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.

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! Senlin Ascends is a beautifully compelling debut which dazzled me with its surreal setting and charming characters. I for one am glad we have many more instalments to come because although it’s impossible to predict where the story will lead, I’m excited to see what paths Bancroft will take his readers down next. Fantastic Drug: White Chrom, colloquially known as Crumb. So named because it "makes the real world seem like the sort of thing a mouse could eat in one bite and still be hungry". Senlin accidentally stumbles into a Crumb den and after partaking, hallucinates a giant version of Marya. The first book in the word-of-mouth phenomenon debut fantasy series about one man's dangerous journey through a labyrinthine world.

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. The tea set that had come with their breakfast rattled now, spoons shivering in their empty cups, as the engineer applied the brakes and the train all but stopped. Thomas Senlin had saved and planned for this journey his entire career. He wanted to see the wonders he’d read so much about, and though it would be a trial for his nerves, he hoped his poise and intellect would carry the day. Climbing the Tower of Babel, even if only a little way, was his greatest ambition, and he was quite excited. Not that anyone would know it to look at him: he affected a cool detachment as a rule, concealing the inner flights of his emotions. It was how he conducted himself in the classroom. He didn’t know how else to behave anymore. 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)Oh, thank you, but I’m not alone.” Tiring of the conversation, Senlin moved to grip the handle of the trunk only to find it moved.

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. 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. 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.”

Fantasy Series We Recommend

Prose: Like the previous works by Josiah Bancroft, the prose in this book were pure brilliant. He outdone himself.