02567cam a2200397 i 4500 1052699069 TxAuBib 20231202120000.0 230828t20232022||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 9780063021433 0063021439 (OCoLC)1395397452 TxAuBib rda Kuang, R. F., (Rebecca F.) Babel, or, The necessity of violence : an arcane history of the Oxford Translators' Revolution / R.F. Kuang. Necessity of violence. First Harper Voyager paperback edition. New York, NY : Harper Voyager, 2023. ©2022. xiv, 544 pages : illustrations, map ; 20 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, Robin trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford University's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation - also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working - the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars - has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chines boy raised in Britain, he realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide...Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? 20231202. Nebula Award for best novel, 2022. Translating and interpreting Fiction. Magic Fiction. Imperialism Moral and ethical aspects Fiction. Anti-imperialist movements Fiction. China Foreign relations Great Britain Fiction. Great Britain Foreign relations China Fiction. Alternative histories (Fiction.) Fantasy fiction. lcgft TXKPL