4 books to read if you loved Babel by R.F. Kuang

Babel, or the necessity of violence by R.F. Kuang is a book that will go down as a classic of our generation. For those who haven’t read it, it’s a low fantasy book set in 19th century Oxford, that explores themes of imperialism, revolution, and power dynamics. Another feature of Babel that makes it unique, is it’s use of etymology as a plot device and in frequent footnotes. I think Babel is a perfect book for anyone who wants to get into fantasy books while avoiding the trope-heavy books that are frequently lauded today. 

When I first finished Babel, I was itching to get my hands on a similar book, but found that most recommendations lacked the depth and complexity that I loved about Babel. Most recommendations fell into a ‘dark academia’ fantasy genre that focused more on the aesthetic than the message. I would argue that Babel directly challenges this as an aesthetic that can exist without investigating it's imperialist roots. After reflecting on the books that I’ve read and loved, I put together this list that matches Babel’s thematic depth, most of which aren’t found on typical recommendation lists.

1. Anything else by R.F. Kuang

My first recommendation to anyone who likes Babel is to read one of Kuang’s other books. Although her books have incredibly different settings and plots, her creativity and wit are always on full display. The Poppy War trilogy is for lovers of high fantasy who want to know more about East Asian history. Yellowface is a modern-day more realistic fiction that challenges cancel-culture and the commodification of minority voices in literature. Yellowface is my personal favorite (after Babel, of course) but both are fantastic books that have just as much to offer as Babel. Kuang is also releasing a new Greek myth inspired book this summer called Katabasis, which follows two students descent into hell to retrieve their professor's soul.

2. Dune by Frank Herbert

Although the Dune movies are a fantastic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s story, there is so much more that can be gleaned from the book. Like Babel, Dune draws on metaphors for the oil industry to critique European Empires. Unlike Babel, it falls more into a sci-fi or fantasy genre and is set far into the future rather than the past. The entire Dune series is a great one if you loved Star Wars growing up, but are looking for a book that takes religious extremism to an even further extent. It’s also a good one to read if you’re interested in mid-20th century politics since Herbert drew on his experience as a speechwriter for a congressman for inspiration. It is a pretty challenging read, as it just throws you into the story and expects you to figure out what all the jargon means, but with extensive use of the appendices I was able to understand the story without too much confusion.

3. The Power by Naomi Alderman

I think The Power by Naomi Alderman is an incredibly underrated book. It’s often compared to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, however I think it has much more wide-reaching relevance than that. The Power could be considered low fantasy, like Babel, or somewhere in the realm of dystopian sci-fi fiction. It mostly deals with gender-based imbalances in power at first, but goes on to explore how regimes and religions are formed due to concentration of power. It follows multiple characters as power shifts occur due to women gaining the ability to create electrical shocks. I especially love this book because it’s written like a historical account from the far future and includes different resources such as diagrams that would be included in an academic lecture on the topic.

4. The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

The Roots of Chaos series is one that will be more commonly seen on lists with Babel. These massive (800 pages each!), high fantasy novels delve into how the retelling, and misunderstanding, of history can impact politics hundreds of years later. My favorite detail about this series is that the prequel (A Day of Fallen Night) is set 500 years before The Priory of the Orange tree. If you read Priory first, you’ll get bits and pieces of the story in A Day of Fallen Night through folklore and legend. The Roots of Chaos series also does a great job of including diversity without showing oppression, which is a breath of fresh air in today’s political climate.