Everyone talked about this book so much when it came out that I think I actually avoided it out of a weird contrarian instinct, assumed the hype had to be at least partially overblown. Finally picked it up this summer and yeah, I was wrong to wait, this might be one of the best "magic system as metaphor for colonialism" books I've read, and that's a surprisingly crowded subgenre at this point.
The linguistics-as-magic concept alone would've carried a weaker book, but pairing it with such a specific, well-researched historical setting made it hit way harder than a more generic fantasy version of the same idea would have. The back third especially is doing some genuinely uncomfortable, necessary work that I wasn't fully braced for going in.
Kuang's got a new book out as part of this fall's big release slate too from what I've seen mentioned in other threads, so this feels like good timing to finally have caught up. Anyone else a Babel latecomer, or was I really just the last person to get to this one?