Babel-17 Book Review

This book became my first foray into Samuel R. Delany’s work. When I first picked up Babel-17, I found myself surprised at what it was about and how the story unfolded. Let’s get into the review so I can better explain.

Published in 1966 through Ace Books, Babel-17 won the Nebula Award in 1967, tying with Flowers for Algernon. It also received a nomination for the Hugo Award. The story follows Rydra Wong, a young poet and linguist who investigates a strange language being transmitted. The language connects to a series of sabotages coming from the enemy simply called the Invaders. After hearing the transmissions coming from the Invaders, Rydra surmises that the language isn’t a code but an actual language. To combat the invaders and learn more about the language (known as Babel-17), Rydra takes a ship and sets off through space with a crew.

I want to start off by saying that I really enjoyed the main character of this book. It’s not often that the protagonist is a woman in earlier science fiction, especially a woman of color. (Alternatively, if you have any book recommendations where this is the case, feel free to comment down below!). I liked how assertive and smart Rydra is while still having a personality outside of that. She manages to keep a calm facade while also being proactive and acting as a dynamic force in the story.

I felt, however, a little lost while reading in some parts. Delany includes lots of themes of linguistic interpretation and how that shapes reality. While I thought the concept of Babel-17 as a language was interesting, I had some difficulty in keeping up with Delany’s prose regarding it. As Rydra’s reality shifted, so did the story, meaning sometimes I left off reading, going, “Wait, what?” Not that this was necessarily a bad thing. I think this book serves as an excellent introduction to Delany’s work. I also think the book acts as a good jumping-off point for doing more research into what Delany talks about. Eventually, I want to read more of his work, so this serves as a good introduction overall.

Back to tackling my TBR! Somehow, my list keeps getting smaller and smaller, so I need some recommendations to add to the list and keep going. See you all later this week for another Saturday post. Happy reading!

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