Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R F Kuang

The problem with a fictional account of reality is that sometimes it is difficult to know where the fiction ends, and reality begins. And it has less to do with a writer's ability but a reader's prejudices.

The author has politely suggested that this is a work of fiction, and beyond that everything else stays with the reader. And, yes, eventually it does start sounding like a conspiracy theory in the end with a lot of incorrect history lessons.

It is a mix of Dickens, Harry Potter, tragedies, lost love and self sacrificing zeal, and all of it falls as fast as it flies. It is above 500 pages, and part of it sounds like a page filler rather than supporting the plot.

I'd definitely be not picking up anything from Kuang to avoid mixing the fiction with actual facts. Specially about poppy war.

Love