A review by careythesixth
The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

There is so much going on in this book and I don't know how I feel about the end yet in terms of the space ship of it all. Emotionally, I'm a wreck, but I was expecting that. Just not for the reasons I had anticipated. I'm surprised that Senlin made it out alive. He seems like the noble sacrifice type and he was def ready.

I didn't expect to be furious with him at the end. Edith is my absolute favorite character in this series for so many reasons. Senlin does her so dirty in the last two pages. I'm not saying he should have chosen her over Marya. But they had a deep and true bond and Edith spends the entirety of this book trying to save his ass knowing full well that reuniting him with Marya means the end of their relationship even on a platonic level. But she does it because it's the right thing to do. For Senlin to then try to tell Marya that his relationship with Edith was desperate and foolish... that's so messed up. At least Marya calls him out for it. At least Marya understands how good Edith is and never blames her for Senlin's bullshit.

I was expecting Senlin to have learned some things by the end of the series. I loved these books and I'll probably read them again eventually, but I'm so mad at Senlin for still not quite understanding how people work.