#Alternate History

Babel

by R. F. Kuang

In an alternate 1830s Britain, Robin Swift, an orphan brought from Canton, is trained at Oxford's Royal Institute of Translation, known as Babel. There, translators power the Empire's magic by engraving silver bars with pairs of words whose meanings don't quite match. As Robin learns what his work is used for, he has to choose between Babel and the people it helps exploit.