Review: Josiah Bancroft’s ‘The Books Of Babel’ Series

The Books of Babel is a four-volume fantasy series by Josiah Bancroft. Book 1: Senlin Ascends is best described as a steampunk-infused Wes Anderson film. Senlin takes his new bride, Maria, to the legendary Tower of Babel for their honeymoon. Much like a small-towner visiting the big city for the first time, Senlin loses his luggage, his money, and his wife in the crowd ascending the Tower. So begins the series, as Senlin must enter the structure to recover his wife and navigate the various societies within. The Tower is divided into many kingdoms known as “ringdoms” that each possess a unique society.

There’s a city that is a never-ending stage where the actors perform real murders, other realms contain clockwork automatons, bizarre animals, and mysterious drugs that can warp the body and mind. Over the course of four novels we get the feeling of a globe-trotting adventure that all takes place within the colossal tower.

Bancroft is clearly influenced by the writings of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Jules Verne and Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. However, he is a stellar writing talent in his own right. Witty, poetic, and well-paced, Bancroft stands head and shoulders above many contemporary commercial authors.

In order to fully appreciate what the writer is doing well, I must highlight some flaws I believe are plaguing other realms of fiction. Contemporary prose has seen a major drop in quality with many best sellers reading like a repurposed blog. There seems to be no shortage of books trying to be an HBO drama and are chock-full of swears, smut, and shallow shock content. The popularity of low-grade novels makes me skeptical of anything that’s going viral on Book-Tok.

Which brings us back to Bancroft, whose writing is refreshingly free of those trendy clichés. His writing is lush, beautiful, and evocative without succumbing to obtuse purple prose. The tone of The Books of Babel stays within a TV-14 zone, but never pulls any punches. Sexual subject matter is handled cleverly and tastefully. The action scenes are exciting, but all the violence has consequences. If you’re sick of Game of Thrones-style grimdark, The Books of Babel provide a breath of fresh air.

I’m also not someone who’s typically a fantasy reader. Sure, like every other Millennial, I loved reading the Harry Potter novels growing up, but I have no interest in elves, dwarves, or complex magic systems. Thankfully, The Books of Babel keep the story human-focused and fantastic elements are used sparingly at first before becoming more pronounced as the series develops. It’s also great to see Senlin slowly grow from an ordinary school teacher to a swashbuckling airship adventurer.

If there’s any flaw to the series it’s that by the end of Book 4, the long-running mysteries remained ambiguous and the themes of class struggle became overstated. Even Bancroft seems refreshingly self-aware of his own shortcomings because weaker supporting characters are conveniently pulled off stage until they can return with more substance. I wouldn’t let these minor gripes deter anyone from diving into the series. As a pure adventure story, the journey is the destination and this is one well worth taking.

So, come aboard an airship and sail above the detritus of mediocre fiction. Come explore the Tower of Babel and unlock the secrets within. There’s a rich world waiting for you of endearing characters, vile villains, and fantastic machinery. Just don’t expect to be back in time for tea!