Blog | Eric Hendel

(Cover Illustrator: Nico Delort ) R.F. Kuang's 2022 historical fantasy novel Babel (whose complete title is " Babel or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution ") was a book which I ended up feeling intensely conflicted about. In one respect, the majority of Babel's narrative represents a fascinatingly original work. Set in a partially fictionalized version of Britain during the early 1800s, Babel focuses primarily on the experiences of a boy from Canton, China who is inducted into a world-famous college in Oxford. The early half of Babel's narrative revolves around themes pertaining to the politics of translation, and how colonialist systems of power weaponize language as a tool of oppression. Throughout all of this, Kuang also simultaneously constructs one of the most original and fascinating magic systems I've ever seen in the fantasy genre, and skillfully overlays her story's subtly built supernatural...

Strange Horizons Review of Kaisa Saarinen’s Weather Underwater

(Cover Illustrator: Alice M.) Strange Horizons have posted a review I wrote for them of Kaisa Saarinen's novel Weather Underwater , which can be read at this link. This book was an intense story to read, but also a fascinating work to spend time thinking about. The main plot follows two characters who end up on opposite sides of a fascist takeover of a near-future version of Britain. One protagonist, Mia, is an environmental engineer who joins the titular antifascist organization Weather Underwater after the rise of an anti-immigration dictatorship called the Ebbtide party. The book's other character, Lily, is a former romantic partner of Mia's who chooses to work as an undercover agent for Ebbtide itself, but who is unintentionally reunited with Mia when she is tasked by Ebbtide with secretly infiltrating Weather Underwater as a spy.

Myst: The Book of Atrus by Rand and Robyn Miller with David Wingrove

(Cover Artist: The Leonheardt Group) Some books end up succeeding not necessarily by the skill with which they were written, but instead the dedication and enthusiasm which the authors devote towards their work. Myst: The Book of Atrus is this sort of novel. While this is a story that often struggles with some awkward writing and occasionally stilted dialogue, there's nevertheless a genuinely original narrative at the core of this book that animates much of the resulting material. Written by sibling game designers Rand and Robyn Miller (along with the help of professional novelist David Wingrove), The Book of Atrus opens by introducing its title character, Atrus--a young boy living in the desert with his solitary grandmother, Anna. Set some 40-30 years before the events of the first installment in the video game series upon which this story is based (1993's Myst ), Atrus grows up in the shadow of a dormant volcano in an unnamed desert, and is raised on tales of th...

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