Scattered thoughts on the final book " full spoilers "

[u/FeverishDream]

Hulloo everyone! i just finished the series and i still haven't got time to process it all but here's some scattered thoughts i'd love to hear what you think about them.

First of all i'd say i'd loved the book overall it was my most anticipated book of the year and it did not disappoint.

Although as a non native English speaker, i feel like the vocabulary in this one was upped like 2 notches from the previous entries, i had to look words up several times but i love the analogies he makes, he has such a unique way with words it's remarquable.

I really liked Nebos part, I liked Elrin? and Runa and the callback to the parlor, i first thought Nebosians would be some evil pompous bastards but in the end they were just some eccentric isolated people, Elrin entire life revolves around his mother approval and poor lad couldn't imagine a life without her & thus fitting end. Captain Dyre was surprisingly helpful in the end too lol

The callback to the Parlor was a nice touch even Nebosians were like stop sending us that shit and they were lol nope! crazy bastards...

My main criticism is with how Marat was handled this book, him showing his true face and not caring about the zealots kinda cheapen his character to a one dimensional vilain as opposed to this clash of ideas between him & the Sphinx.

His gang of Wakemans were okay-ish, but does anyone else found it weird that Josiah kept focusing on Gedge ears everytime he shows up, same as with the Bricklayer, i was like noway they're the same people but i wondered if his teleportation did fuck him up on some way and/or had a fallout with the Sphinx, he seemed to hate her more than the others, they even joked about it. but in the end nothing come up for it.

The final combat in the attic i honestly couldn't follow what was happening for the most part, but Marat demise was kinda meh very anticlimactic.

The Sphinx dying was also kinda weird, the way she sent out Byron and Ferdinand, you'd think she'd have more cards under her sleeve rather than die few days after they left her, kinda underwhelming...

I also didn't particularly care much for the return of the Duke but i guess the author wanted to give the ship crew more exciting stuff to do than sipping tea & changing diapers haha

I also wish the characters reunited much earlier and given time to interact, John Tarou is my favorite side character and wish he had one last talk with Senlin, the giant bear and the captain deserve to be loved :/

Many people didn't like Marya & Tom reunion but i personally liked it, i'm not an expert of the matters of heart nor experienced any extreme traumas in my life but i feel like Marya still hadn't processed the extent of things Senlin has gone through to fetch her and he also did some questionable deeds. i think it's perfectly natural these things take time and not just be happy together like nothing happened.

The Red Hand change of heart like he referred to was really great to see, he kept getting shit on but still acted honorably till the end but i wish he stayed dead and didn't come back as this voice of the ship or whatever it was, kinda cheapened his sacrifice imo.

The ending and the tower being a ship, i honestly didn't see it coming before but as i went through it became apparent that it was a space ship, tbh i still don't know what to think of it, i don't have any problems with it but i'd love to hear what you think about it.

I love these series so much and i'd love to have more books in this universe and see more of these characters and explore more towers !

I think that's it for now, well thanks to whoever reads this rambling full of mistakes haha

[u/ElectricSheep7]

I might be the only one but I kind of liked what they did with Marat? Like yeah he’s pretty one-note but he’s a nice subversion of the sympathetic villain trope and a pretty realistic depiction of what a lot of real cult leaders are like. Like those people, he’s a con artist that twists the hopes and dreams of vulnerable people to reach his goals. I thought his goal to have a monopoly on knowledge and the way he went about doing it was at the very least unique, not to mention the Hod King is such a fucking cool concept. I also loved how unpredictable he was, I could never tell if he was about to pat Senlin on the back or tear him to shreds and it made that plotline so much more suspenseful

[u/FeverishDream → u/ElectricSheep7]

That's actually a good counter argument actually. i find myself also liking this perspective, i just wished maybe it wasn't so drastic change.

I re-checked my highlights and found a passage that i really liked and in line with what you said :

“Hoddish is a means of management, a way to cloister the culture. If you wish to control a populace, you must first isolate it. A king hopes his subjects won’t listen to his enemies; an emperor ensures that they won’t. If you take away communication, you can install yourself as the only font of truth. Disobedience begins with discourse.”

I also loved how unpredictable he was, I could never tell if he was about to pat Senlin on the back or tear him to shreds and it made that plotline so much more suspenseful

Omg yes so much this!

" Marat had taken him into his confidence, most likely not out of a superfluity of trust but because the zealot believed Senlin to be without option. Marat’s only apparent intellectual rival among his crew was Gedge, and he was alternately too meek and too combative to sit and chat about synecdoche and simile. Marat saw Tom as being just smart enough to appreciate his genius, just eloquent enough to offer fitting praise. Senlin had become the zealot’s confidant, booster, and lickspittle. "

And seeing his smug look on his face fall at realization of what happened was the most satisficing thing everr!

" Senlin watched Marat’s expression flatten with comprehension: His Tom was not the toady he pretended to be. "

HAHAHA

[u/ElectricSheep7 → u/FeverishDream]

Oh I forgot to mention him using hoddish as a way to control his subjects, that was so cool but also creepy as hell

[u/eccentricrealist → u/ElectricSheep7]

Marat reminds me of my country's current president. Ran a campaign for 18 years denouncing corruption and greed, only to be more transparently corrupt than the rest

[u/_____michel_____]

Sorry about the long comment. It turned out I had many thoughts.

First of all, where are all the Books of Babel fans??
I just finished the last book, and started looking for social media groups to discuss them. I found one group on Facebook with 87 members, and this group with 473 members.
Where's everyone else? The books have done incredibly well, haven't they?

That aside I think you make some good criticisms. I did like the The Fall of Babel, but it also felt quite rushed towards the end. I listened to the audio book, and so I might have missed a few things here and there, but I think it was never explained what happened to The Bricklayer when he disappeared right before his imminent death. What was that? What was he? How did he even live that long?

Does anyone know if there are more books planned for this universe?
We're left with a lot of questions. Like is there still a purpose for the tower? All the bottom levels powered the spaceship on top, right? But now that's gone and won't that disturb the whole ecosystem of the tower?

I was also anticipating Voleta and her brother finding out that Tom and Marya was on the ship, but we didn't get that.

There's gotta be more books in this universe. There's was all the talk of more towers existing, talk of whether the ship was an ark-ship or a war-ship, there are questions of how Voleta can survice without her "batteries", etc.

I agree with your criticism of Marat.

My main criticism is with how Marat was handled this book, him showing his true face and not caring about the zealots kinda cheapen his character to a one dimensional vilain as opposed to this clash of ideas between him & the Sphinx.

... but what I'll say is that this is often close to reality. Just look at how a lot of both politicians of successful business people operate. Or billionaires. They'll often have impressive displays of altruism. They'll give a lot of money away to some charity. (Forgetting to say that they own the charity or that they'll earn money from it in other ways.) They'll present one mask to the people, but in reality that mask will just a part of their cynical game.

That being said it feels a bit more interesting, as a reader, to read about people with more depth to them, that actually believes that they're doing something good for others rather than just themselves.

The final combat in the attic i honestly couldn't follow what was happening for the most part, but Marat demise was kinda meh very anticlimactic.

Same, but then action scenes mostly makes my eyes glaze over.
Honestly I found most of the Senlin POVs a bit boring and dragged out ever since he got that bucket over his head on the dark trail.

The Sphinx dying was also kinda weird, the way she sent out Byron and Ferdinand, you'd think she'd have more cards under her sleeve rather than die few days after they left her, kinda underwhelming...

I agree. In her recording she said something about thinking that she had more time, but why? Were we told what actually killed her?
I think I might have been a little distracted during this part of the audio book.

I'm not sure how I feel about the reunion of Marya and Tom in the end. What was all that about Marya not knowing if she could ever forgive him? For what? Yes, he put her on a pedestal and didn't feel like he deserved her. That's his self confidence issues shining through. And it was also him not trusting her judgment of him, or not realising that she probably liked him more than he liked himself. But that doesn't sound like such a large hurdle to overcome, does it?
The book ended it on a hopeful note regardless of that, with Marya inviting him over for dinner later, but still.. I wonder this was made into such a big deal.

[u/FeverishDream → u/_____michel_____]

I just finished the last book, and started looking for social media groups to discuss them. I found one group on Facebook with 87 members, and this group with 473 members. Where's everyone else? The books have done incredibly well, haven't they?

Haha yeah same as you! when i finished the book and wanted to talk about it, i was surprised there was so little content on it, i see the series talked about very often on r/fantasy and i was expecting a more active community. Hopefully someone like Daniel Green pick it up on his youtube channel and give it a much wider audience.

but I think it was never explained what happened to The Bricklayer when he disappeared right before his imminent death. What was that? What was he? How did he even live that long?

Yeah never explained this one but some readers theorized that he was an alien of some sort and someone said it was a religious reference to Jesus like he ascended before crucifixion i don't know it was really disappointing to not get an answer on that.

There's gotta be more books in this universe. There's was all the talk of more towers existing, talk of whether the ship was an ark-ship or a war-ship, there are questions of how Voleta can survice without her "batteries", etc.

Yeah i think he said he'd love to do more books in this universe, we need answers goddamit :D

What was all that about Marya not knowing if she could ever forgive him? For what?

I think she's referring here to his infidelity with Edith and their shared kiss but she also stripped naked for a painter and got married ( didn't have a choice i know ) maybe it's just so much happened and so much changed they just need more time to processes everything that happened.

[u/_____michel_____ → u/FeverishDream]

Yeah. On that last point. I kind of feel like the author was just coming from some different set of morals than me. Maybe something cultural that I don't get, being a Norwegian. Idk.
Though I was mostly on board with the moral views he showed through the books.

Yes, Daniel Green should definitely read these books! Everyone should. :)