The Books of Babel Series Review: An Incredibly Original Fantasy Adventure with a Subpar Finale

Senlin Ascends

Senlin Ascends is a fantasy/science fiction/adventure novel that I’d recommend to anyone on the hunt for a book that’s totally different from anything else out there. It’s a wonderfully unique first entry in a four-book series, and if the next three titles are as good as this one, I’ll be thrilled.

The story is set in a steampunk-type world where the biggest attraction is a massive tower that reaches so high into the clouds that no one even knows how many stories tall it truly is. Each of the tower’s levels (or rings) is completely distinctive from the others and each ring almost functions as a unique, city-sized environment, complete with different governments, rules, and types of inhabitants. Travelers visit the tower as a tourist attraction (only typically reaching the outside market or bottommost levels).

The protagonist of Senlin Ascends, an awkward headmaster named Senlin, is one such tourist. Senlin is from a small town and has ventured to the tower on his honeymoon with his wife, Marya. Soon after arriving, however, the two become separated from one another. Senlin will need to ascend the rings of the tower as he searches for his missing love.

The book acts as both an epic adventure with Senlin and a fun character study. On the topic of characters, author Josiah Bancroft introduces us over the course of the novel to a fantastic cast. There are some diverse, outstandingly interesting people Senlin encounters, and I found myself really enjoying them.

I found Bancroft’s writing style to be unique and almost poetic at times. He definitely has a way with words that lends itself to this type of story.

Senlin Ascends has many different elements to it. It’s darkly funny at times and intense at others. Once I got into it after the first few chapters, I was thoroughly enthralled.

Grade: 9/10

Arm of the Sphinx

Even though it picks up shortly after where we left off in Senlin Ascends, Arm of the Sphinx is a very different novel than that first book. For most of Senlin Ascends, our protagonist is traveling through the tower and going on what feels like mini adventures before everything comes together at the end. In Arm of the Sphinx, we’re already starting out with our core cast of characters, and the story also feels more linear.

Sure, Senlin’s goal has always been to find his wife, Marya, but now, in this second book, he feels a lot less directionless in his pursuit than he did earlier.Arm of the Sphinx is broken up into three different parts, with parts I and II,titled The Stone Cloud and The Golden Zoo, making up about half the novel.

This half of the novel focuses on the crew of the Stone Cloud, Senlin, Edith, Adam, Voleta, and Iren, as they attempt to find a means to enter Pelphia, the fourth ringdom, where they suspect Marya is. While I enjoyed these parts, I felt like the story wasn’t quite as fast-paced as it had been earlier when Senlin was climbing the tower’s rings.

The third part of the book, The Bottomless Library, is when Arm of the Sphinx really kicks everything into another gear. Part III is further broken down into sections concentrating on specific crewmembers, with two sections not featuring Senlin at all. It very much demonstrates how this has transitioned from a book with a strong, central character we’re following to an overall ensemble adventure.

I thought this part was fantastic. I greatly appreciate how distinct, but equally interesting all members of the crew are. In this section, we also learn a lot more about the mysterious Sphinx and the history of the tower. It’s nice to see that Bancroft is paying off the story as he goes, instead of just letting our questions about the tower and what’s going on continue to mount.

The book definitely becomes weirder when we’re introduced to the Sphinx, and characters like Byron (who’s great) and the librarian, but I enjoy just how out there everything is – reading this one is definitely a unique experience. While I liked the second half more than the first, I still very much enjoyed this follow-up to Senlin Ascends.

Grade: 8.5/10

The Hod King

The Hod King is the longest of the books in this series so far at 567 pages. The way that it’s split into three very distinct sections, it almost feels like three shorter novels in one.

In the first part of the book, The Mermaid, we focus on Senlin, who’s arrived in Pelphia with a mission from the Sphinx. Out of the second book and the rest of the third, this first part of The Hod King feels the most like Senlin Ascends. Mainly this is because we get more of Senlin by himself without the rest of the crew.

We also get real progression with Senlin’s quest to find Marya in this part. I appreciate that Bancroft sets up mysteries and quests and actually resolves them throughout the story as it goes, instead of just having mysteries and questions build upon one another with no resolution.

Part II, The Leaping Lady, was my favorite part of the book. Here, the focus is on Voleta, who aims to infiltrate Pelhia’s high society in an attempt to have a discussion with Marya. There’s a good mix of humor and action in this part. Out of all the book’s characters, Voleta has grown on me the most throughout the course of the novels, from being simply Adam’s sister to becoming a great character in her own right.

In Part III there’s some overlap with the events that occur in Part II, but now we’re following Edith’s perspective. Of all the parts, this was the only one that felt a little too long to me. There’s a fantastic climax towards the latter pages, but I felt like some of the middle of this section could’ve been shortened.

Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed The Hod King.I’m definitely very invested in the world of the Tower and excited to see what Bancroft has in store for the adventure’s final book. 

Grade: 8.5/10

The Fall of Babel

So, unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed by this final book in the Books of Babel series. As the prior three reviews have shown, I really enjoyed the first three books. Bancroft crafted a full, unique, and interesting steampunk fantasy world that was filled with characters I liked rooting for. And that’s what makes how little I enjoyed The Fall of Babel so surprising and upsetting.

The Fall of Babel’s opening part focuses on one of the initial crewmembers in the same way each of The Hod King’s parts did. While I appreciated each of The Hod King’s sections, this part, which centers on Adam, is by far the weakest section of any of the books and is an awful way to start off the series’ final volume.

Adam has always been my least favorite (and the least interesting) character Senlin’s met along his journey and this part only reinforced that. Adam’s simply sort of boring – he’s bland.

Also, Bancroft has always been pretty descriptive with his environments and that’s amply evident throughout Adam’s time in Nebos. It feels like you’re just reading passage after passage of overly descriptive text. When combined with the fact that Adam, and the cast he’s surrounded by aren’t interesting, and this part drags. Massively.

The story dragging on and on is, sadly, a major issue that continues through the rest of the novel. The Fall of Babel is, quite frankly, a slog to get through. If this hadn’t been the final book of a four-book series, and I had a couple more books to go after it, I would’ve given up midway through.

There just wasn’t a lot that I enjoyed with this book. Senlin remains separate from the core group of heroes and not having them reunite earlier to work through things together was disappointing. Our villain, Luc Marat, becomes pretty cliché and less interesting as the story goes along. The Sphinx also feels like a character Bancroft just drops who deserves more time in our story.

As far as endings go, I wasn’t too fulfilled by this one. Even if I didn’t like much of the story, a great ending could’ve at least partially saved things for me. As it is, the conclusion is sort of blah. I didn’t feel like many of our characters really got the send offs they deserved.

Ultimately, it’s hard for me not to feel extremely disappointed in The Books of Babel. I can’t recall another series where I enjoyed ¾ of the series so much only to be so let down by its finale.

Grade: 3/10