BABEL

MUG: Triptych Mug

BOOK: Babel by RF Kuang

DRINK: English Tea

Damn, what a good book. A fantasy fiction novel that is so much more. Babel is a fantasy that interrogates the past as opposed to just rewriting it. Set in Oxford in the 1800s the British Empire is running the world through the use of language and magic. Connected words are used to imbibe bars of silver with power. The main character is an orphaned Chinese boy would is brought into the folds of Oxford to study words and magic to create bars. What he quickly learns is that there is no room for him to be Chinese but his knowledge of the Chinese language is imperative to enhancing the silver bars and hence the power of Britain. As one can imagine the silver bars are a guise for colonialism and set during the time of Industrial Revolution this book turns history on its head to tell a different outcome. Set in Oxford I think that this book will need to be paired with scones and english tea served in a Triptych Mug.