Babylon neboli Nutnost násilí - Skryté dějiny revoluce oxfordských překladatelů – Kuang Rebecca F. (2025)

A novel of alternative history infused with magic by the author of the bestseller The Poppy War.

Traduttore, traditore: The act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

Year 1828. The orphan Robin Swift is taken by the mysterious Professor Lovell from Canton to London. There, Robin studies classical languages and Chinese for years, preparing for the day he will enter the prestigious Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford University. This institute, also known as Babylon, is the world's main center for translation and also for magic. Silverworking, the art of materializing meaning lost in translation through magical silver ingots, has given the British unprecedented power and is now being applied in the empire's colonial efforts.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia alive with knowledge. However, knowledge is obedient to power, and Robin, as a young Chinese man raised in Britain, realizes that serving Babylon means betraying his homeland. He begins to waver between Babylon and the secret society Hermes, which seeks to halt imperial expansion. When Britain plunges into an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide...

Can influential institutions be changed from within, or does revolution truly require violence?