Arm of the Sphinx

Josiah Bancroft's Books of Babel series is difficult to categorize. It takes its titular inspiration from the ancient world of Ur and the Tower of Babel, but then applies a whimsical steampunk fantasy overlay across the top. This combination of biblical myth and steampunk is certainly unique to my mind! The second book here see the further evolution of our protagonist. The careful naivete of the school teacher Thomas Senlin has been replaced by a much more pragmatic, if a little less stable outlook on life. We learn a bit more about the background behind the tower and get to meet the Sphinx - a character much alluded to previously. The whimsy and creativity is very much still in evidence.

The story does suffer a little from middle book syndrome - the first book set up our character, introduced the gang that we spend most of the time with in this book. Arm of the Sphinx loses a little bit of the drive of the first book - the overriding objective of Senlin to find his wife seems a little bit lost and buried here. The whimsy and creativity mean that this is still an excellent book. Senlin's companions are an interesting bunch and we get to learn more about them and their motivations in tis book.

I remain intrigued to see where the next book takes us!

4.5 out of 5 stars

In my reading life, I want to get sucked into stories, invested in characters, enraptured by action, and delighted by prose. If only one or two of those boxes can be checked by any given book, I'm perfectly satisfied. Josiah Bancroft's books check a fifth box — all of the above. Every page of Arm of the Sphinx is a delectable treat, with countless delightful passages, characters, and a story that gets more intriguing as mysteries build and questions are answered.

The Tower of Babel and its surrounding airspace feels pulled from a fairy tale. Bancroft has created a fantastical setting that remains beguiling and limitless in terms of storytelling possibilities. I'm enjoying learning more about the Tower and the direction that the story seems to be going in that regard.

This book expands upon the backstories of each character, doles out meaningful motivations, and pairs the characters up in fun and refreshing ways. The story hits a few lulls leading up to the sections involving the Sphinx, but things pick up again and finish with a satisfying flourish.

Like Senlin Ascends before it, Arm of the Sphinx is inventive, clever, and imbued with a sense of virtuousness and humanity. Bancroft is weaving together a wonderful series that has all the makings of a modern fantasy classic. I cannot wait to get my hands on The Hod King later this year.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

Often I feel the sequels are higher in rating just because everyone who didn't like the first dropped out, but in this case I think this book definitely deserves a tiny bit better rating than the first, absolutely lovely one.

Our characters, Senlin, Edith, Adam, Iren and Voleta are pirates now. Their search for Marya is going on and at this point it is really starting to feel like a quest, with hem going to a person for information, which leads them somewhere else, where they learn some new information, etc.
We see new parts of the Tower, completely new groups of people and even the mysterious and powerful Sphinx, who has eyes almost everywhere.

I feel this is where the book is starting to pick up. Maybe I am not part of the higher part of the readership for saying this, but I love my books with a lot of action. Not saying it needs to be super fast, my preference just tends to go towards at least relatively fast things.
Here I got that. The different, previously disconnected little things seem to have some connections, forming a bigger picture, which made it feel like we were actually making considerable progress. We are far from a resolution (which, at this point I have no idea how we'll get, the last few pages turn everything upside down), sure, we will apparently have two more books, but some sort of an overarching structure is showing. LOVE IT.

Characters, ones I get attached to are really making a book shine in my opinion. Here it's finally happening, the magic is coming. The characters around are not all just to send a message and die or something, but they are around to get developed and interact. That is good, seeing them in relation to each other, it was enjoyable.
I have no idea what to expect, if they will be around to see the end of the story or not, but it's a great thing. Not going to speculate about the outcomes and end games. In this wild ride I can't really guess.

There is another thing worth mentioning. Things happening with people here are complex. They aren't black and white, which is a great thing. So many people seem to write in a way that keeps it safe, with all the Right and Wrong things decided by whatever conventional idea. When they touch a slavery situation, it's always in the framework of real world history, with a very rigid touch of it.
Here finally we are seeing something different and it's great.
People are misguided, prone to being tempted, full of flaws and that is good. That is refreshing and makes the reading experience a bit more unpredictable, which makes me want to read more.

Aaaand we arrived to something that normally I don't like and I think it is perfectly justified that it gets a lot of criticism from other people as well. A love triangle. But lets be honest, Mr. Bancroft nails even that, it's understandable, mature, not some arbitrary bullcrap that is meant to express that a certain character is just so special that everyone needs to fall for them in some teenage mania. For once I actually understand both pairs, Senlin and Marya, also Senlin and Edith. Both make sense, but at this point it's impossible to guess how "real" any of them will be. The former was this small town oddball combo that is so sweet, the latter more coming from people suffering together and understanding each other because of the same trials. I would be content with both happening at the end. Or neither. All three going their own way. At this point I am not sure how much of Senlin and Marya will be left and if it will be enough for them to pick up and relate to each other still. Then again, so many things can go wrong with Senlin and Edith as well.

I still recommend this series. Absolutely. It's just something different, while still not being too far out of what I feel comfortable for more adventurous fantasy readers.

Good night and don't let the rum run out!

The Books of Babel has got to be one of the most refreshing modern fantasy series in our time. It is uncommon for authors to replicate the novelty that is found in an introductory book of a series into its sequels—particularly in the second—and when a book like Arm of the Sphinx exceeds it's predecessor, you gotta wonder how the hell did that happen.

One thing that stood out in AotS is the shift in the POV. At first I thought the risk was going to be the unfortunate downfall. I was so happy to see how it gave the series a raw aspect that I didn't know I needed. If something happens to Voleta, I'm going to break some fingers (not mine, hopefully).

Overall, I thank the lord for this beautiful series.

This series continues to impress! Book two does something very wise and pulls the focus from Senlin and instead focuses on his ragtag crew. The multi-POV structure worked wonders on deepening the characters. The plot in this one is very sparse; it reminds me of Season two of The Wire. Seemingly not a lot gets done, but the world is fleshed out and the characters are allowed to fully breathe, allowing for the next installment to hit the ground running (hopefully).

My favorite trope is probably the Found Family trope. I just love me a found family, and Senlin's crew of five hits me in all the right spots. Each one of them is a dynamic, interesting character that you don't usually see, who all have complex relationships with each other that feel real and lived in. A teenage trapeze artist trying to assert her independence for the first time? Check. A farmer turned sky pirate with a mysterious debt and a mechanical arm? Check. An illiterate Amazonian going through menopause and discovering she is worth more than her ability to kill people? Check. A thief trying to balance his family's safety with his loyalty to the crew? Check. And then there's the man himself, Thomas Senlin. The characters continue to be my favorite thing about this series.

The only drawback I have about this one is a certain malady that Senlin has for almost the whole book. I just did not think it needed as much time as it got. Otherwise, this book was a blast.
9.5/10