Babel-17
- 193
- Pages
- about 3.5 h
- Reading time
- Nebula Award for Best Novel
Affiliate link: buying through it supports BookRank at no extra cost to you.
Our view
“Babel-17” rests on an idea that still impresses: a language able to reshape the mind of whoever speaks it. Rydra Wong, poet and linguist, is recruited in wartime to decode a language linked to enemy sabotage. Readers notice the novel’s age: some find the style hard going or lose the thread once linguistics takes over, and some think the space battles silly. At 193 pages it asks for only a small commitment.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Babel-17 is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Samuel R. Delany. Published by Ace Books in May 1966, it follows Rydra Wong, a poet and linguist recruited during an interstellar war to decipher a language connected to enemy sabotage. Her investigation reveals a language that shapes thought and can make its speakers unwitting saboteurs. Through Rydra's effort to understand and revise it, the novel explores communication, perception, identity, and translation.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.0 across 165 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 53% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 7.5 comes out. A further +0.10 comes from the small bonus for major awards.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.0 | 22 | 13% |
| Hardcover | 7.0 | 143 | 87% |
Frequently asked
How long is Babel-17?
It has 193 pages — shorter than 94% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Science fiction — with scores between 7.4 and 7.5, closest to this book.
