Senlin Ascends

Josiah Bancroft

Jan 2018 · The Books of Babel Book 1 · Hachette Audio · Narrated by John Banks

About this audiobook

The first book in the word-of-mouth phenomenon debut fantasy series about one man's dangerous journey through a labyrinthine world.

"One of my favorite books of all time" -- Mark Lawrence

The Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of luxury and menace, of unusual animals and mysterious machines.

Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.

Senlin is determined to find Marya, but to do so he'll have to navigate madhouses, ballrooms, and burlesque theaters. He must survive betrayal, assassins, and the illusions of the Tower. But if he hopes to find his wife, he will have to do more than just endure.

This quiet man of letters must become a man of action.

Ratings and reviews

A fresh and exciting reimagining of the well worn path of alternative Victorian or Edwardian industrial fantasy! This book is absolutely enthralling and a very welcome deviation from the eurocentric settings with which the genre is replete. The characters are reasonable and realistic with few of the exceptionalist sort of characters that sadly fill fantasy. This book is fantastic but compelling; it builds a gloriously interesting world, and yet remains very accessible and grounded. I recommend!

The entire series is great!

About the author

Josiah Bancroft started writing novels when he was twelve, and by the time he finished his first, he was an addict. Eventually, the writing of Senlin Ascends began, a fantasy adventure, not so unlike the stories that got him addicted to words in the first place.

He wanted to do for others what his favorite writers had done for him: namely, to pick them up and to carry them to a wonderful and perilous world that is spinning very fast. If he's done that with this book, then he's happy.

Josiah lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Sharon, their daughter Maddie, and their two rabbits, Mabel and Chaplin.