Babel-17

Samuel R. Delany

Jan 2014 · Open Road Media

About this eBook

The Nebula Award Winner: “By looking at a typical space opera adventure from a different angle, Delany . . . give[s] us a weird, welcoming book” (Tor.com).

 At twenty-six, Rydra Wong is the most popular poet in the five settled galaxies. Almost telepathically perceptive, she has written poems that capture the mood of mankind after two decades of savage war. Since the invasion, Earth has endured famine, plague, and cannibalism—but its greatest catastrophe will be Babel-17.
 
Sabotage threatens to undermine the war effort, and the military calls in Rydra. Random attacks lay waste to warships, weapons factories, and munitions dumps, and all are tied together by strings of sound, broadcast over the radio before and after each accident. In that gibberish Rydra recognizes a coherent message, with all of the beauty, persuasive power, and order that only language possesses. To save humanity, she will master this strange tongue. But the more she learns, the more she is tempted to join the other side . . .
 
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Samuel R. Delany including rare images from his early career.

Ratings and reviews

Heroine never has to overcome anything, the wonderful crew is never described, the situation wrapped up too quickly. Might have been an interesting story with a more descriptive author.

Excellent novel written nearly fifty years ago but felt as current as anything I've read lately. I'd been meaning to getting around to reading something by Delany. Now I'm kicking myself for waiting so long.

With the exception of one reference to data on punch cards this novel feels completely current! Makes you work to read it but in the most satisfying kind of way. I was tranfixed from first word to last!

About the author

Samuel R. Delany published his first novel, The Jewels of Aptor, at the age of twenty. Throughout his storied career, he has received four Nebula Awards and two Hugo Awards, and in 2008 his novel Dark Reflections won the Stonewall Book Award. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2002, named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 2014, and in 2016 was inducted into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame. Delany’s works also extend into memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society. After many years as a professor of English and creative writing and director of the graduate creative writing program at Temple University, he retired from teaching in 2015. He lives in Philadelphia with his partner, Dennis Rickett.