The memory of Babel

At the end of The Missing of Clairdelune (2019), Ophelia's fiancé,Thorn, disappears (into thin air). When Ophelia goes in search of him, her travels take her to Babel, where she is employed under an assumed name as an apprentice Forerunner and where she seeks entry to the Secretarium, the record of all knowledge of all the arks. When she does find Thorn, he's caught up in his own difficulties and the two ultimately must save each other. The first chapter in this third entry attempts to situate readers by recapping the main points of the first two books, Clairdelune and A Winter's Promise (2018), but motivations and the massive cast of characters will be much more meaningful if the reading is done in order. The writing is effective and melodramatic (in a positive way), despite having to overcome a dragging plot in a few spots. It is a complex, imaginative, somewhat steampunk version of the Baudelaire orphans' adventures, as written for teens and adults. Be advised: it is probably not for those with strict interpretations of God.

Dabos pushes full steam ahead with new arks, new spirits, and new treachery. Over two years have passed since Ophelia was forced to part from Thorn and return to Anima, where she has spent every moment planning to find him and deciphering the truth she has learned about God. With a lead, a new identity, and the help of exiled friends, Ophelia journeys to the ark of Babel, ruled by twin family spirits but tightly controlled by the unyielding Lords of LUX. Here the Memorial, an enormous archive, is said to hold "the ultimate truth," which Ophelia wagers includes the knowledge of how to thwart a perfidious deity. As she competes, awkward as ever, to gain access as one of the Memorial's information virtuosos, Babel is beset by mysterious attacks; the LUX authorities insist that they are accidents, but Ophelia is certain that the victims came close to the secret she is pursuing. This narrative feels tighter, with a more determined protagonist and crystallized connections between the family spirits and God's insidious plan--even alternating perspectives between Babel and the Pole don't slow the pace. Ophelia's inexplicit asexual representation continues, though the blooms of long-sown romance shift her toward demisexuality. But it's not all immersive worldbuilding and thoughtful character development. The overall lack of non-White characters makes an unfortunate swerve into exoticization of Babel's dark-skinned population. The use of the term "crippled" to describe a character with a disability is an unfortunate choice. Murder, power grabs, and world-rupturing revelations fly by in this penultimate volume. (map) (Fantasy. 14-adult) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.