Senlin Ascends (Books of Babel Series #1)

by Josiah Bancroft

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316517911
Publisher:	Orbit
Publication date:	01/16/2018
Series:	Books of Babel Series , #1
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	53,624
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Josiah Bancroft is the author of five novels, a collection of short fiction, and numerous poems. His books have been translated into eight languages. Before settling down to write fantasy full-time, he was a college instructor, rock musician, and aspiring comic book artist. When he’s not writing, he enjoys strumming a variety of stringed instruments, drawing with a growing cache of imperfect pens, and cooking without a recipe. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Sharon, their daughter, Maddie, and their two rabbits, Mabel and Chaplin.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/30/2017
Bancroft’s brilliant debut fantasy, first in a planned series, stars the eponymous Thomas Senlin, a provincial schoolmaster. Thomas and his wife, Marya, honeymoon at the Tower of Babel, a notable tourist attraction. No one knows how high the tower is, as its upper stories are hidden behind a permanent fog, and many other things about it are also mysterious and dangerous. Upon losing Marya in the massive crowd around the tower’s base, Thomas begins to climb in the hope of meeting her again. Every one of the tower’s staggeringly original individual rooms, many of which have their own cultures, could make a setting for a novel all by itself, and the suspenseful plot and cleverly handled side characters add to the surfeit of riches. The relationship between Thomas and Marya is touching, well-established, and, most importantly, egalitarian. At once steampunk and epic, surreal and yet grounded in believable logistics, this novel goes off like a firework and suggests even greater things in the author’s future. Agent: Ian Drury, Sheil Land Associates. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"It's rare to find a modern book that feels like a timeless classic. I'm wildly in love with this book."—Pierce Brown, author of Red Rising and Iron Gold

"Josiah Bancroft is a magician. His books are that rare alchemy: gracefully written, deliriously imaginative, action-packed, warm, witty, and thought-provoking. I can't wait for more."—Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Circe

"Senlin Ascends is one of the best reads I've had in ages . . . I was dragged in and didn't escape until I'd finished two or three days later."—Mark Lawrence, author of Prince of Thorns

"Wonderfully unique and superbly well written. I loved every page."—Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld

"The "Books of Babel" are something you hope to see perhaps once a decade - future classics, which may be remembered long after the series concludes."—Los Angeles Times on The Hod King

"Senlin is a man worth rooting for, and his strengthening resolve and character is as marvelous and sprawling as the tower he climbs."—The Washington Post

"What is remarkable about this novel, quite apart from its rich, allusive prose, is Bancroft's portrayal of Senlin, a good man in a desperate situation, and the way he changes in response to his experiences in his ascent."—The Guardian

"Senlin Ascends crosses the everyday strangeness and lyrical prose of Borges and Gogol with all the action and adventure of high fantasy. I loved it, and grabbed the next one as soon as I turned the last page."—Django Wexler, author of The Thousand Names

"With deceptive simplicity Bancroft brings this gothic place and its denizens to a colourful life...I loved it!"—Adrian Selby, author of Snakewood

"Senlin Ascends is an adventure rife with character, voice and beauty-a well-polished knife drawn out slowly."—Sam Sykes, author of The City Stained Red

"Senlin Ascends is a unique masterpiece. A brilliant debut. Highly recommended!"—Michael R. Fletcher, author of Beyond Redemption

"Ticks along with the tight precision and artistry of a well-wound watch."—Kirkus

"This is fantasy storytelling of a high order."—The Toronto Star

"More than deserving of advance buzz and initial self-published success, Josiah Bancroft's Senlin Ascends is an early contender for year-end best lists, and a towering achievement in weird fantasy."—B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

"Brilliant debut fantasy . . . This novel goes off like a firework and suggests even greater things in the author's future."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This is an exceedingly rich book. A depth of imagination married with a poetic turn of phrase and an engaging cast of characters conspire to deliver an epic story soaring high above the clouds."—Fantasy Faction

"Like a blend of Kafka's The Castle and Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast, Josiah Bancroft's ambitious first chapter in his The Books of Babel series is an impressive display of imagination and humor."—SciFiNow

From the Publisher

2017-11-14
In his debut novel, Bancroft takes readers into a steampunk world revolving around the great attraction and mystery that is the Tower of Babel—a colossal structure rising up into the heavens that devours the unwary with intrigue and danger.One such unwary is Thomas Senlin, a school headmaster from a small fishing village, whose rosy ideas of the Tower lead him to honeymoon there with his young bride, Marya. But the two villagers are unprepared for the "big city"—especially a city so capricious and indifferent as the Tower turns out to be. Thomas loses track of Marya before even making it inside the Tower's gargantuan walls, and from there he begins his desperate quest to find her within the Tower's heights. The naïve and awkward headmaster is thrust into a world of treachery, drugs, hedonism, art, theft, airships, political feuding, soul-numbing violence, and above all secrets—secrets that he begins to see form a whole and a clue to the Tower's true nature. Will Thomas be able to keep his soul as he learns the Tower's often deadly rules, or will he simply be one more person broken by the Tower? (The true import of Thomas' quest won't be found here—there's a sequel coming, naturally.) Through it all, Marya seems to drift just out of his grip—but in her place, Thomas painstakingly assembles a ragtag team of allies and friends, if friendship can ever be true in a place where loyalty is just another currency and the powers that be have placed a price on Thomas' head.The lush setting holds the reader through a slow start, but once the plot gets going, it ticks along with the tight precision and artistry of a well-wound watch.

Kirkus Reviews