The Babel Apocalypse

by Vyvyan Evans

Overview

"They who control language control everything". A genre-blending dystopian Sci-Fi mystery-thriller that will make you think about language in a whole new way.

Language is no longer learned, but streamed to neural implants regulated by lang-laws. Those who can't afford language streaming services are feral, living on the fringes of society. Big tech corporations control language, the world's most valuable commodity.

But when a massive cyberattack causes a global language outage, catastrophe looms.

Europol detective Emyr Morgan is assigned to the case. His prime suspect is Professor Ebba Black, the last native speaker of language in the automated world, and leader of the Babel cyberterrorist organization. But Emyr soon learns that in a world of corporate power, where those who control language control everything, all is not as it seems.

As he and Ebba collide, Emyr faces an existential dilemma between loyalty and betrayal, when everything he once believed in is called into question. To prevent the imminent collapse of civilization and a global war between the great federations, he must figure out friend from foe-his life depends on it.

And with the odds stacked against him, he must find a way to stop the Babel Apocalypse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781739996239
Publisher:	Nephilim Publishing
Publication date:	05/02/2023
Series:	Songs of the Sage , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	388
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Vyvyan Evans is a native of Chester, England. He holds a PhD in linguistics from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., and is a Professor of Linguistics. He has published numerous acclaimed popular science and technical books on language and linguistics. His popular science essays and articles have appeared in numerous venues including 'The Guardian', 'Psychology Today', 'New York Post', 'New Scientist', 'Newsweek' and 'The New Republic'. His award-winning writing focuses, in one way or another, on the nature of language and mind, the impact of technology on language, and the future of communication. His science fiction work explores the status of language and digital communication technology as potential weapons of mass destruction. For further biographical details visit his official website: www.vyvevans.net. For details of his science fiction writing, visit the Songs of the Sage book series website: www.songs-of-the-sage.com.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus (starred review):

"A perfect fusion of SF, thriller, and mystery-smart speculative fiction at its very best."

"The novel is powered by a multitude of narrative elements: deeply considered and meticulously described worldbuilding, an impressively complex storyline with numerous bombshell plot twists, emotionally compelling characters, and weighty themes concerning the power of language and the danger of humankind's becoming overly dependent on technology. When the intriguingly complex elevated to another level; the pace becomes breakneck and the action nonstop, leading up to a stand-up-and-applaud conclusion that not only satisfies, but sets the stage for the next installment." Kirkus

"With a perfect blend of Sci-Fi, mystery, and thriller, its unique method of crashing a near-future Earth society had me hooked from start to finish." Reedsy

"The Babel Apocalypse by author Vyvyan Evans is one of the most creative Sci-Fi or speculative fiction novels I've encountered recently. The author uses a unique method to crash society in this vision of the future by destroying humanity's abilities to communicate with each other and with all the voice-reliant tech that makes the world work...I recommend THE BABEL APOCALYPSE to readers who enjoy speculative fiction or dystopian tales with a touch of romance." Reedsy Discovery review

SFbook.com:

"[The Babel Apocalypse] is what I call a high concept book. What would the world be like if we could all understand one another and then suddenly could not?"

"...a science fiction version of a Dan Brown book mixed with James Bond."

"...a high concept science fiction novel with good action and melodramatic characters."

From the Publisher

★ 2023-04-12
The first installment of Evans’ Songs of the Sage SF series explores a near future in which language is a streamed commodity controlled by corporations.

In the early 22nd century, learned language is largely obsolete. The majority of the world’s populace is “chipped” at birth with a neural implant that streams “Unilanguage” technology, which is controlled by powerful mega-corporations. The language-streaming business is a highly lucrative and rapidly evolving industry—but when a catastrophic global language outage inexplicably sweeps much of the world, humankind quickly devolves into chaos. Emyr Morgan, head of the Europol Cybercrime Division, is tasked with investigating the outage. The grand-scale conspiracy that he uncovers is ingeniously intricate and involves the most powerful people on the planet. He soon finds himself on the run, with only one person in his corner: the enigmatic Ebba Black, a linguistics professor, heiress, hacker extraordinaire, and the world’s last natural speaker of multiple dead or proscribed languages. She also may head a terrorist organization; Morgan muses, “I had never in my whole life met anyone quite like her” in a moment of comic understatement. The novel is powered by a multitude of narrative elements: deeply considered and meticulously described worldbuilding, an impressively complex storyline with numerous bombshell plot twists, emotionally compelling characters, and weighty themes concerning the power of language and the danger of humankind’s becoming overly dependent on technology. The pace is breakneck and the action nonstop, leading up to a stand-up-and-applaud conclusion that not only satisfies, but sets the stage for the next installment.

A perfect fusion of SF, thriller, and mystery—smart speculative fiction at its very best.

Kirkus Reviews