BOBH: If Babel and 1984 had a baby.

There's nothing I love more than an ambitious, smart novel that trusts the reader to keep up. This is not easy reading - BOBH is bold and forces you to participate in all its moral and intellectual complexity. Within 30 pages Wang introduces a detailed, computer science inspired magic system and sits us down for lessons; within 200 pages we're forced to reckon with all the ways we participate in passive exploitation in our modern industrialized world. It's a wild ride that gets deeply philosophical and had me playing psychologist, economist and sociologist.

Wang introduces trolley problem-level of moral dilemmas and lets us come to our own conclusions about what is right and wrong. Through the eyes of Sciona, our deeply flawed and complex main character, we wrestle with intent vs impact; she will make you question what you believe about human nature, who deserves forgiveness and redemption, and how to be a force for good against blatant evil.

I loved this ride, despite some hiccups where the pace lagged and the philosophical ramblings took center stage.

Like Bable due to: ambitious premise, examination of exploitation/colonialism in Gov and Academia, questions of intersectionality and privilege, prone to long pages of character's contemplations yet still left feeling like you don't totally understand their decisions.

Like 1984 due to: Rampant misogyny, critique of government/religious fundamentalism & control, unlikeable yet morally complex main character, prone to drawn out philosophical sermons.