At Terra's suggestion, I recently finished the BRILLIANT 4-book Babel series by Josiah Bancroft. These were easily the most creative, exciting, and compelling books I've read in a long while. The books are set in a familiar yet distinctly different world from our own, one where the major cultural epicenter and tourist attraction in the land of Ur is the famed Tower of Babel! Pedantic and rule-loving headmaster Senlin brings his quirky and beautiful young wife to visit the Tower on their honeymoon, but swiftly discovers it is far, far different from the orderly citadel of culture he had imagined! Our unlikely hero rises to meet the occasion via the most satisfying character development I've maybe ever read.
This book defies genre classification -- perhaps it's best seen as a swashbuckler, but this epic straddles fantasy, adventure, sci-fi, steampunk, comedy, and romance. A thrilling read for over a thousand pages! Moreover, Bancroft is so creative, and so rich in interesting observations on life, love, and friendship, that he crams within one book more insights than most authors can hope to share in their entire opus. Destined to become a classic, and should be read by all.
