---
product_id: 22136787
title: "Babel-17 / Empire Star Paperback – Illustrated, January 8, 2002"
brand: "samuel r. delany"
price: "€ 27.22"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.nl/products/22136787-babel-17-empire-star-paperback-illustrated-january-8-2002
store_origin: NL
region: Netherlands
---

# Babel-17 / Empire Star Paperback – Illustrated, January 8, 2002

**Brand:** samuel r. delany
**Price:** € 27.22
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Babel-17 / Empire Star Paperback – Illustrated, January 8, 2002 by samuel r. delany
- **How much does it cost?** € 27.22 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nl](https://www.desertcart.nl/products/22136787-babel-17-empire-star-paperback-illustrated-january-8-2002)

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- samuel r. delany enthusiasts

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## Description

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## Images

![Babel-17 / Empire Star Paperback – Illustrated, January 8, 2002 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51imgug+puL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    A science fiction classic that really stands up
  

*by E***Y on Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2021*

The general commanding the forces of the Earth Alliance seeks out poet, linguist, and cryptographer Rydra Wong, to ask her to take on the decryption of the Invaders' code, which is being used to commit sabotage in the Alliance's military and transport forces. After some work with it, she tells him it's a language, not a code, and she needs everything the Alliance has on it to be able to translate it. She also asks him for a ship, and recruits a diverse and somewhat unlikely crew to go with her to what her analysis of the code/language, Babel-17, leads her to conclude will be the location of the next act of sabotage.They reach their destination, and it's not long before the sabotage strikes in several ways--one of them affecting her own ship, and boosting them into near-disaster.It's only near disaster because another, huge ship hooks them out of the disaster at the last moment, and she and her crew find themselves aboard a ship that isn't really a pirate ship, but isn't really not a pirate ship, either. Privateer might be the closest term, but the term the ship's captain and crew use is "shadow ship."It's here that she meets a man called the Butcher, second in command on the ship, a man who doesn't use or understand the words "I" and "you," and who seems to have a character very much at odds with his given name, and his past record.It's also here that, working together with the Butcher, she starts to understand what the Babel-17 language really is, and what the Invaders are really doing.This is a book published in 1966, when Delany was 23, or 24 years old, and features a rather young woman, who is primarily known as a poet, as its protagonist. I was afraid I would find the Suck Fairy had visited it; it hasn't. It's still fascinating, fun, exciting book. Rydra is a strong, intelligent, and utterly believable woman. Some of the other characters are thinner and less satisfying, but it's still a rich, rewarding read or listen.The linguistics here is central, and it's based on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, that says you can't think ideas and concepts that you don't have words for. That's largely discredited now, but that's not important in enjoying the book--unless, of course, you are yourself a linguist and that's as central to you as it is to the novel. In that case, I would imagine it would be maddening. For the rest of us, or at least for me, knowing the theory is wrong doesn't disturb me any more than knowing that faster than light travel is not likely to ever really happen.This is a classic of science fiction that really stands up almost sixty years later. Recommended.I bought this audiobook.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Babel-17 is ok, Empire Star is awesome
  

*by Z***H on Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2014*

I get easily provoked into reading books described as difficult or unreadable. Because of that Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren has sat on my Amazon wishlist for babel 17 about a year now. Eventually I will read it. But I have other things to do first. I decided that before I conquered Dhalgren I would look into Delany’s other books, most notably Babel-17. This is the story of a linguist tasked with deciphering an alien language used to attack Earth. I thought that Delany’s vision of the future was interesting, especially the idea of people receiving copious plastic surgeries and enhancements. The best part of Babel-17 was the discussion of language, and I found Delany’s ideas of future alien interactions interesting. In Babel-17 humans do not really interact with other alien civilizations, because the differences in language makes their cultures so different that they can not really interact. Humans and aliens are allies, but their cultures can not mix. I thought that that was a really interesting and practical look at the future, and underscored the ideas of the book. Unfortunately, Babel-17 was not that interesting in terms of style and writing. It was one of those books that they ideas present in it are more interesting than the ideas themselves. Looking back on Babel-17, I can say that I really enjoyed the ideas of language and culture, but I did not have a lot of fun reading the book itself. My copy of Babel-17 came printed with the novella Empire Star which was an incredibly interesting story about the cyclical nature of time. Empire Star was more enjoyable to read than Babel-17 and completely mind blowing. Purchasing Babel-17 was worth it just to read Empire Star.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 3.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    wow…not great
  

*by C***E on Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2023*

Just did not capture me. The story had some novel ideas but felt very not-deep.  I mean, the relationship between the two main characters felt sudden and, therefore, contrived.

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*Product available on Desertcart Netherlands*
*Store origin: NL*
*Last updated: 2026-02-18*