Babel 17 (5 points)

 Although Science Fiction is generally not my preference, Babel 17 was a unique journey that explored all of the elements that make a sci-fi story interesting. Story, characters, and environments all added to the experience to make it a unique journey. 

The story follows Rydra Wong, a poet with telepathic abilities, as she captains a vessel to find the source of a language that is being used as a weapon. Her adventure begins with gathering a crew to assist her in piloting a ship. She must find the source, and uncover the truth behind it, which she is driven to do with a strong desire due to the nature of the language itself. 

The locations explored reminds me of Star Wars with all of the diverse environments. There are scenes that take place in bizarre locations such as a location where the dead can be brought back to assist captains as members of the crew. The ship becomes an environment to the crew for a duration of the journey, being able to act as living quarters. Space is another environment, bringing new sights and dangers to the crew who are on their mission. 

The characters are also very diverse. The races range so greatly beyond humanity. But even humans can undergo body modifications so that they seem less human and more like something else entirely different. One of the characters who is different is Brass, a member of the crew who Rydra hired who has a kind of feline figure, or at least features mirroring a lion. This diversity in characters is an important element to sci-fi because it suggests that humanity has explored the recesses of space, and uncovered new life forms. 

The story is all about Rydra's adventure and the truth to discovering a language. In a way, it is not an entirely alien concept. In the past when people could not fully understand a language from another country, languages could be used to undermine governments. Babel 17 takes this sort of idea that a language could be used as a weapon to a more direct route. In a way, it made me think of the movie Arrival. In Arrival, aliens have landed ships on different locations of the world in an attempt to find someone they can give something to. The gift is language, and is at first interpreted to be a weapon. Although ultimately, it is not so much a weapon, as it is a gift that can aid humanity, which will in turn allow them to help the alien race in their time of need. It is interesting that high science fiction can be explored through story driven plot that focuses on language. 

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