I got this book when I saw it being praised by Adrian Tchaikovsky on Twitter. It's a big book and it took me a while to read it, partly because of its size, partly because of its structure...
   ... which is: much of the first half of the book concerns the way in which the world uses magic inscribed into silver to run all sorts of things. The magic and silver is largely controlled by England, mainly in Babel, a huge tower in Oxford university. This was all fascinating and I soaked it up. Then much of the second half of the book is more like a thriller, caught up in the political tensions of colonialism. Sure, there is still some magic there, but it is suddenly relegated to being a subplot rather than the main plot. Perhaps that is a little harsh, but that's how it felt to me. And as a result I didn't enjoy the second half of the book as much as the first. Hence time taken to read it.
   All that said, I still recommend Babel as a good read; the ending is quite haunting. But beware it is rather a book of two halves.