Our Reimagined World Might As Well Be Joyful
Babel-17. Samuel R. Delany. First edition Ace Books, 1966. Vintage, 2001 (withEmpire Star). 336 pp. $15.95 (paper). For a science-fiction novel about space travel and intergalactic conflict, Samuel Delany’s 1966 book Babel-17 begins with an unlikely scenario: poet Rydra Wong is asked by the government to help save the universe. Like ours, Wong’s Earth is …