Arm of the Sphinx
core novel 2014 The Books of Babel
Record
| First published | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.31 (18,165 ratings, collected 2026-08-27) |
| Page count | 448 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780316517959 |
Synopsis
Arm of the Sphinx is the second novel of The Books of Babel, continuing directly from Thomas Senlin's search for his missing wife, Marya, after his disorienting first ascent of the Tower of Babel. Having survived his early ordeals, Senlin is now further from the man he was at the outset, and the novel widens its scope beyond him, following a growing cast of companions gathered during his climb as they pursue their own aims within the tower's ringdoms. Senlin's search for Marya remains the throughline, but the story broadens into the wider politics, factions, and dangers of the tower's higher levels, forcing Senlin and his companions to rely on each other, adapt to new resources at their disposal, and confront the mounting costs of the choices they have already made in the tower.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Books of Babel
- Series: The Books of Babel core; position 2 of 4 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Josiah Bancroft
Notes
- From the series record (The Books of Babel): A complete four-novel sequence; Senlin Ascends and Arm of the Sphinx were originally self-published (2013/2014) before a 2018 trade re-release by the same author under an established publisher, per the print-edition-first convention.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Books of Babel: position 2 of 4: previous Senlin Ascends (2013) · next The Hod King (2019)
Sources
← The Books of Babel dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.