Babel-17 vs The ship of Ishtar: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Life on other planets, Science Fiction, Fiction
Babel-17
During an interstellar war one side develops a language, Babel-17, that can be used as a weapon. Learning it turns one into an unwilling traitor as it alters perception and thought. This is discovered by the starship…
vs
The ship of Ishtar
The American adventurer was pitched out of his own time and into a weird world of incredible and enticing marvels.
The verdict
- Readers rate Babel-17 highest: Babel-17 3.9 · The ship of Ishtar 3.6.
- The ship of Ishtar has the widest readership — 672 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Babel-17 | The ship of Ishtar | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.6 (672) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (1) | 3.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (61) | — |
Reception
| Babel-17 | The ship of Ishtar | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 61 | 672 |
| Editions | 45 | 104 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 888 |
| Reading it now | — | 50 |
| Written reviews | — | 90 |
| Wikipedia attention | 3117 | 421 |
| Pages | 226 | 309 |