A 2013 Steampunk novel by Josiah Bancroft, initially self-published and later picked up by Orbit Books, Senlin Ascends follows the story of mild-mannered Thomas Senlin, the schoolteacher of a small seaside town. He comes to the Tower of Babel with his new wife, Marya, for their honeymoon, only to be separated mere minutes after they disembark from the train. Thus begins his long journey to be reunited with Marya and his explorations of the enigmatic Tower.
The Tower of Babel is an immense structure rising up to the heavens from what is thought to be the center of the world. It has an unknown number of ringdoms, more or less sovereign city-states occupying each floor with its own customs, ways of life and dangers. Senlin must ascend them in the hopes of catching up to Marya. On the way he will step on the toes of various authority figures and villains, make a few friends and go through many changes. Throughout, a nagging worry occupies the back of his mind: will Marya recognize the man he’s become?
Senlin Ascends was followed by The Arm of the Sphinx, published 2014, The Hod King, published in 2019, and finally The Fall of Babel in 2021.
This book provides examples of:
- Adventure-Friendly World: The Tower certainly advertises itself as such. The Baths and The Parlor make valiant attempts to fulfill the promise.
- Age-Gap Romance: Senlin and Marya have about ten years between them. They first met as Senlin first took over teaching duties at the village school.
- All Part of the Show: The Parlor is a strange place, where tourists flock from all over the world to take on roles and star in perpetual theatre, seemingly with no audience or purpose. It's implied that the natives of the Parlor spend their entire lives embodying their roles, with little distinction between ''being'' something and playing a part.
- Artificial Limbs: An unknown inventor replaces missing limbs through mysterious, highly advanced science, powered by a glass vial filled with a glowing red substance.
- But I Read a Book About It: Senlin and Marya are lured to the Tower by the Everyman's Guide to the Tower of Babel.
- Fantastic Drug: White Chrom, colloquially known as Crumb. So named because it "makes the real world seem like the sort of thing a mouse could eat in one bite and still be hungry". Senlin accidentally stumbles into a Crumb den and after partaking, hallucinates a giant version of Marya.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Edith Winters gets charged with failing to stoke the fireplaces in addition to playing her role in the Parlor, as she's too busy running from an armed drunk, while Senlin doesn't, as he's a habitual fire stoker. It still doesn't prevent him from being detained.
- The Gadfly: As a teen, Marya goes out of her way to annoy and otherwise hog the attention of her teachers. The very last words the old headmaster says to the young Senlin consist of warning him about the troublesome student.
- Indentured Servitude: The punishment for failing to pay one's debts is being caught, shaved, collared and put to work as a hod, essentially slaves forced to carry goods and do other maintenance throughout the Tower. It's John Tarrou's eventual fate, when he's caught redhanded aiding Senlin for the theft of a painting, and the authorities stop ignoring his outstanding debts as a result.
- Naïve Newcomer: Every tourist to the Tower of Babel, and every new arrival to a new ringdom besides.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Senlin runs into a few of these in The Parlor.
- Sky Cell: The cell Senlin and Edith are briefly imprisoned in looks like a wire chicken coop jutting from the Tower's façade.
- Tower of Babel: The titular tower. There are hints that this is the Tower, albeit in a parallel universe.
- Xanatos Gambit: Finn Goll employs this tactic, of all things, to recruit Senlin for a job.
