The Arm of the Sphinx

*Arm of the Sphinx* is the second book in Josiah Bancroft's Books of Babel series.

## Plot

Senlin and his Stone Cloud crew steal rum from a merchant vessel. The crew has been stealing resources (but leaving enough to spare for their victims) from these types of vessels in order to survive. Their attempt to sneak into Pelphia was thwarted and they have become unwelcome to most ports including that ringdom. Senlin has struggled with hallucinations of his wife ever since being exposed to crumb during their escape in New Babel.

The crew goes to the Windsock, a hanging port to sell the rum and spend at the markets. Adam isn’t allowed to stay with the ship due to his previous duplicity. He talks with Iren at a pub about how he wants to regain Senlin’s trust. Voleta returns with a pet squirrel Squit that she stole from a cage. It’s owner follows her into the pub and Iren throws him off the port, causing them to be banned from the Windsock. Senlin visits an old woman, Madame Bhata, to get information on how to get into Pelphia. She says that there’s an abandoned ringdom, the Silk Gardens, above Pelphia with a man named Luc Marat giving refuge to hods there that might help them through. She says that he would appreciate books as a gift in exchange for passage.

Edith finds out about and confronts Senlin about his hallucinations via the ship log, which Senlin has turned into a diary of sorts. Senlin, Edith, and Iren rob a tourist and his daughter of their books. Voleta is chasing Squit instead of watch duty and the Ararat ambushes them. They are chased down to the ground and boarded but the crew escape by hooking themselves to a moving train.

The Stone Cloud is left in desperate need of repair and food when they enter the Silk Gardens. Senlin and Edith go to meet with Luc Marat at the Golden Zoo while Adam, Iren and Voleta repair the ship. Senlin and Edith are chased by spiders and then are led to Marat by a hod. Voleta follows Senlin and Edith. Adam and Iren are attacked by mechanical spider eaters, which they are able to fend off with fire. Adam discovers a diary in a wrecked ship describing rivers of gold on top of the tower which he becomes transfixed by, as he doesn’t feel the need to smother his sister anymore.

Marat is revealed to be a zealot who makes his followers black out books, with his ultimate plan being a hod revolution. He also reveals that there is no passage to Pelphia without taking the black trail and becoming a hod. Senlin and Edith are taken to an open cell where it’s implied that they cannot escape. He also notices copies of Ogier’s painting. Voleta watches the murder of a hod for not following orders. She shaves her head and infiltrates the Golden Zoo. She then sets up explosives for Senlin and Edith to escape while she steals food for the crew. Senlin also has fallen ill during this time.

The three escape but are chased into the woods by hods and attacked by spider eaters. Senlin is able to get a rifle and shoot the hods that are attacking the Stone Cloud. The crew escape, but they now need to go to the Sphinx because Edith’s arm has ran out of fuel and the replenishments were destroyed in the Aratat chase. Edith fears that the Sphinx will force them all into a dangerous contract, especially Adam.

The crew avoid gunfire of the higher ringdoms by playing dead then head straight on into the Tower where Billy Lee, who worked for the Sphinx, said the Tower will open up for them. They enter the Sphinx’s lair and led to the Sphinx by a deer-headed butler named Byron and his companion Ferdinand. The Sphinx chastises Edith’s treatment of the ship and her arm that were given to her. Senlin tries to leverage Ogier’s painting and his knowledge about the hod revolt to get them ship repairs, passage into Pelphia, and Edith’s freedom from her previous contract. Senlin and the Sphinx quickly negotiate a deal. The Sphinx reveals to Senlin and the crew that his hallucinations are brought about by the crumb infused painting that he has of his wife. He then sends Senlin into a bottomless library to find a book and in that time curb his addiction. The rest of the crew spend time in one of the Sphinx’s apartments. Edith takes Adam to get him out of the lair so that he isn’t tempted by the Sphinx’s offers. Adam suggests that they go to the top since that is where the captain of the diary visited. He is then taken by a group of “sparking men” with lightning rods who recognize Adam. Edith is allowed to leave but instructed to never return. Voleta sneaks through the vents and strikes an unlikely bond with the Sphinx who shows her around including the reservoir of fluid that powers all of her machines. The Sphinx also reveals that she is an old woman under the mask and trusts Voleta enough to change her batteries for her. The Sphinx reveals to Edith that she took Voleta under her wing, that she has revived the Red Hand, and that she needs Edith’s help to take down this plot to destroy the tower.

Senlin hallucinates and trapses through booby traps within the library. He finds himself longing to return to Edith. After a week in the library, he falls down a chute, (with the cat ultimately sitting upon the book), and is greeted by the Sphinx. She reveals Ogier’s painting belongs to a zoetrope that when collected completely reveals a combination that opens the Bricklayer’s vault. That vault contains a secret to bridge the tower to the heavens. She also asks Senlin to be her spy in Pelphia in order to uncover Marat’s plot.

Edith is given a new arm and assigned Captain of the State of the Art. Senlin is reunited with what’s left of his crew and he and Edith kiss. The Sphinx sees this with her butterfly cameras and also watches Marya and her newborn infant.