Q 01/05

In By the Waters of Babylon, the Place of the Gods is which ruined city, named only at the very end?

A) Chicago

B) New York

C) Boston

D) Philadelphia

Answer · why

B) New York

New York is the name John finally sets down as a single word, newyork, after a story that only ever calls it the Place of the Gods. His people know th...

Q 02/05

In By the Waters of Babylon, what does John grasp about the gods on seeing the dead god's face?

A) They were men

B) They were demons

C) They were spirits

D) They were giants

Answer · why

A) They were men

They were men, John decides, because the dead face looks wise and sad rather than divine. From that moment he loses all fear, and he carries the secre...

Q 03/05

In By the Waters of Babylon, the broken statue marked ASHING once honoured which American?

A) Abraham Lincoln

B) Thomas Jefferson

C) George Washington

D) Benjamin Franklin

Answer · why

C) George Washington

George Washington matches the figure John describes, a carved man with long hair tied back. Unsure which god ASHING might be, John prays to him anyway...

Q 04/05

In By the Waters of Babylon, the crumbling god-roads John follows are the remains of what?

A) Aqueducts

B) Railways

C) Canals

D) Highways

Answer · why

D) Highways

Highways are what a modern reader sees in the god-roads, which John's people no longer use because they are breaking into blocks of stone. He leaves t...

Q 05/05

In By the Waters of Babylon, John walks eight days in which forbidden direction to reach the river?

A) East

B) North

C) West

D) South

Answer · why

A) East

East is barred by the tribe's oldest law, along with crossing the great river and looking on the Place of the Gods. John breaks all three taboos on a ...