SUMMARY
Dante’s Inferno meets Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi in this all-new dark academia fantasy from R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own.
Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek:
The story of a hero’s descent to the underworld
Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.
That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.
Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams….
Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.
With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like.
But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn’t always the answer, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies…or lead to their doom.
Image and summary from Goodreads.
REVIEW
Every time I pick up a book by R. F. Kuang, I’m reminded why she’s become one of my favourite authors. Her writing always feels intelligent, layered and incredibly immersive and Katabasis was no exception. It took a little while to find its rhythm, but once I settled into its strange, unsettling world, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
The premise alone was enough to hook me. A PhD program where two graduate students literally descend into Hell after accidentally blowing up their professor? It’s such a bizarre concept, yet somehow it works. It almost felt like a dark academic fever dream, blending the relentless pressure of academia with a surreal journey that reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. Every layer of Hell introduced something stranger than the last, creating a world that felt both fascinating and deeply uncomfortable.
As someone who enjoys dark academia, this book delivered exactly what I wanted. It isn’t just about libraries, magic and intellectual rivalry. It’s about obsession, ambition, unhealthy power dynamics and the lengths people will go to in pursuit of recognition. The academic environment is ruthless and R. F. Kuang explores how easily the pursuit of success can become all consuming. Rather than romanticising academia, she exposes its uglier side where brilliance is often measured by sacrifice and self worth becomes tied to the approval of those in positions of power.
Alice was such an interesting protagonist because underneath all of her intelligence and determination, she simply wanted someone to tell her she was enough. Everything she did seemed driven by a desperate need for praise and validation particularly from Professor Grimes. She genuinely believed that earning his approval was the only way to prove her worth and complete her PhD, making his accidental death the catalyst that sends her entire world spiralling. Watching her navigate grief, guilt and the impossible task of trying to undo what had happened made her feel incredibly human. She isn’t always easy to like, but she’s easy to understand and I found myself sympathising with her need to constantly prove herself.
Peter was the perfect counterpart to Alice. Their relationship is complicated from the very beginning, shaped by competition, resentment and years of academic rivalry. Neither of them is particularly good at communicating and they’re constantly trying to outthink and outmanoeuvre each other. Yet as their journey through Hell progresses, those walls slowly begin to crack. I really enjoyed watching their dynamic evolve because it never felt simple or predictable. They’re forced to rely on one another despite all the reasons they think they shouldn’t and that reluctant partnership became one of my favourite parts of the novel.
The reason this wasn’t quite a five star read for me was that the pacing occasionally slowed under the weight of its philosophical discussions and dense academic ideas. While I appreciated how thought provoking the novel was, there were moments where it felt like the story paused to explore concepts rather than moving the plot forward.
Overall, Katabasis is a unique, imaginative take on dark academia that combines mythology, magic and the pressures of higher education into something entirely its own. It’s strange, unsettling and incredibly clever and it reminded me once again why I’ll continue picking up anything R. F. Kuang writes.
-Rachelle
I’m on Instagram at @rachellesbookshelf
