Katabasis

A Novel

De: R. F. Kuang

Narrado por: Morag Sims, Will Watt

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.

©2025 R. F. Kuang (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers

A book that will make you laugh and cry

I'm biased because I really enjoy R.F. Kuang's books, but this one made me laugh so much, and it also made me weep, sob, cry... plenty of times. By the end I was a mess.

The performance by Morag Sims and Will Watt made this story even more immersive. I'm so glad I got to experience it this way: I read the ebook while listening to the audiobook. It was so fun.

I learned a lot in this book — concepts that I otherwise would have never encountered. It was nice to learn new things.

I will always, always think of Alice and Peter. Always. (And Elspeth and Archimedes.) I will think of them fondly.

True to its title

Katabasis is a wild ride into Hell and the relationship between two people. I loved the character development spread out across a journey and set against a surreal backdrop.

Never free from Writing college papers

The fact that hell has consistent levels where you have to write papers or dissertations, and that they will never be good enough. This tracks so well. Honestly, this is the most accurate description of Hell I have ever come across.

Academics find themselves in hell

The growth of the characters was a lovely heart warming story which was at odds with the cold academic hell that was the hell these two kids envisioned in their walk.

Amazing Storytelling

I love when books weave together back story with the story's current events and I think it's really well done in Katabasis. The magic system is so interesting too.

First full read of a book

I was very interested when I first heard of this title awhile back, and was surprised how hooked I got on listening to the story as well as always wondering what’s up with Peter!

“Maybe two parallel lines can meet at infinity”

I love that when facing the lord of hells you are alone, but will still find comfort with them. I hope to find that same comfort one day.

Good but drawn out

The story was good but the author tends to overly describe things, as if he needs things to be over analyzed to the point where it’s hard to pay attention and the reader gets bored.

Dark academia HG

She does it again! I was engaged and engrossed. I devoured this book. I can see why ppl think this reads like a textbook, but if you are not an academic and don’t understand the logic or background info then I can see why. It’s not for everyone. This will be a book I will re-read again seasonally. Adding it to my dark academia list.

A study in self discovery

Most of what I get out of reading this author tends to be a lesson in learning to self audit. A deep dive into the characters throughout the narrative lends to comparison between myself and the characters. Well written and thought provoking.