Katabasis: A Novel ― A Dark Academia Fantasy about Two Rival Students
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.
BUY THE BOOK
Join a book club that is reading Katabasis: A Novel ― A Dark Academia Fantasy about Two Rival Students!
Community Reviews
This was a hard book for me to read. I felt the magic system was a little convoluted using pentagrams, logic theorems and incantations just felt a little hard to grasp. I also felt some of the lower realms of hell were not expounded on nearly as much as the earlier ones where I would have thought there would have been more action. I did enjoy the push and pull between Peter & Alice and Alice’s growth throughout the journey. The last 150 pages were probably my favorite part of the book.
I liked this a lot. Wonderfully imaginative concept, rich storytelling, and, at its heart, a pair of compelling main characters. I do feel it is maybe a bit too long, and sags at points in the middle; and while almost all of the secondary and side characters are richly drawn and compelling even in short bursts, this oddly does not hold for some of the ostensible antagonists, who are barely developed beyond their mere presence. Still an entirely enjoyable read and highly recommended.
4 stars
A tale that explores the light and dark sides of academia and takes a journey into the depths of Hell, all while being a story of love at its core. The love of knowledge, love of the heart, and a desire for understanding the complexities of life and what comes after.
For the majority, I found the writing to be quite lovely, flowing in a way that made this substantial tome seem not so sizable. At other times though it felt esoteric with its deeply academic focus on Paradoxes and Mathematics. I did enjoy the way that the author blended academics with fantasy. While one is so solidly based in facts and proofs, the other is steeped in mystery and magic.
Katabasis is an amalgamation of dark academia, horror, historical fantasy, and a rivals-to-lovers romance. If you are looking for romance with bedroom scenes and spice, this is not that kind of book. The
academic and fantasy elements are predominant, where the love story takes on more of a supporting role.
I started off reading the digital ARC but I made the switch to audio once available. I really enjoyed the dual narration and felt that I was able to better connect with story.
Many thanks to Edelweiss and Harper Voyager of HarperCollins for the digital Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.