Having read and loved BABEL, read and been swept along by YELLOWFACE, I was curious to see what reaction RF Kuang would provoke in me next. As magicians Alice and Peter descend into Hell, thus begins a pretty complex discussion of what Hell might look like, what it's for, who ends up there and whether anyone might make it back out alive.

Make no mistake, this is a well written but chewy novel. KATABASIS will be to Cambridge and mathematicians what BABEL was to Oxford and linguists. And, I confess, I am a linguist. There were lots of complicated mathematical paradoxes and philosophies to get your head around and oftentimes their explanation slowed the pace of the book pretty intensely.

The relationship between Peter and Alice - and theirs with the professor they're in Hell to rescue - was my main motivation to continue reading. One of those books that I'm grateful to have read and might try again in a few years.

Likely to be Kuang's most polarising novel yet among fans, but an absolute and certified banger as far as I'm concerned. She never misses.

Set in the world of academia - specifically Cambridge we meet two post-graduate students Alice Law and Peter Murdoch, both brilliant in their own ways and driven to be the best in the field of Analytical Magic. Both are supervised by the testy, demanding and at times obnoxious Jacob Grimes, who rose to prominence during the war with his creative use of analytick magic. Despite this Alice and Peter strove to work with Professor Grimes as his influence and knowledge in the field of analytick magic is unparalleled.
As we start the story we find that Professor Grimes has been killed (messily) thorough a faulty spell, but if Alice wants her thesis to progress she needs his support. Thus begins a search to find a way into Hell to bring back the Professor, Alice has all her plans in place, the pentagram drawn in magicians chalk but just as she is going to incant her spell Peter finds her and forces his way into her journey to Hell.
The narrative follows the pairs journey through the eight Courts of Hell - based on a variety of classical theories on Hell including Dante with Pride, Desire, Greed, Wrath, Violence, Cruelty, Tyranny with the last mysterious Eight Court to be divined. Along the way we have flashbacks into both Alice and Peters lives and interactions with Professor Grimes, which demonstrate what a manipulative bastard he is, setting both students in competition against the other.
Along the way they meet the various denizens that live in Hell, reassess their relationship, work out a variety of puzzles so that they can move through the courts using logic, science and maths. This was a fascinating read and I am definitely going to have a re-read as there are elements which will come to the fore that I missed the first time round.
I would definitely recommend and who knew the academic world was so cut throat! My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this ARC. Looking forward to 26 August at Waterstones in Aberdeen for a launch event.

The voyage that Alice and Peter take into Hell is both intensely emotional and intellectually stimulating. R.F. Kuang skilfully draws from a wide range of disciplines, fusing literature, logic, mythology, and philosophy in a way that makes you happy when you understand a reference and curious to learn more when you don't. Above all, Katabasis is a romantic revelation of what truly makes life wonderful. It is the ultimate dark academic fantasy about the rejection of the flesh, infernal demands, and dealings with the devil that can be necessary to climb the ivory tower and enjoy "the life of the mind." Highly recommended.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Katabasis has been on my radar for quite some time. 2025 has already proven to be a year for amazing publications, and Katabasis was firmly at my number 1 most anticipated release.

Unfortunately, it fell a little short.

Katabasis follows the stories of Alice Law and Peter Murdoch, two PhD students under the tyrannical supervision of Jacob Grimes. Unfortunately for Alice, a magick experiment goes horribly wrong, leaving her promising career to go up in a puff of smoke (and exploded body parts), and she struggles to live with the crippling guilt of killing her advisor.

To alleviate her own guilt (and progress with her career), she ventures into the Underworld with Peter (who similiarly carries echoes of guilt and secrets), and they must work together to rescue Grimes and return to the world above.

While Kuang's writing often reads poetic and dreamlike, I found that the main plot often went off on a tangent (the mystery of Peter's conspicuous absences, the Kripkes, and did mythology not tell you not to eat the food of the Underworld, Alice???). I felt the characterisation weak, and overshadowed at times by the complex riddles, puzzles, and deep-seated philosophy. While Kuang is an undoubtedly talented writer, I felt that the premise of the story got lost somewhere along the way, leading me to DNF countless times.

Nevertheless, fans of Kuang's previous works will enjoy Katabasis, but sadly, it wasn't for me.

Two scholars enter hell to rescue their professor in the latest novel from international bestseller R.F. Kuang. One of my most highly anticipated books of the year, this didn’t disappoint. It’s a sparsely written and beautifully dark academia fantasy, full of philosophy and literary references. A must read.

Absolutely brilliant.

When Alice's doctoral supervisor is killed before she can finish her degree, she does what any self respecting (desperate) grad student would do and journeys to Hell to bring him back. She is joined on her journey by fellow grad student and long-time rival, Peter. Both have a complicated relationship with their deceased supervisor, and their own motivations for bringing him back. As they journey through hell, they meet a host of shades - some willing to help, some with dangerous intentions of their own. But their biggest threat could prove to be each other.

Katabasis was such a satisfying novel to read. It was packed with twists and tension, murky and morally grey motivations, and intriguing characters. The magick system was fascinating and well developed, blurring the lines between invention and established fact as Kuang accomplished so well in Babel, so you're not always sure what's researched facts and what's in-world logic. I enjoyed Alice's development over the course of the novel, and all of the references to myth and literature.

I feel so eternally grateful that I had the opportunity to get an advanced copy of this book as I know it is many people's most anticipated fantasy of the year. Thank you to Harper Collins UK and netgalley for this opportunity.
With that being said, this was my first Kuang so I had no preconceptions on her writing style and if it worked for me. As soon as I saw the pitch for this as two grad students making the descent down to Hell to get a recommendation letter from their advisor I was incredibly intruiged. There were many elements that Kuang explores in this novel that I adored such as its critique on academia, themes of sexual assault, suicidal ideation and sexism within these spaces.

Kuang is a master at language, she is incredibly talented and although the novel is quite lengthy it never feels its page length. I loved the elements of Hell that we got to explore and the snapshot of the different courts and the souls that inhabit them. Kuang very clearly has done her research on every literary referece to Hell and made her own version that is feels utterly unique despite being such a well explored setting in literature and mythology. My absolute favourite characters were Elspeth and the cat they were a delight amidst the chaos of the underworld.
My main gripes withe the story come in the form of the relationship as I never really felt invested in them as a potential romantic couple and their dynamic was very much tell not show. I never felt chemistry between them and the bickering felt forced and unappealing to me. Despite these flaws, it did get better the longer I read of them and by the end I was convinced that they did indeed love eachother.
As a new Kuang reader, I am now aware that she typically info-dumps within the first hundred or so pages but once you wade through that it starts to pick up. I found this to be extremely true with this novel as in the beginning I found the magic system to be convoluted and unnecessarily confusing. This feeling did fade, as once I got used to the world and the rules of the underworld I didn't feel like I was thrown in this universe without a manual. I do put this down to being an inexperienced fantasy reader however, as it is not a fault on Kuang's part.

Despite my light criticisms, I do think the general public will adore this book and I know that it will be someones perfect fantasy novel even though not every element worked for me.

Full rating 3.75

R F Kuang is one of those authors whose books I will always reach for. She brings such a rich and diverse depth to her stories that makes the work enchanting and thought provoking.

Though I maybe wished for more from the pacing, the story itself, but I thoroughly enjoyed Kuang taking on another battle against the standards of the academic elite.

This is simply magnificent, a true masterpiece of a novel. I savoured this over the course of a week, and I'm so glad I really took the time to take everything in, because there is a LOT going on in this book. This takes you on an expansive journey through hell, following Alice and Peter, two Cambridge students of analytic magick. It's incredibly complex, but for someone who does not have a singular grasp of philosophy/mathematics/physics, I was still able to come to terms with the worldbuilding and the commentary on academia that Kuang puts forth. Ultimately, this is a story about the meaning of life. These two students go on such a journey emotionally and psychologically throughout the book as well as physically. This is a slow and deliberately told story, one that will absolutely stay with you long after you've finished it. I'm in awe of RF Kuang's brain.

Thank you forever to the publisher for providing me with a proof in exchange for an honest review!

Alice and Peter are studying Magick at Cambridge when their insufferable Professor is killed. Unfortunately their best shot at passing their postgrad and gaining jobs is by a recommendation from Prof Grimes. So they set off on a quest to save him from hell, losing half of their own life span in the process. They have to trek through the courts of hell, using the knowledge from other people who have travelled there, such as Dante.

Firstly, the characters are all insufferable. Alice and Peter's "relationship" is little more than work colleagues who get on each other's nerves most of the time. Professor Grimes is completely toxic, gaslighting and bullying his way through life, and I can't for the life of me understand why two supposedly intelligent students would give up half their remaining years and risk getting stuck in hell to save him, all for a bit of a recommendation. The writing jumps from info dumping complex philosophical ideas in a way that feels akin to a lecture, to childish comments about erections and then back to stilted dialogue. There's zero chemistry between Alice and Peter and without Grimes playing them off against each other, these two probably would never have had a conversation. At one point Alice is completely lost in the desert and I honestly was willing her to die so it would finally end. They travel between all the courts apparently looking for Grimes but rarely bother to show any inclination to look for him beyond a quick check.

All in all it is dull and ridiculously long. I did not like the characters, the "journey" was a lot of endless desert in between brief chats with Shades (souls), and it just felt like an exercise in proving how clever Rebecca Kuang is. No doubt that is the case, but if I wanted a lecture I'd go back to uni again. I'm sure it's meant to be a discussion on how badly postgrads are treated and that they go through hell for their jobs (in this case literally), but I spent most of the book wondering whether I cared enough to see if they made it.

Obsessed doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about this book, I had to rate before I had even finished!

RF Kuang is what I'd describe as a literary fantasy author - no lazy cliches or easy reading here. 'Katabasis' is a hefty novel about two postgraduate students of magic at Cambridge University who journey into hell to rescue their deceased professor. Alice, the viewpoint character, is obsessively driven in her academic career (magic being a mix of science and philosophy in this parallel world), whilst Peter is the annoying genius who outperforms her whilst apparently making no effort at all. The two have an uneasy relationship between rivalry and friendship, but must work together to navigate the underworld. On the journey we unravel their backstories, including why they have taken such a risk to save a man who it quickly becomes apparent was a nasty piece of work.

Alice is a difficult and complex character, not instantly likeable, but over time I did come to sympathise and empathise with her. Peter is more likeable for the reader, but filtered through Alice's perception is difficult to trust. But I did come to care about them and their mission and the later part of the book is really gripping. I also liked some of the supporting characters they meet along the way.

It is a long book, and can be quite hard work to read. The descriptions of magic, which include a lot of maths and a lot of philosophy (paradoxes in particular) went over my head and were too much effort to unpick for fun. I just skimmed them and it didn't stop my understanding or enjoying the plot. Kuang writes in a very intellectual way, and you have to be in the right mood for reading that style, particularly for a long haul of 400 pages. It's not a book to choose when you want something lighter or that you can enjoy without concentrating too hard.

I think it is probably a satire on academia, and like any satire, it will be most satisfying for people who understand the thing it is satirising. As someone who did not spend long at university and has not had dealings with it since, a lot of the nuance was probably lost on me. I think people who work or have worked in or with academia will get more out of it. However even a non-academic like me could appreciate the broad principles of the message. It reminded me a little of Kuang's 'Babel', but in that book I really loved the characters and found the themes around colonialism a compelling background. I wouldn't put 'Katabasis' in the same league as 'Babel'.

I would recommend highly to anyone who wants a more challenging fantasy novel, to people working in or knowledgeable about the academic world, and to people who enjoy maths and/or philosophy and want to see them in a novel. For more casual readers, it will probably be enjoyable in the end, if you are happy to read a long book that can feel like hard work at times.

Incredible world building, but the romance plot really pulls it down. I wanted more about the magic, and the university, and the Kripkes. I wanted more backstory. The romance plot takes up so much of it, that we loose any time to do those things.

Good, but not great

I was really excited to pick up this book because I had such high hopes for it! Unfortunately, it left me with mixed feelings.

It started off with an interesting premise that drew me in, but as I got deeper into the story, it felt like it lost its way a bit. I found the magic system to be quite confusing; I didn’t really understand how it worked, and by the end, I was still scratching my head.

The world-building had some great ideas, but I think it needed a little more clarity. At times, I was overwhelmed with too much information, while other parts felt a bit sparse on the details.

To be honest, "Katabasis" felt more like an academic textbook than a fantasy adventure.

I've read all of R.F. Kuang’s novels, and while this one is my least favourite book so far, I’m definitely still excited to read more of her work in the future!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, for sharing an advance digital copy with me. All of the thoughts in this review are my own and I’m excited to share them with you voluntarily!

Katabasis follows Alice Law who takes a trip to hell to save her professor. Alice has big ambitions for her life and wants to be a star in the field of analytic magick. Unfortunately, her professor is the only one who can help her achieve her dreams but he died and is in hell. Her academic rival, Peter Murdoch is also going to find their professor so joins Alice on the trip to hell. Hell is full of tricks though so Alice and Peter will need to work together to save their professor or die trying.

This book was really good and I personally am very impressed with the progress R.F. Kuang has made in her character development. With this author’s other works I have struggled to connect to her characters but I really connected with Alice in this and I found her to be extremely relatable. This book was very smart per all works of this author and it’s clear Kuang knows what she is writing about when it comes to academia. This felt smart and serious but it also had a humorous tone throughout which I enjoyed considering the absurdity of travelling to hell. I liked the romantic elements in this and found they weren’t overdone. This book (unsurprisingly) discusses death and I think the way Kuang introduced this topic was very well done. It was very powerful and I think relatable for many people (myself included). I loved reading this and I would definitely recommend this book. I had such a great reading experience and really connected with Alice and her experience with death.

Katabasis follows Alice as she journeys to hell to find her professor who she may or may not have blown into a thousand pieces. Oops. And who better to journey there with but your academic rival?!

Kuang has spent a lot of her life writing academic essays and that is really evident in her books. She loves a complicated, unlikeable character who finds a heart along the way but you really have to stick around and put up with a lot of pretentious academic hubris to get to that point. It might work for you, it might not. Kuang just really wants you to know she has a PhD.

This book was such a ride. It mixes dark academia with a full on trip through Hell and somehow makes it feel smart, intense and emotional all at once. I got pulled in right from the start because Alice is such a determined and complicated character. She is a grad student trying to make her mark in the world of academic magic and she is not afraid to push limits. When her professor dies in a magical accident she decides the best solution is to go to Hell and bring him back. The fact that she ends up doing this with Peter, her rival, just makes everything more tense and interesting.

The world building feels rich and eerie. You can almost smell the old books and chalk dust in the academic scenes and then you get dropped into vivid and unsettling images of Hell that stick in your head. The pacing has a mix of fast moments and slower, thoughtful ones. It gives you time to breathe and think about what the characters are going through.

I liked that the relationship between Alice and Peter is layered and complicated. It is not a straightforward romance but there is chemistry and history between them that keeps you invested. Their banter and the quiet moments say as much as the big dramatic ones.

It is the kind of book that makes you think about ambition, sacrifice and what people will risk for the things they believe matter. It kept me turning the pages and even when it got heavy I wanted to see where it all ended.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for this ARC!

Rating: 4.5 Stars rounded up.

“Katabasis” tells the story of Alice Law, a graduate student of analytic magick at Cambridge University. When her professor, Jacob Grimes, dies in a brutal accident, possibly caused by Alice herself, she makes the decision to go to hell to retrieve his soul. She is unexpectedly joined by her academic rival, Peter Murdoch. We follow the both of them as they journey through hell, but things aren’t the way they expected – will they succeed nonetheless?

This book is on everyone’s list of most anticipated reads of 2025, and it more than deserves its spot there. Kuang has, once again, crafted a masterpiece. Yes, this book is smart and shares a lot of information, but it is also so much more fun and entertaining than I was expecting after Babel, which felt a lot heavier.

Knowing book spaces this book will probably end up on “dark academia” lists, and I think it deserves its spot there more than some others commonly given that label. Because this book actually cares about academia and what academic spaces are actually like for many people. It discusses issues such as racism and misogyny as well as ableism, and how these affect academics. This is a very important conversation to have, and Kuang approaches it with compassion and realism in equal measures. Her characters don’t have to be perfect people and have their own biases, which we see them work through over the course of their journey.
But the heavy stuff aside, this book is just really fun. I’m not someone to laugh particularly much while reading, but this one got a lot more chuckles out of me than I had expected. I’ve also seen it referred to as slow paced and I wouldn’t agree with that assessment. To me the plot flowed quite well and at a more than reasonable pace, though I may have just felt that time was passing quickly since I had such a good time reading this one.

The most pressing question you probably have if you are active in book spaces on social media is, do I really need to read all of these books people have been mentioning in relation to this book? Here’s the answer from someone who hasn’t read any of them: No, you do not, but it also couldn’t hurt! It is definitely true that a lot of different texts, writers and concepts are mentioned in this book that the average Joe likely won’t be super familiar with, but don’t let that stop you from reading this one. Everything is explained in a way that is not disruptive, and allows those of us who are less well-read to understand the book without any issues. But this novel also does another great thing – it makes you want to read all of the works mentioned! I definitely plan on rereading this book some time next year, after I’ve read some more of the “recommended reading” for this one.

TLDR; this book is accessible whether you’ve read the works mentioned within (e.g. Dante’s inferno) or not, but reading them probably makes the experience even better, which is a great motivation to actually give works you might not have checked out otherwise a chance.

I highly recommend reading this one, especially if you are working in or plan on working in academia. Katabasis is equal measures fun and informative, and in my opinion it’s an improvement to the already phenomenal Babel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I am probably a Kuang stan - I've read everything she's written and was overjoyed to hear she was writing a fantasy book about academia set in Cambridge (where I live). While this is probably my least favourite of her books, I did still really enjoy it and admire it as a piece of literature - and it still ranks above many other books!

The magic system she builds is fascinating and well thought out, and Alice and Peter are perfect examples of graduate students forcing their way to the end of their PhDs. If Yellowface was Kuang's attack on the publishing industry and Babel was her attack on race and colonialism in academia, then this book is her criticism of everything else within the academic system. Power dynamics, the patriarchy and the unrealistic nature of academic expectations are all skewered across the novel, with Peter and Alice's separate experiences exploring various different angles of this.

Grimes is the epitome of an Oxbridge don, and the fact that we only really see him in retrospect throughout the novel is probably a blessing. I also appreciated the disability rep through Peter, as the rate of disabled academics (particularly in STEMM) is abysmal due to the culture's inability to accept anything less than total dedication and 60 hour working weeks.

While the philosophical, religious and mathematical concepts Kuang explores often eluded me, I could still follow along easily and the plot still held an emotional pull. The one thing that did jar me out of the story, as a Cambridge local, were a smattering of geographical errors (such as buses going along Sidney Street) and the one mention of an Oxford library (we have 100 libraries here, pick one of those!) but it wasn't enough to stop me reading. Kuang is a rare talent and I hope she writes many more novels to challenge us.