(sort of debating between 3-3.5)

Katabasis drops your right in the middle of the action, as PHD student Alice Law is in the act of drawing the pentagram that will take her to Hell so she can bring back to life her esteemed advisor. She is interrupted shortly by fellow advisee and once-friend-maybe-lover-now-enemy-questionmark Peter Murdoch who insists on coming along, and then they're off. To Hell.

I can always admire an author that challenges themselves to write a different genre each book. Even though this has a lot of overlap with Babel when it comes to themes and locations, reading Katabasis gives off a completely different vibe. There's darkness, yes. We're exploring the implications and effects of deep-rooted misogyny and abuse (and ableism, to a degree) in academia. But it's also giving buddy rom-com. Like: what if we hated each other but we're both really smart but we also had to share the emergency blanket we brought to Hell?

Another way that Kuang has drawn me in in both Babel and Katabasis, is her magic systems. I think they're so inventive and work so well for their purposes. In this book, the magic (sorry, magick) system is based on paradoxes: that's where the "veil" between real and unreal is thin and where we can believe fantastical things can be true. It's great fun to see Kuang play with this concept and implement it so creatively.

"The point was that Professor Grimes hadn't tormented just anyone. He'd tormented them. Because they were strong enough to withstand it. Because they kept the faith. Because they were special, and worth the effort, and because whatever they became when he was done with them would be so dazzling."

I appreciated both Alice and Peter as characters, though it felt at times like Kuang wasn't sure whether they both supposed to be protagonists or not. I mean, Alice is the main protagonist - almost the entire book is from her pov. But then at some point we did take a couple of field trips into Peter's pov, and while it was nice, because it was kind of a one-off it also felt like it was just there to give us some Peter backstory without having to spend too much time on it. Some more Peter pov would've done the relationship we're also supposed to be investing in good, I think (I was invested. But I could've definitely been invested-er).

Despite it's whopping 540 pages (basically the same length as Babel) this book is definitely a page-turner. It took me maybe 5 days to read. By comparison: Babel took me a month and a half and I was on holiday for part of that. But I have to say: it did Not need to be 500+ pages. Where Babel really uses its length to slowly broaden the scope of the story, Katabasis is hyperfocused on a goal that reveals itself fairly early on and it does not really skew away from that at any point.

The book also lacked some of the depth and layers that I appreciated so much in Babel. I felt like the point was clear to me pretty early on, and while that point is interesting and serious and complex, I felt like it did still remain pretty singular. And the hyperfocus on it actually made me feel like we weren't able to explore some of the complexity because it's hammered home from so early on that at some point I felt feeling a little like I was just waiting for Alice to get there as well. I think that's also while the ending, while inevitable, fell sort of flat for me. Some things happened just too quick that I would've liked to spend some more time on, now that we were finally at the end, where all those 500+ pages had led to.

So, the first thing you need to know about this book is that pretty much every character in it is completely and utterly insane, but they think they are the most rational and logical people you'll ever meet. It makes for very compelling reading, although perhaps mostly in the sense of watching something awful you can't quite look away from.

Katabasis jumps straight into the action - the setting has already shifted from Cambridge to Hell by the end of the first chapter. And while the premise of the book - going to fetch your professor from Hell because it seems like the most straightforward way to make sure you get your degree - is so absurd as to make the whole story almost comic, even from the very beginning there are hints at much darker aspects underlying it. These aspects are revealed bit by bit as you delve further into the book, and the characters venture further into Hell.

In keeping with Kuang's style, her criticisms of the world of academia in this book pull no punches. Katabasis focuses on the practices that perpetuate misogyny (and, to a lesser extent, ableism), and how insidious they can be. What seems, at the outset of the book, to be an unjustifiably extreme decision takes on a twisted kind of logic as the context of Alice and Peter's perspectives are filled in. The narration is, in places, very blunt about the ways in which they are deluding themselves, but nonetheless you can begin to understand why they chose to go to Hell in lieu of finding another thesis supervisor.

I found the structure of the book to work well. It interspersed the journey through Hell with flashbacks, mostly Alice's, which progressively added depth to the characters and their motivations and also helped to engage with the story, as some of the parts set in Hell did come across a bit dull. It was particularly interesting to reconsider previous assertions made by the characters or the narration given additional backstory, as sometimes they recontextualised things in ways I hadn't seen coming. From the very beginning, it felt only logical to doubt the ideas and opinions of someone who was willingly venturing into Hell, but while some statements Alice made seemed flimsy from the beginning, there were others that I only realised weren't all she made them out to be until the narrative went on to contradict it. This was particularly relevant when it came to Alice's perception of Peter (and vice versa, although the story mostly follows Alice's perspective). Despite Alice knowing Peter for years, she only really came to learn that the idea of him that she, and indeed most of Cambridge, had built up didn't match the reality at all when about halfway through Hell. There is a lot of shattering of illusions throughout the book, and I thought they were excellently set up - you get hints, early on, that not all is as it seems, but it's only later that you realise the full extent of everything you didn't know.

Some of my criticisms of the book lie in things that will probably be picked up in editing, given that I am reading an advance copy, and were minor details that probably wouldn't bother most people, so aren't really worth mentioning. I found it somewhat jarring that American terminology was used in places for a book that is set in England - arguably since the main character is American this can be attributed to the fact that the story is mostly focused on her perspective of the world, but it just threw me off a bit in places. I wasn't particularly compelled by Alice and Peter's relationship. It just seemed a bit lukewarm throughout, and seemed to change little even as their opinions and understanding of each other changed signficantly.

Overall, I found this book to be excellently written and enjoyable to read. It was evident throughout that a lot of thought went into the way everything was structured, and it really paid off. If you liked Kuang's other books, I think it's safe to say that you will like this one too. (The one thing I would note is that this is not a lighthearted book. While the concept seems a bit whimsical in isolation, this whole book is very much in keeping with the very hard-hitting style of Kuang's other works and should be approached with that in mind.)

A blistering, brilliant story about abusive dynamics in academia, and growing away from them through love. This was such a gorgeous love story, honestly I won’t say too much because it’s best to go into this knowing as little as possible. I loved reading this slowly, and it really worked by being savoured, but I also can’t wait to speed re-read this. The magic was so well thought-out, it felt so mysterious but also lived-in, like it was just another degree. This is only the second book I have read by R.F. Kuang but it has confirmed me as a lifelong fan of hers.

Fancy a trip into Hell?

With its dark academia vibe, it ticked all the boxes for me. It was addicting and I loved the plot itself - so novel and wildly entertaining.

The concept of retrieving a soul from the underworld, endeavoured by two highly driven Cambridge scholars, was great and I couldn’t put the book down. One chapters flowed into five and for a bigger sized book, I couldn’t believe how quickly I got through it.

We venture through the different courts of Hell, as Alice and Peter reevaluate both their living lives and the soul they’re attempting to drag back into the world of the living. It was retrospective and so well written (and to be honest, not surprising with this Author as I don’t think I’ve ever read a book by them that’s not been half way to brilliant).

So many amazing tropes here and the vibes were immaculate.

Beginning was great, middle was great and the ending was great. 5/5 pure trip.

"Christ," said Peter. "Hell is a campus."

I'm a fan of RFK, and especially loved her Yellowface, but this book - which I'd been looking forward to immensely - is actually just a postgraduate student's doctoral crisis. I was so disappointed.

Nearly all PhD candidates get to this point at some stage: mental exhaustion, questioning the system ('there was the question of whether all this was character-building asceticism or simply the demands of poverty, since none of the graduate students made close to a living wage. But nobody liked to talk about that'), dealing with issues of power hierarchies in the academe, possibly struggling with an exploitative supervisor, and finding the very demands and pressures of research and writing can kill the passion that started you on this journey in the first place. As a result, I felt that this book was more a rant from the heart of a PhD student in crisis than a thought-through piece of fiction.

I liked that the Underworld here is multicultural and doesn't just follow the western katabasis tradition (Homer, Virgil, Dante etc.) but Alice (definitely an Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking-Glass allusion) and Peter are both bland in terms of character and the timid enemies-to-lovers trope falls flat. Similarly, their journey from a magical Cambridge through the underworld feels incredibly low stake: they meet the inhabitants of hell, are lectured at and then move on - Alice keeps asking herself why it's all so easy and I, as a disappointed reader, was asking exactly the same thing.

Way too much of this narrative is show offy info dumps of philosophers and the history of ideas, or backstories to Peter and Alice - none of which constructs a compelling story. There are some brief flashes of the imagination we expect from RFK such as the first circle of pride being an academic library (ha!) but there's not nearly enough of this. Sadly, this book commits the cardinal sin of boring this reader silly. And by the time we get to the end, we're told none of it matters anyway:

"The academy didn't matter. Perhaps they could revise their dissertation topics in time and change their committees and scrape their way into a job, or perhaps they couldn't, but none of it mattered because the future still lay before them, delightfully open."

The story of a young Cambridge scholar, who decides to go to Hell on a mission to save her thesis supervisor. Naturally, the protagonist's journey mirrors much of the literary works written about Hell, and, as such, reflects the huge amount of research that went into this book. In addition, the book is, once again (similar to Babel), an exploration of academia and its vagaries, and the psychology of those that succumb to and thrive within it. At the same time, it's also a romantic story, exploring the importance of self-discovery for love to take root.

I really wanted to like this book. I read everything else by the author and remain a huge fan. Some of her books are truly exceptional (especially Babel). In this case, I really struggled to even give it three stars (the score is more like 2.5, rounded up). I liked the premise, to some extent, and the worldbuilding was superb. The latter is truly breathtaking in its complexity - the author did an excellent job in constructing a universe with a strong internal core of magic (or Magick, in this universe's language), philosophy, and logic, all of which interconnect credibly. This was the highlight of the reading experience.

Unfortunately, I disliked most of the rest. First, the characters were somehow hollow, and very much unlike the author's previous creations. The ones in this book lacked something to make me care about them. This isn't even about the anti-hero part - it's more that I just felt they were echoes of something, vs the something itself. Perhaps the author's energy wasn't really in them. Second, I struggled with the plot - much of it was predictable, and there was nothing there to make me really care about what was happening. Peppering it with scenes from the protagonists' past, and diversions to explain more of the philosophy underpinning the book's reality, somehow didn't help. There simply was a lack of tension or drama to make me root for someone or something. The depiction of Hell was also lacklustre - I kept comparing what I read here to even Pullman, who created such vivid imagery, that I still can't shake it off. Third, I felt like there was a lot of anger in the writing (about something - I'm not sure what, but it probably has to do with academia), but it didn't really find its way fully into the work itself. It's like the author really wanted to scream and shout about some injustices, but, instead, created a rather soul-less narrative that describes this anger, rather than helps the reader feel it. Finally, and perhaps worst of all, the book felt like over-reach. The various dimensions didn't seem to fuse well enough together - the romance, the philosophy of Hell and damnation, the vitriol against academia, and the psychology of over-achieving students who are victimised by said academia.

All in all, I think true fans of the author will want to read it for completeness. Others - not so much. I would definitely not start with the author from this book. I'm not even sure who will enjoy it - perhaps more brainy readers who are passionate about the philosophy of Hell and the writings that humanity generated about it.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This is a book that you need to read slowly.

R.F. Kuang has written a book about finding yourself, about what it’s like to put someone on a pedestal, what it’s like to have your sense of self warped, but also what it’s like to love to think and stretch your mind beyond yourself.

As someone who loves schools of thought and academia, Kuang writes a novel that reminds you to remember how vast our world is but in the grand scheme of things (which in this case is Hell), none of that matters. This book is about remembering what the whole point of life is. And therefore remembering there is no point. This book is a paradox!

I loved it so much and I’m so grateful I was able to read it early, thank you so much to Harper Voyager for sending me this copy it was a pleasure to read!

Katabasis feels like a refinement of Kuang’s academia style established with Babel a few years ago. If you enjoyed Babel then I’d recommend this book wholeheartedly! If you weren’t so keen, then I suspect this won’t be the book to win you round.

For fans of magical academia, there is plenty to get your teeth into in Katabasis. Following two overworked star pupils from Cambridge University on a trip to revive their brilliant but tyrannical supervisor, academia dominates every element of the story. The whole expedition is built around research Alice and Peter have done, down to proposed maps of Hell’s circles with varying levels of academic scrutiny. It goes so far as to use logic puzzles and paradoxes as weapons to fend off foes, which started to feel a little contrived and convenient personally. I actually see a lot of parallels with The Secret History in many parts to the story (aside from the trip to Hell, that is).

Kuang has a very assured and unusual take on what Hell could be like in Katabasis, that is unconventional but works in the context of the story. Rather than your stereotypical fire and demons, Hell is a reflection of its inhabitants, and will look slightly different depending on your personality and desires, and the time period in which you’re born. In fact, Hell is discussed in such an academic and measured way that it starts to feel realistic in places! I do admit the setting of Hell let me down a little bit, as I feel the element of danger was dampened; the descriptions of characters feeling fear and dread just wasn’t matched by the descriptions of their surroundings for me.

I went back and forth on the romance elements to the story; without spoiling anything, by the end of the book I’d say it's a strong relationship arc, but I didn’t like the way it was executed. Key information determining the character motivations and actions is withheld early on in the story for the purpose of having plot twist reveals later on in the story. I feel this really impacts the start of the book, with Alice and Peter’s rivalry feeling artificially created without any context. It requires a leap of faith to trust the author that friction between characters will eventually be explained, and although it ultimately was, I wasn’t sure from the beginning that would be the case.

Kuang truly is a remarkably brilliant writer. From the opening page, I was hooked. The way she plays with words and phrases, allowing them to hold so much power and intellect, will always be mesmerising for me.

Katabasis is a descent into hell, with deep philosophical musings, a thorough criticism towards academia, and one hell of a heartbreaking love story.

Journeying through hell with Alice and Peter felt like a catastrophic vacation with those two friends who keep denying how they feel about each other. There was so much to unpack and take away from each page, as we dive deeper into what has led them both to hell, and its a journey on so many different levels.

Is it too soon to read it again?