“Katabasis”, RF Kuang
Published August 26, 2025
Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.
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 same conclusion.
“In all the stories, sojourners in Hell rarely perished there. It was in the world of the living where they met their tragic ends.”
A Descent Like No Other
I’m going to be a little extra in this review, because I relished my time reading Katabasis. It is exactly what the title promises—a descent, but not just into Hell. This book covers a descent into grief, rage, identity, and philosophy, delivered in RF Kuang’s signature voice that’s sharp and layered. The atmosphere of her Hell is unlike any other I’ve read—bleak, but not in the fire-and-brimstone way. This underworld is uncanny, intellectual, and sometimes even absurd in its surreal logic. This world feels both mythic and modern; I believe the story itself is set in the 1980s in an alternate universe where magic is a course in prestigious universities. It’s a stage for ideas as much as a backdrop for story. That balance between narrative and thought is what makes this book such a treat: it’s not about what happens, but what it means.
Philosophy as Garnish (and Main Course)
Some readers accuse Kuang of overexplaining, but I personally found her digressions to be part of the book’s unique rhythm. For me, with my ADHD brain, they felt like side quests—little expansions and tangents that kept the main story buzzing with texture. Far from distractions, these musings about hyperbolic space, Kant, and paradoxes were garnishes that made the whole dish richer. In fact, Rees Writes has a helpful list of philosophical concepts in Katabasis. These tangents gave me time to breathe, pause, and scribble in the margins. Every philosophical aside—whether on morality, history, or the mechanics of storytelling itself—was something to chew on later. And I intend to reread this book at some point in the future.
The Reading Experience
I’m not usually a diehard for sprayed edges or special editions, but the deluxe version looks like an artifact, something worth collecting as much as reading. Tabbing was half the joy; I actually went through two tabs. It’s not often you get a book that pushes you to highlight for both its storytelling and its intellectual provocation, but Katabasis delivers both in spades. Now, what it’s not is a typical romance story. It has romantic elements, but a sprinkle. A whiff. I wouldn’t say romance is Kuang’s strong suits, but she gave it a try here and I don’t hate it.
Final Thoughts
For readers who loved Yellowface and The Poppy War series or are working through Babel (me!), Katabasis is a thoughtful addition to Kuang’s body of work. It’s provocative, uncompromising, and brimming with the kind of questions that don’t have neat answers. It may not be everyone’s idea of a comforting read, but for me, it was an exhilarating one—the kind of book that doesn’t just give you a story, but a labyrinth of ideas to get lost in.
Content Warnings
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of content and trigger warnings.
suicidal thoughts • animal death • blood • misogyny • chronic illness • sexual harassment
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