Review: Katabasis A Fantastical Descent into Hell, Rivalry, and Redemption in the Pursuit of Academic Glory by R. F. Kuang
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.
Review:
Dear R.F. Kuang,
I have not read any of your other books. I have Yellowface, but have not read it yet (eventually). I have not read Babel and have no plans to read it, so this was my first introduction to your works. I was so intrigued that I paid fifteen dollars for this book.
Two graduate students go to Hell to retrieve their academic adviser who recently died. Allegedly they want him back to continue being their adviser to make sure they graduate.
The book’s setting is Hell, Hell as it is described in various works of art and various religions and mythologies. Hell turns out differently for each person who gets there, dead or alive. Yes, it is easy enough in this world to travel to Hell (there is a price of half of your lifespan for that). It is obviously not so easy to get out.
The setting is very detailed, very richly drawn and where various mythologies and religions are concerned I felt pretty good and confident while I was moving with the main characters through all the Courts of Hell.
The author also sprinkles the book with various Logical paradoxes (mostly it fits the plot) and since those I am pretty ignorant about, it was fun to learn about them. There are also a lot of philosophical asides and quite a lot of information dumps which I did not always care for.
The book is also a Romance. I have glanced at reviews after I finished (very briefly) and a couple of negative reviews stated that it is missing the romance emotional beats. And I very emphatically disagree with that. I think all the emotional beats of romance were right there.
Misunderstanding? Check. Heroes being clueless about their feelings till it was almost too late? Check, check, and check. Mandatory break up (I guess it was a separation since it was more due to external circumstances)? Check again.
Whether you believed in how those emotional beats were executed thats for you to find out Reader. I liked the Boy and the Girl all their faults not withstanding.
It is also a scathing critique of the academia professors. Of course I know all those things described exist but the execution of the critique reads like a caricature.
Grade: C+
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