Book Review: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
ARC provided by the publisher—Harper Voyager—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art illustrated by Patrick Arrasmith
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Fantasy, Dark Academia
Pages: 540 pages (Hardcover Edition)
Word Count: 160,000 Words
Published: 26th August 2025 by Harper Voyager
At this point, it is safe to say Katabasis by R.F. Kuang has an assured path to take the bestseller spot in many outlets around the world. That being said, can this relatively bizarre novel win the reader’s heart?
“How wonderful, truly, to have a friend whose silence you adored.”
I’ve been a fan of Kuang’s books for seven years now. To be more precise, it was even before the release of The Poppy War. The Poppy War is R.F. Kuang’s debut, and to this day, it is still her most popular fantasy novel. It is worth repeating that since then, Kuang has reached the stardom and fame that many authors dream of attaining. The fans—I am one of them—are myriad in quantity. And a part of me is proud and happy to see her being this successful. Everything I just said considered, believe me when I say I enjoyed Katabasis a great deal. It was one of my most anticipated novels of the year, and I am blessed to have read it in January. However, for several reasons and better or worse, I am also confident this will be Kuang’s most mixed-received fantasy/dark academia novel to date. Despite my overall enjoyment of the book, it is also comparatively my least favorite book—I haven’t read Yellowface, though—written by her.
“This was the key to flourishing in graduate school. You could do anything if you were delusional.”
To repeat the official blurb, Katabasis follows the story of Alice Law. Alice 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, and Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Grimes’ recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. But 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.
Picture: Katabasis by Jorge Jacinto
“Now all that was gone. This was the unbelievable fact of death. This was a paradox her mind could not accept, that someone could be in the world one moment and simply be gone the next.”
Let’s get my issue out of the way first. If there’s one singular thing in Katabasis that did not click with me too well, it would have to be the pacing. Usually, I find myself constantly riveted by Kuang’s storytelling from the first page to the last. Even when the characters behaved frustratingly—Rin in The Dragon Republic, as an example—and even then, I was never bored. The first half of Katabasis, however, was quite a slog to get through in some sections for me. Although we were immediately welcomed to Kuang’s vision of desolate hell with an endless sunset, in my opinion, the narrative delved too long into textbook philosophy and theories about life, death, and hell. At the end of the day, these did not influence the core of the story as much as I hoped. Babel did employ a relatively similar structure of storytelling, but from my perspective, the balance between the plot progressions, characterizations, world-building, and info-dump was handled more precisely there.
“And if falling in love was discovery, was letting yourself be discovered the equivalent to being loved?”
Fortunately, Katabasis did improve significantly as we enter the second half of the novel. This is due to us readers being introduced to Alice and Peter’s past. This shed clear explanations about their past, personality, and dark motivations to save Professor Grimes. And if you are familiar with Kuang’s characters, then you will know this. She does not write a goody two-shoes main character. It’s the other way around. Most of her main characters are incredibly flawed. Sometimes infuriating. Sometimes toxic. Alice is not an exception to this. The revelations during this section were a harrowing trainwreck (in a good way) that we cannot turn away from. And in return, they elevate the tension, stakes, and compelling nature of the narrative staggeringly. This part is irreplaceable, and I cannot help but wish it happened sooner in the narrative. While it did not warrant the redundant and meandering textbook philosophy discussion and theories in the first half, the past portions gave crucial meaning to the two main characters’ morals and motivations. This made the rest of the book more impactful and compelling.
“Her memory did that sometimes; she confused memories and reality, her imagination was too vivid, she couldn’t help it.”
Before I end this review, I also need to mention that the hell visualized in Katabasis is an interesting one. It is clear this book is inspired by Dante’s Inferno. I cannot emphasize this highly enough, but you do not have to read all the necessary research and books that go into the creation of Katabasis. You will certainly benefit from it. But mandatory? Not really. You will have a better understanding of the theories discussed, but for most of it, I do not think they enhanced the plot and characterizations. Back to my point, though. The hell here is not as dark, brutal, and violent as most depictions of hell in other stories. But still, there’s a lot to look forward to in Katabasis beyond the plot and characters. There were some devilishly gorgeous vistas and settings depicted. To mention a few, Cambridge in the sky executed Inception style to the gleaming city of Dis, and then the hellish creatures such as Cerberus, Kripkes, and more. The last quarter of this descent to the underworld was exhilarating, dark, and satisfying.
“Surely no one else lived like this – burdened by the tiniest details they assumed had enormous consequences. Surely no one else was so anchored by anxiety. Other people could stumble and shake their heads and move on. How she envied their lightness.”
Kuang herself has mentioned Katabasis is essentially a love story in hell. Although it took some time for the plot to get going, the development between Alice and Peter and how they came to terms with their flaws was the most potent aspect of the novel. Katabasis may become one of those hate or love books. Yes, I know we can say this about every book. But Katabasis embodied this statement. There’s a potential you either absolutely love or hate it. Nothing in between. I needed to dive deeper into the texts when I worked as an art director for The Broken Binding edition of the book, and even though I did have some issues with it, I still consider Katabasis one of the most ambitious and well-researched novels of the year. I find it incredibly refreshing that Kuang constantly tries new things with her new book. Needless to say, I am excited for The Taipei Story in 2026. If you are a fan of Kuang’s previous books, do not let reviews—mine included—form your opinions. Give it a try. You might end up pleasantly surprised by it.
“But of course it was worth it. It was the only thing that was worth it. She had been fortunate to find a vocation that made irrelevant everything else, and anything that made you forget to eat, drink, sleep, or maintain basic relationships—anything that made you so inhumanly excited—had to be pursued with single-minded devotion.”
You can order this book from: Amazon | Blackwells (Free International shipping)
The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
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