Katabasis

A Novel

De: R. F. Kuang

Narrado por: Morag Sims, Will Watt

An Audiofile Earphones Award Winner, featuring dual narration from Morag Sims and Will Watt

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.

The narration is arguably the best part of the book

I love that there's finally catharsis for an R.F. Kuang reader. Finally, we don't sit in unending anguish throughout a book/series.

The layers, so well constructed and the characters humanity

Wow, as this new novel got going, it carried me along on Alice and Peter’s epic journey! Give it a try, no matter what anyone else says. By page 50, you’ll be hooked.

Stellar with so much depth

Devoured in 2 days, Katsbasis starts off with a bang and doesn’t stop — twisting your preconceived notions and making you question your own desires — until the end. This is a story of sacrifice and trauma and what it means to give so much to everything you THINK you want and need.

Anyone with a PhD will love this story!

I don’t hate fantasy, it’s just not my genre. This comes from a person that has read 4700 books and counting! I have read everything this offer has written though. and the genre of fantasy, it will be harder to beat this overall story. If you have earned a PhD, you will love this story because it covers the whole concept of the relationship between professors and their advisors so well! I am anxiously awaiting whatever she has next to offer!

A Bold, Cerebral Descent into the Nature of Existence

This genre-bending novel is an ambitious fusion of philosophy, religion, and history, threading a surreal journey through the very concept and topography of Hell. At its core is Alice, a complex and unproven yet undeniably powerful protagonist, whose clear and purposeful voice anchors the narrative through labyrinthine debates on damnation, love, and what it means to be alive.

The novel’s structure is striking: the hellish odyssey is punctuated by evocative flashbacks to Cambridge, grounding the abstract with tangible moments that deepen character development and emotional resonance. These academic interludes not only enrich the plot but allow the author to weave in themes of feminism, identity, and memory with intellectual grace.

While some readers may find the philosophical density a challenge, the boldness of its ambition is undeniable. The book doesn’t offer easy answers—it thrives in its ambiguity, inviting deep reflection rather than resolution.

The hardcover edition is a work of art in itself, with stunning painted edges that reflect the book’s otherworldly elegance.

A thought-provoking, genre-defying read that lingers long after the final page.