Katabasis
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4.0 • 20 Ratings
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
Prepare for one hell of a journey…
'A big, bold fantasy romp' GUARDIAN
'R.F. Kuang is making magic' ELLE
'[A] truly original and spellbinding hero's-journey story' VOGUE
'I devoured it' RED
One of the BBC's 25 best books of 2025
Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek. The story of a hero's descent to the underworld.
Grad student Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become the brightest mind in the field of analytic magick.
But the only person who can make her dream come true is dead and – inconveniently – in Hell. And Alice, along with her biggest rival Peter Murdoch, is going after him.
But Hell is not as the philosophers claim, its rules are upside-down, and if she’s going to get out of there alive, she and Peter will have to work together.
That’s if they can agree on anything.
Will they triumph, or kill each other trying?
2025’s most unexpected love story is going to be hell in the new No.1 Sunday Times bestselling novel by R.F. Kuang.
'Literary super-stardom doesn't seem too far out of her reach' THE HERALD
‘Mind-bending fantasy’ GRAZIA
Reviews
‘It’s Dante’s Inferno meets The Secret History and it’s at the top of our read-next pile’ Elle
'A novel to savour … I envy those who get to read it for the first time' Rebecca Ross
'A witty, gory, harrowing ride' Leigh Bardugo
'A formidable, timeless work, destined to be a modern classic' Olivie Blake
‘A sprawling, erudite tale of magic … teeming with intelligence, ideas and humour’ Marie Claire
'The unrolling of a daring concept' Daily Mail
'An arresting and deeply affecting novel' SFX
'A rich novel of romance, history and magic’ iPaper
'An immersive, worldbuilding adventure … I devoured it' Red
'Profound … Linger[s] on the mind' New Statesmen
'Bitingly funny dark academia' Arts Hub
KATABASIS IS A RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB SUMMER SELECTION, ELLE'S BOOK OF THE MONTH, AND INCLUDED IN THE GUARDIAN'S ROUND-UP OF MOST ANTICIPATED 2025 FICTION.
BABEL WAS A BRITISH BOOK OF THE YEAR, BLACKWELL’S BOOK OF THE YEAR, A WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR FINALIST AND THE DAILY MAIL BEST BOOK OF 2022
About the author
R.F Kuang is the author of The Poppy War Trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, and Yellowface. Her work has won the Nebula, Locus, and British Book Awards. She is pursuing a PhD in East Asian Language and Literature at Yale.
Customer Reviews
Not my favourite
Not leaving as criticism, but rather to inform other listeners…
I’m about halfway through Katabasis and not really enjoying it. I love stories with a mythical or folklore thread, and prefer to stick with one protagonist throughout, which this book does with Alice. However, I’m finding either the construction or narration of Alice and Peter’s relationship very false and forced. I also think Alice comes across as a little pathetic and whiny.
If you don’t mind an (in my opinion) unlikeable protagonist, then you’ll be fine. There is a nice sense of mystery and tension as we learn about events before the journey to Hell. The narrator is also very talented - creates a good variety of voices and personalities. Just personally am not enjoying the characters and their dialogue.
For reference, some of my favourite books include: Book of lost things, Circe, Winter Night Trilogy, Piranesi. (In cast that helps guide how you weigh this review!)