R.F. Kuang’s newest novel begins with a descent into Hell, but its central character—Alice Law, PhD student at Cambridge and scholar of magick—has long since reached the bottom dredges of her own life. What could get worse in a trip to literal Hell when you’re already there, figuratively?
After taking a break from writing about the fantastical in 2023’s “Yellowface,” Kuang returns to familiar territory in her exploration of academia through a speculative lens in a similar manner to “Babel,” her 2022 standalone historical fantasy about revolution in 1830s Oxford. But “Katabasis” takes a different approach, by reframing who exactly is in focus for this story. Instead of the idealistic, rebellious young adults of “Babel,” the characters of this novel are defined by their full commitment to the pursuit of academic validation and submission to the forces that be within the institution.
Alice is joined on her trip at the last minute by Peter Mudoch, a rival of sorts and a paragon of scholastic achievement who Alice lives under the shadow of in their program. In this story, magick is an established academic discipline studied in universities across the world. Both Alice and Peter work extensively with Jacob Grimes, a pioneer of the field who is infamous for his cruel treatment of the students under his tutelage.
But Grimes is now dead, killed in a freak accident. Alice and Peter are both convinced his soul is somewhere making its way through the courts of Hell. And while they both have their gripes about their relationship to him, they need him back if they are to complete their studies and launch the next stage of their life after their time as students finally comes to an end.
There is no second guessing for Alice that her life’s value is defined solely by her meteoric rise up the academic ladder. And because of it, she ends up in Hell.
The cast of “Katabasis” makes for one of its most compelling, if sometimes frustrating, aspects. Alice, groomed to accept the abuses of academia for its promises of eventual valor, is a fascinating lens through which we view this story. It’s hypnotic to experience this world through her inner thoughts, to see the ways her psyche will twist events about her academic life to fit the fiction she’s built in her mind to cope with the hardship she’s been through.
Alice’s foil in the story is Peter. When she’s intense and a little awkward, Peter is warm and navigates through social situations easily. When she works herself to the point of exhaustion, Peter seemingly coasts by as the brightest of his cohort with barely any effort exerted. And when he corrects her, chides her, or teases her, her animosity toward him only grows larger.
The dynamic between these two is often the pull that keeps the story interesting. Since the narrative is so much in Alice’s head, it makes you wonder: How does Peter feel about her? Why does he put his life on the line to join her at the very last minute? And will their tense relationship be the thing that prevents them from making their way through Hell?
While marketed in part as a romance, the novel is primarily concerned with exploring the myriad definitions of what Hell is and could be to someone. Like Kuang’s other work, the story of “Katabasis” is gilded with an incisive critique of a greater inequality. In this case, it’s the working conditions of academia. Exploited and abused students, the flimsy promise of greatness if one sells away their life in pursuit of serving the institution—it’s clear that the novel comes from a place that seeks to speak to the deep pain felt by those exploited by higher education.
This pursuit of shining critique on the world’s injustices is a cornerstone quality of Kuang’s novels prior to this one, and it’s no different here. While some might prefer Kuang’s writing to be more subtle, this novel shines brightest when it’s unapologetic about its exploration of its central metaphor.
Another delightful quality of the novel is the way it’s filled to the brim with its references to Hell-focused beliefs and folklore, as well as to the fields of math, logic, and philosophy. The unsolvable nature of paradoxes form the basis for this novel’s magical system, and while it would have been nice if this element of the setting had been developed more, it was a delight to puzzle out the questions like they were riddles every time the possibilities of magick were explored in the plot.
One of the biggest areas of improvement for “Katabasis” is the physical setting of Hell itself. While the metaphorical use of the concept was well developed, the actual journey Alice and Peter take through the courts was a bit rote and uninspired. Descriptions of endless barren wastelands make up the majority of its portrayal, and while this could certainly be a valid interpretation of someone’s own Hell, it would have been a much stronger impression if the physicality of the space Kuang is working with would have matched the bombastic feelings of inner torment and disorientation the duo must undergo to complete their mission.
“Katabasis” is a worthwhile read for its complex portrayal of individuals trying to make meaning out of an impossible, grueling situation. And that’s what sticks about the novel long after finishing it: any job could substitute here for that of the exploited student. At times haunting, other times darkly humorous in its satirical critique, “Katabasis” is, in its best moments, an ode to the deep labyrinths we find ourselves in—underlined by a hopeful belief that these prisons can’t hold us down forever.
“Katabasis” by R. F. Kuang releases August 26th, 2025.
