Katabasis
United Kingdom

Katabasis

by Rebecca F. Kuang

Myths and Retellings Historical Fiction Fantasy Fiction Dark Academia 2025

Summary

What if the only way to save your future was to journey into Hell?

Alice Law has sacrificed almost everything to become a brilliant scholar of analytic magic at Cambridge University. But when her formidable academic advisor, Professor Jacob Grimes, dies in a magical accident, Alice faces the possibility of losing the career she has worked so hard to build. Determined to retrieve his soul, she descends into the underworld, accompanied by Peter Murdoch, her gifted—and deeply resented—academic rival. Guided by ancient myths and philosophical texts, the pair must navigate a Hell that defies everything they have been taught. As their dangerous journey exposes buried secrets and forces them to confront their complicated relationship with their mentor, Alice begins questioning the ambitions that have defined her life. Blending dark academia, mythology, intellectual rivalry, and biting humour, R. F. Kuang’s fantasy explores the brutal demands of academic ambition and the price of pursuing greatness.

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Country
United Kingdom
Europe
About the author
Rebecca F. Kuang
Rebecca F. Kuang

Rebecca F. Kuang, known professionally as R. F. Kuang, is a Chinese American novelist and scholar celebrated for her ambitious fiction exploring history, power, identity, and colonialism. Born in Guangzhou, China, in 1996, she immigrated to the United States with her family as a child. She studied international history at Georgetown University before earning an MPhil in Chinese Studies from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from the University of Oxford. She is pursuing doctoral research in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale University, focusing on diaspora, contemporary Sinophone literature, and Asian American literature. Her debut novel, The Poppy War (2018), launched an acclaimed fantasy trilogy. Subsequent works include Babel (2022), Yellowface (2023), and Katabasis (2025). Her fiction has earned numerous honours, including the Nebula, Locus, and British Book Awards.

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Details
Published
2025
Author
Rebecca F. Kuang