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This book is a perplexing page turner with wonderful potential, but not the greatest payoff. “Katabasis” is a fantasy novel that follows Alice and Peter, two Cambridge PhD students, as they go to Hell to retrieve their professor, Jacob Grimes. Saving their professor is purely selfish, as they need Grimes to write letters of recommendation for their future careers.
Firstly, the tone and rawness felt like what “Ninth House” by Leigh Bardugo was aiming for (not that I don’t love “Ninth House”). It was gritty and brutal, and I felt very immersed in the bleakness of the story.
“The Divine Comedy”, “Paradise Lost”, and “The Waste Land” are all required reading before you open this book. The premise of referencing all of these fictional accounts of Hell in a book about Hell was very meta. But, as someone who has only read “The Waste Land” and parts of “Paradise Lost”, I felt out of the loop.
While Kuang’s writing is beautiful at times, other times I found it to be too technical. I thought there were moments where she over-explained (quite honestly, some parts read like a doctoral thesis). However, Kuang is undoubtedly a genius, and I learned a plethora of new vocabulary and theorems from her. Nonetheless, I would be happy if I never saw the words sojourners or interlocutors ever again.
As for characters, I loved Peter so much. Seriously, so much. His loyalty and charm were so disarming, and his quiet care for Alice was sweet. While Alice had her faults and at times I found her to be insufferable, I think she was simply an overworked student with a need to succeed. It should also be noted that there were times when Alice had a lot of questionable ideology, which is explained by the book’s time period (1980s England).
Additionally, the twist about Grimes’ death? Probably my favorite part of the book, hands down. I recommend this novel to anyone interested in cthonic myth or dark academia, or someone who really wants to learn a lot about theory or logic.
Rating: 3.5/5 Sails
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