Book review: Katabasis takes us deep into the underworld of the mind

Like the stinging wasps in Dante’s Inferno, something needled me as I read Katabasis, the latest from R.F. Kuang, academic and best-selling author of Yellowface, Babel, and The Poppy War series.

Katabasis, meaning descent into the underworld in ancient Greece, serves as title, plot device, and metaphor, culminating in a satire of academia.

When Grimes, a brilliant-but-toxic Cambridge professor, dies in a “magick” accident, Alice, our protagonist, is to blame. She made an error while prepping a pentagram for him and blew him to smithereens. With her academic and career prospects gone, Alice decides to follow him into Hell and bring him back. Who else but Grimes could approve her thesis and write the recommendation letter she needs to get a job?

But there’s a price. She must sacrifice half of her remaining life to cast the spell to descend into Hell.

Here’s the rub: I didn’t find this motivation believable. Really? Half a life for an academic posting? What a terrible bargain! Grimes made Alice miserable. There are other career paths. Who would make that trade?

But as I read on, I realized I’d been fooled. Alice’s actions were intentionally hard to believe. The rigours of Cambridge academia had sapped her will. Of course she’d sacrifice half her life to enter Hell and rescue Grimes, her ticket to prestige and validation.

Alice isn’t the only one willing to make that trade. Peter, the class golden boy, also descends to hell to rescue Grimes and his prospects.

Alice, cursed with a perfect memory by a cruel Grimes experiment, is “tired of the contents of her mind.”

“Alice had thought rescuing Professor Grimes from Hell was the solution to her problems—but why go to all that effort?” she asks herself on the banks of the Lethe, a mythical river in the underworld that washes away all memory. “She almost laughed. Here was the real answer: to wash away the dregs upon her mind and come out the other side dewy clean; a mewling babe ready to start afresh.”

Alice’s descent into Hell—which, not coincidentally, resembles Cambridge—is a metaphor for her mental health. She’s trapped between a desire for success and approval and a craving for oblivion. Given that, sacrificing half of her remaining life doesn’t sound so bad.

Katabasis has fantasy hallmarks like climactic battles, bizarre creatures, and exotic climes, but it is also a satire of academia, an interrogation into the cost of pursuing knowledge, and an exploration of seeking significance in a world that often feels indifferent.

Some might find the academic language and concepts alienating, but they reward a curious mind and make the characters seem more authentic. After all, they’re scholars. If you don’t mind some pretentious terminology, it’s worth the read.

Advanced reader copy provided courtesy of Harper Voyager for this review. Katabasis was published Aug 26, 2025.