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Book review: Katabasis by RF Kuang
Oct. 12th, 2025 04:07 pmJust finished this, which I was reading on my Kindle, but had also nabbed a signed copy from my local bookshop. I've previously read the author's books Babel (adored) and Yellowface (enjoyed), and was very much looking forward to this dark academia journey into the Underworld.
Katabasis follows two PhD students at Cambridge University who join forces to journey to Hell to bring back their supervisor. As such it draws on many past writings about journeys to the Underworld, and is chock full of nods to these, while still being accessible to the general reader.
The portrayal of the British PhD process, even for a fictional subject like Analytic Magick, felt somewhat off for me, which jarred. Kuang herself is pursuing a PhD at Yale University in America, and it felt often as though she was muddling the longer and different American PhD process with the shorter British one, as well as having a lack of detailed understanding of the British approach. She did study taught postgraduate degrees at Oxford and Cambridge, but that's not the same as undertaking a PhD there. I did, however, buy into the idea of a graduate degree as a potential hellscape! Even if my own two PhD experiences (Computer Science, St Andrews, full-time, had to drop out after my neurological disease struck; and History, Dundee, part-time, completed) were hardly anything like that. PhDs are also extremely dependent on how you luck out with your supervisor(s), and it's fair to say, without being too spoilery, that Alice and Peter didn't have the best luck in this area.
I think what impressed me the most about the book is how well it works given how tiny the core cast is. The focus is primarily on PhD students Alice and Peter, as they travel through Hell, and for it to sustain my interest with that remit is pretty impressive writing. There are some other especially interesting characters encountered along the way, but it's very much Alice and Peter's story. It did sag for me about half way to two thirds through, but picked up nearer the end. Much of the story is told through back stories which are gradually revealed, and it's very twisty and turny, as new information the reader learns upends previous perceptions.
As well as the journey through Hell itself, and the idea of academia and PhD study as a hellscape, there is literal horror in this book. Extremely gruesome in places. I found one section particularly disturbing, but there was a narrative reason for it. Ultimately I was satisfied with where the book ended up.
I haven't read all of Kuang's books, but I really like how varied those I have read have been. Admittedly there are a lot of personal autobiographical elements in them. For example in this one Alice felt reminiscent of Kuang, and Peter (not least a back story that's uncovered for him) of Kuang's own husband Bennett. But each story is very different in tone, genre and setting, and I really appreciate that flexibility in approach.
I'm very glad that I read this book, and look forward to her next novel.
Katabasis follows two PhD students at Cambridge University who join forces to journey to Hell to bring back their supervisor. As such it draws on many past writings about journeys to the Underworld, and is chock full of nods to these, while still being accessible to the general reader.
The portrayal of the British PhD process, even for a fictional subject like Analytic Magick, felt somewhat off for me, which jarred. Kuang herself is pursuing a PhD at Yale University in America, and it felt often as though she was muddling the longer and different American PhD process with the shorter British one, as well as having a lack of detailed understanding of the British approach. She did study taught postgraduate degrees at Oxford and Cambridge, but that's not the same as undertaking a PhD there. I did, however, buy into the idea of a graduate degree as a potential hellscape! Even if my own two PhD experiences (Computer Science, St Andrews, full-time, had to drop out after my neurological disease struck; and History, Dundee, part-time, completed) were hardly anything like that. PhDs are also extremely dependent on how you luck out with your supervisor(s), and it's fair to say, without being too spoilery, that Alice and Peter didn't have the best luck in this area.
I think what impressed me the most about the book is how well it works given how tiny the core cast is. The focus is primarily on PhD students Alice and Peter, as they travel through Hell, and for it to sustain my interest with that remit is pretty impressive writing. There are some other especially interesting characters encountered along the way, but it's very much Alice and Peter's story. It did sag for me about half way to two thirds through, but picked up nearer the end. Much of the story is told through back stories which are gradually revealed, and it's very twisty and turny, as new information the reader learns upends previous perceptions.
As well as the journey through Hell itself, and the idea of academia and PhD study as a hellscape, there is literal horror in this book. Extremely gruesome in places. I found one section particularly disturbing, but there was a narrative reason for it. Ultimately I was satisfied with where the book ended up.
I haven't read all of Kuang's books, but I really like how varied those I have read have been. Admittedly there are a lot of personal autobiographical elements in them. For example in this one Alice felt reminiscent of Kuang, and Peter (not least a back story that's uncovered for him) of Kuang's own husband Bennett. But each story is very different in tone, genre and setting, and I really appreciate that flexibility in approach.
I'm very glad that I read this book, and look forward to her next novel.