Katabasis by R F Kuang

Katabasis by R F Kuang

R F Kuang, known for her fantasy series The Poppy War, is best known for her fantasy novels. Her most recent book Katabasis was published in 2025 and is a number one bestseller on Amazon for Occult and Supernatural Horror (though I'm not really sure I agree with the genre listed) and is a nominee for both the 2026 British Book Award in Science Fiction and Fantasy and the 2025 Nebula Award for Best Novel. Her previous books Babel and The Poppy War both have a smattering of awards (Babel won the Nebula Award in 2022) as well as several nominations for fantasy and fiction. Kuang has also released a general fiction book Yellowface, and has a second fiction novel releasing in September called Taipei Story. Katabasis is a standalone fantasy novel that deals with bullying, animal cruelty and death, chronic illness, allusions to an eating disorder, emotional abuse, misogyny and sexism, suicidal thoughts and references to suicide, blood, grief, discussion of a fire resulting in death, sexual harassment, injury, and death - including that of a child.

Jacob Grimes is a legend. Alice Law has pinned all of her dreams on having him be her advisor and working with one of the brightest minds in all of Magick. Working with him has affected her in ways she never anticipated - she has sacrificed her health, her pride, her love life, and even her sanity. So when he up and dies before her studies are finished and she has his recommendation in hand, she's just going to have to go down into Hell and get him. Fortunately for her, Peter Murdoch, her biggest rival, is in the same boat - so she won't have to go alone. They research and plan, using tales of entering the underworld and coming back out as a guidebook (thank you Orpheus). But once they're down there, they realize that Hell is worse than they imagined and they weren't as prepared as they thought. They will have to put aside their animosity for one another and trust each other or they won't be coming back out.

I seem to be attracted to stories about descending into Hell this year - I'm not sure what that says about me. Katabasis is a little dark, but not too bad, and I thought it was very fun. It has a pretty short character list, most people are only referenced for a moment, so the characters are easy to follow and keep track off. I would say they're all very interesting, including the secondary characters of Elspeth and the Kripkes. The magic system was fairly unique. It is based on pentagrams (which is fairly common) and paradoxes (which is not common at all). I thought it was interesting but not particularly difficult to understand, and I enjoyed having the different paradoxes explained. I loved how the setting of Hell was described and had no trouble picturing the courts as they were described. The layout of Hell could be difficult but pictures were included for clarification. And I really loved the ending. There was a moment when I thought I was going to be real mad, but I didn't give up hope and it all came together at the end. Alice infuriated me sometimes, but to be fair I think she felt the same way about herself at times, and I really liked both of the main characters from the very beginning.

I'm giving Katabasis by R F Kuang 4.5 stars out of 5. There is 0 spice in this book. No time for that when you're fighting for your life in the depths of Hell. Katabasis kept me engaged the whole time and it never felt slow. I'm excited to read more from R F Kuang, which is good because we have chosen The Poppy War for our next book club book.

For more from the author, check out https://www.rfkuang.com/

Pairs well with a sourdough margherita pizza and understanding that the number four is not orange!

My favorite quotes:

"Alice has dazzled her way through years of higher education by being a teacher's pet."

"'It'll always be waiting, Law, but we've got things to do.'"

"...unsatisfied and unsatisfying. Trapped in a body that needed. And hungry. So hungry for a kind of nourishment she could no longer name."

"She knew his laughter from across the hall. She would know it from the other end of the world."

"'Take me to Rome, take me to Venice - I just want to hang off your arm and drink an Aperol spritz.'" - I think about this one a lot and giggle every time.