Review by xalrynne - Katabasis

xalrynne 's review for:

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

2.25

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is kind of ridiculous. Like it’s just goofy. And I didn’t love it.

I have enjoyed all of R. F. Kuang’s books so far, so when I heard the premise of this one I was instantly intrigued: two rival Cambridge graduate student magicians must journey to Hell together to bring back their professor.

This book wastes no time with preamble and jumps right into the plot. Alice and Peter must journey through all eight courts of Hell. I found that I had to suspend my disbelief more than I prefer to while reading. The reason Alice and Peter must journey into Hell in the first place is flimsy at best. Professor Grimes is such an unlikeable character that I don’t know why anyone would bother saving him. It’s like Kuang said “I want to write an academic book set in Hell, how can I do that?” But I think the plot would have been stronger if the characters had journeyed there for a different reason, such as for research, or for a special type of chalk used to perform the most powerful kind of spells, or something like that. But to give up half of their lives to bring back a professor who does not deserve rescuing just so they can graduate on time is a wild and unbelievable reason.

Flashbacks of Alice and Peter’s relationship are interspersed throughout the narrative. It was interesting to learn more about them, but the more I learned, the more I didn’t understand their relationship. They’re not really rivals. They’re not friends, nor lovers, but they just kind of coexist in the same space. They kind of hate each other but are also kind of obsessed with each other. But despite that obsession, I didn’t feel any chemistry between them.

Something I found to be a flaw of the narrative was that almost everything Alice and Peter encountered in Hell was from their time and place. Almost everyone they meet is from Cambridge. Hell spans all times and all places that ever existed, so for them to not meet any people from other countries or other time periods seemed quite odd and like a poor writing choice.

They referenced lots of ancient philosophers who wrote of Hell, such as Dante and Virgil and Orpheus, so it was cool to see them comparing accounts and determining what some got right and what some got wrong (according to this book). This novel has lots of academic references in it. It was a bit strange though to see so many real references in a fantasy novel set at a real university where they are studying fantastical arts. It was a weird mix, something I thought Babel did well but felt off here.

Overall, I struggled with Katabasis. I enjoyed the beginning, I felt the middle was average, but I really struggled to get through the last twenty percent. I also didn’t like the idea that Satan can be merciful and good, when that is not true. Despite what Kuang herself thinks, I don’t think this is her best work—I think that title is currently held by Babel. This book was a bit too unrealistic and required too much suspension of belief for my preferences. It was both enjoyable and unenjoyable at times, but ultimately felt too ridiculous for me to take it seriously as a work of literature, and it left a bad taste in my mouth as I did not enjoy the last quarter of the book. (Although the very last couple of pages of the ending were satisfying.)

If you’re interested in academic discussions, paradoxes, unlikeable protagonists, and a hopeless journey with unlikely outcomes, then you might enjoy this novel. Even though this wasn’t my favorite book by her, Kuang is a good writer and has interesting story ideas, so I’m looking forward to see what she writes next.

Content Warnings