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Katabasis

A Novel

by R. F. Kuang

Ranked #10 in 100 Most Popular BookTok and Bookstagram Books

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About Katabasis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Dante's Inferno meets Susanna Clarke's Piranesi in this dark academia fantasy from R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor's soul--perhaps at the cost of their own. Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek: The story of a hero's descent to the underworld Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world. That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault. Grimes is now in Hell, and she's going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams.... Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion. With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don't even like. But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn't always the answer, and there's something in Alice and Peter's past that could forge them into the perfect allies...or lead to their doom.

Reader guide at a glance

Use these edition facts and spoiler-light notes to decide whether this book fits your mood, time, and preferred reading experience.

Audience
Adult/general
Commitment
Standalone or self-contained
Best for
Readers seeking quest, adventurous, atmospheric, emotional

Why readers are finding Katabasis

Katabasis by R. F. Kuang, published in 2026 is catalogued here for readers who prefer to browse by the experience of a story, not only by its sales category. Its strongest discovery signals include Quest, Adventurous, Atmospheric, Emotional.

This edition also appears at number 10 in our researched social reading top 100, reflecting current discussion across BookTok and Bookstagram alongside longer-running reader interest. The ranking uses one verified English-language print ISBN per work so retailer links, cover metadata, and search results point to a real edition rather than a workbook, translation, or duplicate collector version.

Print ISBN
978-0-063-02148-8
Published
2026

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