Katabasis

Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.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 same conclusion.

"Rich with allusion and illusion, Kuang crafts a witty, gory, harrowing ride that thoroughly roasts the perils and power structures of academia, while never losing sight of what it means to have a fragile, human heart."  — #1 New York Times bestselling author, Leigh Bardugo

“A spellbinding and poignant story that had me riveted to the pages, R.F. Kuang’s KATABASIS is more than a novel to savor. This book is an experience. I envy those who get to read it for the first time.”  
— Rebecca Ross, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divine Rivals

"A must-read for fans of Naomi Novik, Olivie Blake, and Lev Grossman’s scholastic fantasies, with explorations of purpose, grief, and relationships that open the novel to a more universal audience." — Library Journal (starred review)

“This is a book of ideas, and as such, Kuang’s creativity shines, her vehicle for story a prose that’s smooth as butter. Katabasis is a formidable, timeless work, destined to be a modern classic.” — Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

"This is a tightly constructed novel that aims a clear lens on academia, with both its faults and its virtues. The heady draw of discovery is ever-present, even if what Alice is discovering is Hell. A learned, literary manifesto on academia—and its darkness.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)