Michael Barnes
This one is for all of those postgraduates who at 2am in the morning after having finished marking, subsisting on instant ramen, wondering how bad the mold in their shared rental is, and trying to remember what day it is…who have had that dark moment of the soul and think is this worth it? This one's for you.
Saberin C at grimdark magazine summaries it thusly Katabasis is the story of two PhD students who travel to hell with the sole purpose of rescuing the soul of their advisor, Professor Jacob Grimes, who exploded in a freak magical accident that may or may not have been one of the post-grads’ fault.
Alice Law is a graduate student in Cambridge’s Department of Analytic Magick and her drive is if she works hard enough, is clever enough, unrelenting enough she can win that elusive prise an ongoing position in academia.
Along for the journey to hell is her ex Peter Murdoch, her only significant academic rival (indeed grimes the asshat plays them off against each other). Peter is charming, brilliant, seemingly maddeningly unbothered by the stress and strains of post graduate work (don't worry we learn this is all surface) —and equally desperate to bring Grimes back, if only for reasons he refuses to disclose. Thes two are fully developed and painfully relatable. Finding relatability in a character who can cast spells and hold multiple degrees isn’t easy, but Kuang makes Alice feel completely relatable
The world building of the magic system and hell is brilliant and would make the book worth it for that alone, but the character study of these two souls is equally satisfying. The hell we visit is syncretic—Greek, Chinese, Hindu, and modern theoretical magick all blend together into a believable metaphysical dark academic architecture.
One of my favourites which is what I have come to expect from R.F Kuang an author who I can guarantee I will read anything she publishes.
This one is for all of those postgraduates who at 2am in the morning after having finished marking, subsisting on instant ramen, wondering how bad the mold in their shared rental is, and trying to remember what day it is…who have had that dark moment of the soul and think is this worth it? This one's for you.
Saberin C at grimdark magazine summaries it thusly Katabasis is the story of two PhD students who travel to hell with the sole purpose of rescuing the soul of their advisor, Professor Jacob Grimes, who exploded in a freak magical accident that may or may not have been one of the post-grads’ fault.
Alice Law is a graduate student in Cambridge’s Department of Analytic Magick and her drive is if she works hard enough, is clever enough, unrelenting enough she can win that elusive prise an ongoing position in academia.
Along for the journey to hell is her ex Peter Murdoch, her only significant academic rival (indeed grimes the asshat plays them off against each other). Peter is charming, brilliant, seemingly maddeningly unbothered by the stress and strains of post graduate work (don't worry we learn this is all surface) —and equally desperate to bring Grimes back, if only for reasons he refuses to disclose. Thes two are fully developed and painfully relatable. Finding relatability in a character who can cast spells and hold multiple degrees isn’t easy, but Kuang makes Alice feel completely relatable
The world building of the magic system and hell is brilliant and would make the book worth it for that alone, but the character study of these two souls is equally satisfying. The hell we visit is syncretic—Greek, Chinese, Hindu, and modern theoretical magick all blend together into a believable metaphysical dark academic architecture.
One of my favourites which is what I have come to expect from R.F Kuang an author who I can guarantee I will read anything she publishes.