In “Katabasis”, hell is a campus and academia is hellscape. Cambridge postgraduate students, Alice Law and Peter Murdoch, are on a quest to find their recently deceased thesis supervisor, Professor Jacobs Grimes. Their plan: beg for his life from Lord Yama, the god of the underworld, get Professor Grimes to approve their dissertation, then live forever in tenure status and endless grant funding. Sounds easy right? Not. Their reason for going to hell is equally selfish and erroneous, as they worship and hate Professor Grimes in similar amounts.
Alice and Peter are PhD candidates, and academic rivals, studying analytic magick in the prestigious Cambridge University. In their individual ways, they are psychologically tortured with the typical low self-esteem that plagues anyone who experienced the mental torture and rigour that is higher-education. As described in this novel, analytical magick is a fictional field of study, based on philosophy, logic, mathematics, and language. It is demanding, and here, Professor Jacobs Grimes is a commanding authority (and tyrant) of analytic magick, and his recommendations make or break careers.
Together, they trod the Underworld, armed with a litany of research from Dante to the Greeks all the way to Ancient Egypt. Alice and Peter use their knowledge and wit to journey through the Nine Courts of Hell to find Grimes and bring him back, no matter the cost. Through their journey, flashbacks and their interactions, the author critiques what we perceive as genius, as well as to expose the shiny brass of academia and the physical and mental toll suffered by those trying to enter it.
The beauty of this novel is how expansive it is. While reading, I could tell that it was a great undertaking, backed by research and extensive knowledge. Much like a dissertation. To that, I salute the author. My favourite parts of this story occurred when our protagonists’ humanity was revealed- their fears, their flaws, their desire. Chapter 20 in this book reads as one of the best written parts because these characters feel more relatable and human, and their ‘why’ is more apparent.
“Katabasis” explores a worthy core theme which is, “how far are you willing to go.” I just wasn’t convinced by the stakes put up by the author in this story. My main criticism of this novel exists in two planes which I would attempt to describe in less words than “Katabasis” uses. The characters in this story are constantly name-dropping, and this makes the story bloated.
There is several mention of names and theories and postulations that feel very superficial and, in my possibly uneducated opinion, unnecessary. It feels more show than tell, and doesn’t convince me that Alice and Peter are as clever as the author tries to present. I enjoyed the initial world building and expansion on theories in the first 200 pages, but subsequently, it felt tedious and subtracted from the overall story.
Prior to its publication, a number of early readers made reading lists of books targeted at us, mere mortals, to better understand “Katabasis”. Those lists consisted mainly of classical literature that touched on the Underworld and journeys there (Homer, Virgil, Dante, Greek mythology). Personally, I did not read any of these recommendations and I came into this novel with rudimentary knowledge. It did not change the overarching message of this book for me, but there were references that felt like a nod to an inside joke that only people who understood philosophy and logic would appreciate. For beginners like me, it felt like a stumbling block while reading.
That is not to say that “Katabasis” is not one of my favourite books I have read all year, because it is. It is written with dark humour and her wit shines through. It was an adventure to read and the ending felt conclusive, which is always appreciated (trying to avoid spoilers!) Reading this book reminded why finishing my dissertation felt like an escape. This book is a descent into hell, and an exploration into the dissolution of self that comes with it. It was a ‘hell’ of a book, and a satisfying story.
Review in exchange for an advanced reader’s copy.