Overview

• Published today, Katabasis marks Kuang’s return to fantasy and arrives with strong early interest from readers and critics, including heavy BookTok buzz.
• The novel follows Cambridge magick Ph.D. student Alice, who descends into purgatory to seek her deceased department chair, with rival classmate Peter joining the quest.
• Reviews note sustained engagement with suicide and chronic illness, with Kuang citing afterlife questions as inspiration and dedicating the book to her husband.
• Set in an explicitly 1980s context, the story satirizes academic life and nods to neoliberal rollbacks, reflecting Kuang’s own vantage point as a Yale doctoral researcher.
• The Associated Press reports plans for an Amazon series led by showrunner Angela Kang, with Kuang as a producer, though the project remains at the reported planning stage.