Tournament of Books discussion

Space to discuss the 2026 TOB contender Katabasis by RF Kuang.

Kindle price today is $6.99

Finished this today. It was a quick read for me despite the length.

Like Babel, it seemed like a brilliant idea clumsily executed. Kuang’s prose always leaves a little somethjng to be desired, in my opinion.

I ended up at 4 stars for this one. I particularly enjoyed the many literary references to other journeys into Hell such as Dante’s Inferno and Orpheus. I also liked the intellectual puzzles, logic, and paradoxes. I think it could have been shorter, though.

I listened to a bit of it today and I have to say that I didn't hate what I heard (yet), but I have to put it aside to listen to What We Can Know, since that has a waiting list. However, my actual take was shock at the pronunciation of the word "katabasis", which, apparently, is NOT kat-a-BASE-iss, like I thought, but "kut-AH-bus-iss". Did everyone know this except me?

Ellen wrote: "I listened to a bit of it today and I have to say that I didn't hate what I heard (yet), but I have to put it aside to listen to What We Can Know, since that has a waiting list. Ho..."

I only learned it from a BookTuber I follow. I thought it was pronounced the same way you did.

Same same on pronunciation.

I’m doing this one as an audiobook, and I’m glad I am because I wouldn’t be able to make it through otherwise. The wandering from area to area in hell is kind of boring…

I just finished it after spending nearly a month reading through it. The pacing is so slow, and I found the characters intolerable, but as a literary read, I absolutely love this work!

The worldbuilding and mechanical intersections of math, logic, religion, mythology, and literature are so astounding that I can't help but rate this book highly. I get The Extinction of Irena Rey vibes in that the plot and pacing are terrible, but the literary value in reading this is off the charts!

Theresa wrote: "Finished this today. It was a quick read for me despite the length.

Like Babel, it seemed like a brilliant idea clumsily executed. Kuang’s prose always leaves a little somethjng to be desired, in..."

100% agree re the prose.

Gwendolyn wrote: "I’m doing this one as an audiobook, and I’m glad I am because I wouldn’t be able to make it through otherwise. The wandering from area to area in hell is kind of boring…"

Agreed. And that is quite a feat, considering! Should have been enthralling but was, instead, a mess.

There’s a clip on the author’s Instagram where she talks about pronunciation of both Babel and Katabasis. Her take is she doesn’t care how people pronounce them and there are lots of opinions. She hates when people are made fun of for pronouncing things wrong and talks about how she learned words through reading which means she pronounced a lot of words wrong. I loved this.

Can we talk for a minute about how Kuang published her first book at 19 and is just now 29? 5 books I believe in the last 10 years, while attending school at Oxford and Cambridge, and she’s finishing up her PhD. She’s brilliant and talented and so accomplished, especially for her young age. I’m really enjoying this book and don’t find it messy or poorly paced at all. If you’re on the fence about whether to read it, it’s worth giving it a try.

Here, here, Sherri! I like Kuang’s books, including this one.

I haven't read anything by Kuang and I'm looking forward to reading Katabasis. It's definitely right up my alley in terms of genre/story.

I just finished the book last night and left feeling a bit disappointed. I love the worldbuilding but really disliked the academic setting and the paradoxes/logic problems, which seemed central to the plot. I was also disappointed in the Alice/Peter will they/won't they plot since they treated each other so horribly throughout most of the book.

just finished it today also. I liked it more than I thought I would. mostly an easy read, despite the length, and despite all of the intellectual logic and lore I didn't know. it possibly fizzled out a bit at the end for me, not too surprising. Didn't fully quite buy Alice and Peter's motivations for going there in the first place.

How on earth does she keep writing these door stoppers? It could have been shorter and tighter.

Audra wrote: "How on earth does she keep writing these door stoppers? It could have been shorter and tighter."

It could have been left off the shortlist....

If we're complaining about length, why are we still touting the (admittedly superior) "The Wayfinder"?

Tim wrote: "Audra wrote: "How on earth does she keep writing these door stoppers? It could have been shorter and tighter."

It could have been left off the shortlist...."

Many books could have been .

I am not ashamed to say I loved it. I literally finished Friday morning before I read the judgment.

I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed Katabasis because I found Babel mediocre and in fact guilty of the criticisms directed at Katabasis...too long and too messy. I'm not usually a fantasy fan in general. Katabasis did read a little bit YA but I also love a good YA.