ashley’s Reviews > Katabasis > Status Update
ashley
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I have seen this described (criticized) as being merely bibliography with a plot. As it so happens I rather enjoy bibliography with a plot
— Aug 29, 2025 08:02AM
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ashley’s Previous Updates
ashley
is starting
Notes so far (4):
- Soo much wasted potential, I adore Kuang but this could’ve been SO much better.
“Pride had pale marble tiles and polished wooden shelves, high ceilings and sloping walls, lovely stained-glass patterns..”
Underdone!!!! This is not prose that sparkles. Most of the book reads this way. Where is the intricate imagery?? This is not interesting, not new, it doesn’t flow. Just boring.
— Aug 29, 2025 11:33AM
- Soo much wasted potential, I adore Kuang but this could’ve been SO much better.
“Pride had pale marble tiles and polished wooden shelves, high ceilings and sloping walls, lovely stained-glass patterns..”
Underdone!!!! This is not prose that sparkles. Most of the book reads this way. Where is the intricate imagery?? This is not interesting, not new, it doesn’t flow. Just boring.
ashley
is starting
Notes so far (3):
- Pacing issue. There is no great rush, no feeling of the characters RACING towards something. Everything is far too laid back. Are we on a nature walk or journeying through Hell? Reading this I struggle to tell the difference.
- While I appreciate the constant injection of classics knowledge & think it is an incredibly valuable addition to the book, it makes the above issue worse
— Aug 29, 2025 11:27AM
- Pacing issue. There is no great rush, no feeling of the characters RACING towards something. Everything is far too laid back. Are we on a nature walk or journeying through Hell? Reading this I struggle to tell the difference.
- While I appreciate the constant injection of classics knowledge & think it is an incredibly valuable addition to the book, it makes the above issue worse
ashley
is starting
Notes so far (2):
- Premise is okay, execution is lacking. I can forgive overused plot lines IF the prose is gorgeous. This is unfortunately neither.
- On the criticism I’ve seen that the book is complicated: I actually didn’t find it so at all. Most of what she mentions is general knowledge, there are no concepts that are too hard to grasp. God forbid a book require a little independent thought nowadays..
— Aug 29, 2025 10:37AM
- Premise is okay, execution is lacking. I can forgive overused plot lines IF the prose is gorgeous. This is unfortunately neither.
- On the criticism I’ve seen that the book is complicated: I actually didn’t find it so at all. Most of what she mentions is general knowledge, there are no concepts that are too hard to grasp. God forbid a book require a little independent thought nowadays..
ashley
is starting
Notes so far (1):
- Nowhere near as good as Babel, slightly better than Yellowface
- There are too many simplistic contemporary notes that peek through here. I feel it denigrates the quality of the prose— Kuang is a great talent and this doesn’t do her talent justice. On the spectrum of LOTR-level fantasy to Yarros-level fantasy this drops towards the latter far more than I’d like.
— Aug 29, 2025 10:31AM
- Nowhere near as good as Babel, slightly better than Yellowface
- There are too many simplistic contemporary notes that peek through here. I feel it denigrates the quality of the prose— Kuang is a great talent and this doesn’t do her talent justice. On the spectrum of LOTR-level fantasy to Yarros-level fantasy this drops towards the latter far more than I’d like.
