Katabasis

Excited to start this! I've heard great things about this. Update: Oh, but this did not disappoint! In a world where soft magic exists and is studied as a science in academia, two Cambridge graduates, Alice and Peter, decide to go to Hell to bring back their mentor and professor, Jacob Grimes, both believing they were responsible for his death. The description makes it seem as if this is a to-Hell-and-back adventure book, but it is anything but that - it is: - an analysis of how toxic academia can be, as well as how harmful it can be to a person to work or live in an environment designed for pitting people against each other and making one feel inadequate - a manifesto of abuser-victim dynamics, especially in situations where the abuser has status and prestige, and a truly realistic way in which the victim can not only rationalize the abuse, but be made to believe they are special because they were chosen as the victim, and that suffering and surviving makes them better than others, hating those who suffer the same fate. Also, the way this mentality is amplified and groomed by a broader culture of normalizing such behavior and the abuse of certain groups of people - a story featuring deeply flawed characters; a story of them lying to others and themselves, suffering in silence, and ultimately healing (or at least starting to) - a love story told backwards - a deep-dive analysis on what Hell could potentially look like I've read reviews of this, and I will just say this: those who expected a fantasy/adventure type of story were gravely disappointed, and I understand why. This book is about many things, but most are theoretical/philosophical, and the trip to Hell is just a stage scene for the author to talk about the aforementioned issues, so don't expect a lot of action!