TUESDAY 27 JANUARY 2026
7PM to 8PM
Open to all. Hosted online using Zoom Meetings.
TICKETS: Free, booking required.
ACCESSIBILITY: Live subtitles are available using Zoom's Live Transcript function.
Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
Award-winning author, R. F. Kuang's new bestseller takes us on a gripping tour through the eight layers of Hell. Set in the 1980s, two postgraduate students at Cambridge - the foremost university in the field of Analytic Magick - cast a spell to descend into the underworld. Their mission is to rescue their PhD supervisor's soul, as much for the sake of their careers as for his own good. But Hell isn't burning lava pits: instead, their journey forces them to confront the darkness in their souls and, worse, the flaws of academia.
We will be discussing the book with Dr Tabitha Stanmore, historian of early modern magic and witchcraft, and author of Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic.
To aide the conversation, we have prepared three 'thinking points' to consider when reading the book:
- How does magic work in the world of Katabasis? Is it different to science?
- R. F. Kuang includes many different theories and visions of Hell in Katabasis. What is the point of Hell? Which theory or version of Hell did you find the most compelling?
- Is Katabasis a romance? What forms do love and loyalty take in the book?
This book is available in paperback, hardback, audio and ebook formats, borrowable from public libraries or to purchase. To see what printed and digital copies are available from Cambridge University Libraries (borrowable by University staff and students), search iDiscover.
About The Really Popular Book Club
The Really Popular Book Club is Cambridge University Libraries' book group. Everyone is welcome to come and discuss a really popular book with the group, library staff, and an expert on the novel. Hosted on Zoom, the book club is completely free and open to everyone, people attend from all over the world. The Really Popular Book Club celebrates the huge range of books at Cambridge University Library. We have more than 8 million books and as a legal deposit library we keep a copy of every book published in the UK, and have done since 1710.
If you haven't attended one of our book club events before, you can find more information at www.lib.cam.ac.uk/bookclub.