Review of "Katabasis: A Novel" by R. F. Kuang

Professor Jacob Grimes is chair of the Department of Analytic Magick at the University of Cambridge; a Nobel laureate; and the twice-elected president of the Royal Academy of Magick.



Professor Grimes' advisees go on to tenured jobs at top-tier programs, and a recommendation letter from Grimes as good as secures a post anywhere. That's why graduate students Alice Law and Peter Murdoch elect to study under Grimes - to secure rosy futures filled with great opportunities.



Alice and Peter's plans are upended when Professor Grimes is killed in a gruesome laboratory accident. On the fatal day, Grimes has Alice chalk a pentagram for him, but Alice - who's overtired and overcaffeinated - accidentally leaves a tiny opening. Thus when Grimes steps into the pentagram and utters an incantation, howling winds rush in.



Grimes' eyeballs pop like grapes, his intestines spool out of his body, he turns upside down and spins, and his body flies apart in all directions, splattering every surface with blood and bone and guts.



Alice is anxious to finish her research, defend her dissertation, and get a recommendation from Professor Grimes. So she prepares to rescue Grimes' soul from Hell.



Alice consults tartarology texts, chalks the appropriate transportative pentagram, and is about to start her trip when Peter Murdoch shows up and joins her.



Both magick students know the venture will cost half their remaining lifespans, but they step into the pentagram, intone the appropriate chants, and descend to Hell.



Hell turns out to resemble a dark distorted version of the Cambridge campus, and Alice and Peter set out to find Professor Grimes. There's friction between the twosome because they were VERY COMPETITIVE RIVALS for Grimes' favor, and - unknown to them - he played one off against the other.



Alice and Peter find that Hell is a dangerous place full of trouble, risk, shades, and killers. Dying in hell is especially dire because it's not just your mortal body that disintegrates, it's your soul too. There's total annihilation of the self, and no chance for reincarnation.



In their search for Professor Grimes, Alice and Peter make their way from one part of Hell to another. It's fatal to eat or drink anything from the underworld, so the searchers ration their supply of Lembas Bread (stale, cardboard-y nutrition strips) and only drink from their perpetual flasks of water, that refill themselves.



Alice and Peter's major exploits in Hell begin with a climb up a fifty-meter-high vertical wall of bones.



They then encounter the courts of Hell. The first is the Court of Pride, a huge library with stacks and stacks of shelves stretching in every direction.



Here Alice and Peter meet a shade called George Edward Moore, whose office contains a massive desk; plump armchairs; porcelain tea sets; memorabilia from overseas trips; framed diplomas on every wall; etc. Alice decides Grimes isn't confined in 'Pride' because he hated peacocking and could legitimately boast of his accomplishments.



The second court is the Court of Desire, which is populated by shades who were gluttons; sex addicts; drug addicts; etc. Here, Alice and Peter observe ALL SORTS of physically pleasurable exploits (ewwww), but Grimes isn't trapped here either, because overindulgence wasn't among his flaws.



Alice and Peter move on to the other courts in Hell, their goal being to get to the eighth court and bargain with King Yama, Ruler of the Underworld, for Grimes' soul.



As the searchers continue their long journey, they encounter the river Lethe - whose water erases memories; the Weaver Girl whose Prisoner's Dilemma game causes a breach between Alice and Peter; Elspeth Bayes - a student of Professor Grimes who committed suicide; Nicomachus and Magnolia Kripke - magicians who kill creatures and drain their blood to do warped magic; bone-creatures that attack and kill; and other denizens of the abyss.



The lives of Alice and Peter are repeatedly threatened.....and worse!

On the bright side, Alice and Peter are joined by Archimedes, Cambridge's Department of Analytic Magick cat, who can freely move between the living world and Hell. Archimedes turns out to be an asset in the searchers' quest.



During their sojourn in Hell, Alice and Peter share secrets, and they come to know more and more about Professor Grimes. It's clear that Grimes is an exploiter who steals his students' research, and a sexual predator who pressures females in his group. If the women complain to school personnel, they're advised to keep mum, for themselves and the institution.



Alice and Peter discover that Hell is a parody of graduate school at Cambridge (or anywhere), with punishing hours; pressure to do research; worries about the dissertation defense; etc.



There's a tiny smidge of romance in the story. After Alice and Peter comprehend that Professor Grimes deliberately drove a wedge between them, the sparks of attraction - which previously flared and died - are reignited. This isn't a love story though.

Does Grimes soul get saved? It would be a spoiler to tell.

The book is filled with interesting characters, and liberally sprinkled with esoteric literary references and allusions to monsters, demons, and real-life writers, scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, and scholars who've contributed to knowledge and civilization.



I admire author R.F. Kuang's imagination, and commend the prodigious amount of work that went into this novel.

The story is well worth reading. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4 stars 

Review of "Félicie: A Chief Inspector Jules Maigret Mystery" by Georges Simenon

 

  

Jules Maigret is a French police detective known for his intuition, which helps him solve crimes.



In this book, originally published in 1944, Maigret investigates the murder of a former ship's accountant called Jules ('Peg Leg') Lapie.



After Peg Leg lost his leg on an unfortunate ship voyage, he moved to Jeanneville Village outside Paris. In the village, homes had been built willy-nilly, "with gaps between buildings, wooden fences, areas of waste ground, and ridiculously useless gas lamps on streets which were still only names on blue signs."



As the story opens, Peg Leg has been murdered, shot in his home while his housekeeper, Félicie, was doing the morning shopping.



When Chief Inspector Jules Maigret arrives to investigate Peg Leg's killing, he has Félicie re-enact the shopping trip while he tags along.



Félicie is bad-tempered during the excursion, and refuses to answer any of Maigret's questions. Félicie suggests Maigret is trying to impugn her character by insinuating an improper relationship between Peg Leg and herself, which Félicie vehemently denies.



The connection between Félicie and Peg Leg becomes even more murky when Maigret reads Peg Leg's will, which cuts out Peg Leg's relatives and leaves everything to Félicie.



Félicie's obstructive behavior leads Maigret to have her followed by Inspectors Lucas and Janvier.....



.....which is easier said than done because Félicie is an elusive young woman.



Meanwhile, Maigret searches Peg Leg's home, on the assumption the killer was looking for something.



As Maigret's inquiries move forward he learns that Peg Leg's nephew, a young saxophonist named Jacques Pétillon, stayed with his uncle for a short time, but was a less than welcome guest.



Maigret also hears that Félicie recently went dancing at a local nightspot, and had an altercation with a man in the club.



Maigret tries to question Félicie about all this - but no matter what evidence Maigret presents - Félicie refuses to say a word, and continually tells Maigret she hates him.



Diligent police work by Maigret and his team eventually reveal the motive and the killer, and it's a twisty tale.

The Maigret books are old-fashioned by modern standards. In this book, Maigret's team communicates by way of landline phones in the Jeanneville Village post office (the postmistress is thrilled), and the investigators often stop off for wine and beer during the case. Still, they get the job done, and that's what counts.



I'm a longtime fan of the Inspector Maigret novels, and I enjoyed the book. Recommended to mystery fans.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by David Coward, who does a fine job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Georges Simonen, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the book.

Rating 3.5 stars