Author Event with R.F. Kuang/Katabasis

Join Anderson’s Bookshop for an author event with R.F. Kuang, to celebrate the release of her newest book, Katabasis, on Saturday, August 30th at 2:00 pm at Community Christian Church. Kuang will be in conversation with author Vaishnavi Patel.

Event Format

We will begin checking you in approximately 60 minutes before the start time. Books will be pre-signed. After a presentation and Q&A with the author, the line will form in numbered order with the following guidelines:

• No individual posed photos with Kuang are allowed. Attendees may take candid pictures during her presentation or from their spot in the line.

• There is a limit of 1 personalization of EITHER the new, pre-signed book OR 1 book purchased from us or brought from home.

• Books will be pre-signed. No additional books may be signed in line. 

Pre-registration is required for this event because space is limited.

More about Katabasis:  

Dante’s Inferno meets Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi in this all-new dark academia fantasy from R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own. 

Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek:

The story of a hero’s descent to the underworld

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.

That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams….

Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.

With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like.

But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn’t always the answer, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies…or lead to their doom.

About the Author: 

Rebecca F. Kuang is the #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, and Yellowface. Her work has won the Nebula, Locus, Crawford, and British Book Awards. A Marshall Scholar, she has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford. She is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she studies diaspora, contemporary Sinophone literature, and Asian American literature.

About the Conversation Partner:

Vaishnavi Patel is the author of the instant New York Times bestseller Kaikeyi. A lawyer specializing in civil rights, she likes to write at the intersection of Indian myth, feminism, and anticolonialism. She grew up in and around Chicago and, in her spare time, enjoys activities that are almost stereotypically Midwestern: knitting, ice skating, drinking hot chocolate, and making hotdish. 

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Please read these Event Policies carefully:

Anderson’s Bookshop reserves the right to change the format of this event at any time in coordination with the author and publisher. Anderson’s Bookshop assumes no responsibility or liability for any personal injury or other loss you may incur as a result of your decision to attend an event, including the transmission of Covid-19 or related illnesses. 

Failure to treat all participants and staff with courtesy and respect may result in your expulsion from the event.  

Accessibility:

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. To request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, after purchasing your ticket(s), please contact us at andersons@andersonsbookshop.com.