A Dark Academia Descent Into Hell — Perfect for Fans of Dante’s Inferno, Piranesi, and R. F. Kuang
In this gripping dark academia fantasy, inspired by Dante’s Inferno and Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, two rival graduate students must brave the underworld itself to save the soul of the world’s greatest magician—before Hell claims their own.
Katabasis (noun): A hero’s descent into the underworld.
Alice Law has dedicated her entire life to becoming a leading mind in Magick. She’s sacrificed her health, happiness, and sanity to study under Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge—until a catastrophic magical accident (that just might be her fault) leaves him dead and trapped in Hell.
Determined not to let a little death derail her future, Alice prepares to descend into the underworld to retrieve the professor whose recommendation could make or break her career. The only problem? Her academic nemesis, Peter Murdoch, is heading to Hell for the exact same reason.
Armed with ancient tales, chalk-drawn Pentagrams, and a lifetime of academic trauma, Alice and Peter embark on a perilous journey through a Hell that looks nothing like the myths. As they navigate twisted landscapes, impossible Magick, and their own buried history, they’ll be forced to confront a truth more dangerous than demons:
sometimes your greatest enemy is the one who knows you best.
Perfect for readers searching for:
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dark academia fantasy
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underworld journeys and mythic retellings
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rivals-to-reluctant-allies dynamics
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books like Babel, Piranesi, and Dante’s Inferno
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atmospheric, character-driven magical fiction
Prepare for a descent that will challenge everything they believe—about Magick, ambition, and themselves.
