E63 - Katabasis, Spoiler Filled (Episode 3 of 3) - "Grimes' Crimes"

About this episode

The episode discusses themes of consent, abuse, and relationships in R. F. Kuang’s Katabasis.

The final installment of our deep dive into R. F. Kuang’s Katabasis is finally here!! Even three episodes in, we somehow still have more to say about this dark academic journey to hell. Corinne flexes her academic muscles in a conversation about consent in fantasy (and academic reality). Then we wrap up by turning to the book’s ending and our feelings about Alice and Peter's relationship. As a bit of a content warning, Katabasis deals with abuse and suicidal ideation. Because these themes are pretty central to the novel, we won’t be able to provide specific timecodes for when it comes up in our own discussion, but wanted to make sure you know going in. Many thanks to our pinch-hitter editor, Jordan, who handled this episode! Episode was recorded October 19, 2025 Show Notes : ​Support us on Ko-Fi: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/sexlovelitpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ​Listen to our Joy Sparked: SLL Song Recs playlist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/playlist/50MNBI1kYKdJgxh8CzEJF1?si=d9df62854c684557⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Other lit mentioned this episode: Tess of the Road On Future SLL Episodes: Isekai and Transmigration Don't forget to subscribe to Sex. Love. Literature! You can find us at…

People in this episode

Host: Corinne

Topics covered

• dark academia
• consent in fantasy
• abuse
• suicidal ideation
• relationships

Keywords

• Katabasis
• R. F. Kuang
• dark academia
• consent
• abuse
• suicidal ideation
• relationships

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Jordan

Books & works: Katabasis, Tess of the Road

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