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 so she can work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world. That is, until he dies in a magical accident that possibly could 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, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like. But there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies…or lead to their doom.

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 so she can work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world. That is, until he dies in a magical accident that possibly could 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, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like. But there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies…or lead to their doom.

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 possibly could 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.

Steph Harper is convinced that only space --- outer space --- can save her. From a childhood of fearful running and alienation; from a family and community that threaten to suffocate her with their reverence for the past. TO THE MOON AND BACK charts the course of Steph’s singular dream: to become the first Cherokee astronaut, no matter who or what she has to leave behind. But despite her self-prescribed loneliness and reckless ambition, Steph’s story isn’t hers alone. The book also brings to life the vibrant, complex women --- a celebrity activist younger sister, an ex-Mormon college girlfriend, and a devoted mother with a crushing secret --- who insist on loving her...even when she least deserves them.

Steph Harper is convinced that only space --- outer space --- can save her. From a childhood of fearful running and alienation; from a family and community that threaten to suffocate her with their reverence for the past. TO THE MOON AND BACK charts the course of Steph’s singular dream: to become the first Cherokee astronaut, no matter who or what she has to leave behind. But despite her self-prescribed loneliness and reckless ambition, Steph’s story isn’t hers alone. The book also brings to life the vibrant, complex women --- a celebrity activist younger sister, an ex-Mormon college girlfriend, and a devoted mother with a crushing secret --- who insist on loving her...even when she least deserves them.

In this dazzlingly powerful coming-of-age story about family, ambition and belonging, one young woman’s obsessive quest to become the first Cherokee astronaut irrevocably alters the fates of the people she loves most.

Steph Harper is convinced that only space --- outer space --- can save her. From a childhood of fearful running and alienation; from a family and community that threaten to suffocate her with their reverence for the past. Equal parts tender, funny and heartbreaking, TO THE MOON AND BACK charts the course of Steph’s singular dream: to become the first Cherokee astronaut, no matter who or what she has to leave behind.

But despite her self-prescribed loneliness and reckless ambition, Steph’s story isn’t hers alone. TO THE MOON AND BACK also brings to life the vibrant, complex women --- a celebrity activist younger sister, an ex-Mormon college girlfriend, and a devoted mother with a crushing secret --- who insist on loving her...even when she least deserves them.

From a simulated Mars habitat on a Hawaiian volcano, to a house in the Ozark foothills in Cherokee Nation, to a pressurized research station on the floor of the Atlantic and beyond, Steph will stretch her bonds with each of these women to the point of breaking, driving them to reconsider their own deepest desires in her shadow. An awe-inspiringly epic novel of mothers and daughters, sisters and sacrifice, love and loss, terror and wonder, TO THE MOON AND BACK is the “wondrous and deeply moving” (Booklist, starred review) story of one astronaut’s most surprising discovery: how deeply she loves life on earth.

Audiobook available; read by Nathalie Standingcloud, Kamali Minter and Tanis Parenteau

Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her 18th birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist. Until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew. Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina. There, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard's owners that describes details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire starts to obsess over the diary's contents, as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister's disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.

Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her 18th birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist. Until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew. Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina. There, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard's owners that describes details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire starts to obsess over the diary's contents, as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister's disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.

A pulse-pounding new Southern thriller from the author of the runaway bestseller A FLICKER IN THE DARK.

Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her 18th birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist. Until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew.

With the entire summer now looming ahead --- a summer spent with nothing to do in her childhood home, with her estranged mother --- Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina less than an hour away from where she grew up. At first glance, Galloway is an idyllic escape for Claire. A scenic retreat full of slow-paced nostalgia, as well as a place where her sister seemed truly happy in that last summer before she vanished, it feels like the perfect plan to pass the time.

However, as soon as Claire starts to settle in, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard's owners, and what at first seems like a story of young rebellion and love turns into something much more sinister as it begins to describe details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary's contents, as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister's disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.

Galloway was supposed to be a place to help her move forward, but instead, Claire quickly finds herself immersed in her own dark and dangerous past.

Audiobook available, read by Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker