EPUB, 432 pages

English language

Published Feb. 6, 2024 by Random House Worlds.

ISBN:
978-1-9848-2072-3
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4 stars (15 reviews)

In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible. Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home. At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, …

2 editions

reviewed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

Fantasy whodunnit

5 stars

I've struggled a bit with other murder mysteries set in fantasy worlds because I have a problem with needing the rules to be defined.

This gave me hope - the world was really well built, with just the right amount of strange combined with enough of the real world to keep me engaged.

The point-of-view Watson character was fun - a guy enhanced to have a perfect memory. This was a weirdly cool way of simulating the fact the reader can flick back a few pages if they missed something...

Ana, the other main character is a cross between Sherlock Holmes and L Lawliet who was well written and the end of the book left me wanting to know much more about her.

I'll definitely be picking up the sequel in April.

reviewed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

Quite liked it

3 stars

A fantasy murder mystery served with a dollop of Pacific Rim, garnished with a hint of The Goblin Emperor, and a tiny sprig of romance. It was nicely written with interesting world-building and enjoyable characters; Ana, in particular, was a delight. The murder plot and its somewhat deflated resolution kept this at a 3-star rating for me. Though the opportunity is rarely afforded in fantasy whodunits, I like to follow along and solve crimes too! While it didn't guarantee a sequel a place on my to-read list, I might try more from this author.

reviewed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

Very enjoyable fantasy-mystery

5 stars

I enjoyed a lot this classic and convoluted mystery, set in a magical empire that has enough weirdness to grab you from the start. Many authors try a bit too hard to be light or funny, it feels effortless here. All in all, a very enjoyable book.

reviewed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

Another amazing world from the author of Foundaryside

5 stars

Told from the perspective of a rather stick-in-the-mud assistant investigator to a genius detective who has been banished to the hinterlands for unspecified faux pas against powerful people of the Empire, we follow as their investigation goes from strange to dangerous as it threatens powerful people and the very walls the Empire is founded on.

The primary conceit for the universe he creates this time is that genetic alterations are but a flask of chemicals away and the whole Empire is largely run by various highly modified individuals. The narrator has just been given his first modification, making him an engraver, which means he has perfect memory of anything he views or hears or smells. He is the eyes and ears for the investigator, relaying the physical clues to her from which she deduces the rest.

Strongly recommended read! Really well plotted, great characters and a fascinating world for them …

reviewed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

Loved It

5 stars

Had a great time with this. I haven’t had this much fun in a fantasy setting since the Shades of Magic books by V.E. Schwab and the Witch King by Martha Wells.

The mystery aspects were well done - all of the pieces were available and figuring out broad strokes was even within my own grasp. It was great fun to see the internal logic spelled out and add to the world building.

reviewed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

The Tainted Cup

5 stars

The Tainted Cup is very much a fantasy Holmes novel, where a labyrinthine mystery is being solved by an almost supernaturally skilled investigator and their lovable but hapless assistant, through whose viewpoint the story is being presented.

The setting is delightfully weird, much more like Divine Cities than Founders, with elements of existential/apocalyptic threat and imperialism.

I'm looking forward to more in this universe.

reviewed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

The Tainted Cup

5 stars

The Tainted Cup is an amazing fantasy mystery novel (first in a new series) from Robert Jackson Bennett. For what it's worth, I love love loved The Founders trilogy and quite enjoyed The Divine Cities trilogy so I'm coming into this with some bias.

I've seen this pitched as "Sherlock with kaiju", but I think the Sherlock moniker sells it short for me. The Sherlock / Watson dynamic to me is defined by one where Sherlock is the expert observer, deducer, and dilettante and Watson is the bumbling stand-in for the reader (or at best a medical expert). In The Tainted Cup, I think the sleuthing expertise is split between Kol (the assistant investigator) and Ana (the investigator in charge) and this changes the dynamic entirely in a way that makes the mystery more satisfying structurally. Also, I think personality-wise, they are also quite distinct.

Kol, the point of view …

reviewed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett

4 stars

Robert Jackson Bennett takes the classic pairing of irritable genius detective and neophyte assistant and transplants it to a wild fantasy setting in The Tainted Cup. Sometimes when I read a book, I get the feeling that the author knocked their own socks off while writing it. The world Bennett has created here is a feat of worldbuilding. The scenes exude a sense of history and the descriptions bring everything to vibrant life in my mind’s eye. This book is a fun ride, even if some characters aren’t as fully realized as the settings...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.

reviewed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

Come for the cool worldbuilding, stay for the twisty mystery.

No rating

Is this book really 432 pages long? Because I raced through it in a day, and it felt like it moved so quickly! I've always been impressed with RJB's world building, but this one might be my favorite yet. What do we call a world where plants provide light, vines are cultivated to be deadly security systems, the rich can afford large mushrooms that regulate the air temperature, and the murder weapon is a tree? Ugh, I love it. There are also strong notes of the usual "big monsters threaten humanity" suspects - Pacific Rim, Kaiju No. 8, and most evidently Attack on Titan, but this story chooses to move the first responders into the background and spend more time on infrastructure folks and a detective/assistant pair.

And what a stunning pair they are. Fans of the eccentric detective+earnest put-upon assistant, get ready to enjoy yourselves. Ana is a genius …

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