Wow. Not only is today a public holiday, but we’re also facing temperatures in Houston that would melt us faster than the Wicked Witch of the West. So of course this makes it an excellent kind of day to try and catch up with my sorely neglected reviews.
I love most of Robert Jackson Bennett’s writing, but I had no idea what he was going to get up to after finishing The Founders Trilogy. Or when he was going to release anything after The Founders Trilogy, really. So I was a bit surprised when a new release of his popped up on my library’s website. I placed a hold on it regardless, and was very pleasantly surprised with what The Tainted Cup delivered—a well-balanced blend of fantasy and mystery; some fantastically odd worldbuilding, and a good dose of Holmes and Watson. With some Kaiju-like monsters added for flavour. Who thought that would be the extra seasoning needed to enhance the novel?
The main mystery involves a maybe-murder investigation: Dinos Kol arrives at a wealthy estate on behalf of his superior, to examine the body of Commander Taqtasa Blas. Blas’ demise was certainly notable—his body was found speared and devoured by a mass of trees that suddenly sprouted from his abdomen. Blas was a key military leader overseeing the defence of the sea walls which help keep the weird sea beasts known as leviathans from coming to land and causing destruction during the wet season. What Din has to work out is what reason does everyone have to panic: did Blas pick up a nasty contagion from his time on the sea wall, and will that rip through the canton? Or is his death something more political and sinister?
It doesn’t help that Din is new to his role. The Iudex Investigator for the canton of Daretana is not Din himself, but Ana Dolabra, a rather brilliant but eccentric woman who could be deemed the empire’s greatest detective. However, Ana decides she is not up to putting in the legwork for this particular cause. Instead, she decided to use Din’s special talents; as an engraver, Din has been alchemically altered to have perfect recall. This makes him perfectly suited to discover something fun and interesting for Ana to engage with when combing through a crime scene. And dear God, this woman cannot stand to be bored—when Ana is bored, Ana gets hilariously abrasive.
So this is our Holmes and Watson-ish pairing: Ana and Din. Throughout much of the novel, Ana sends Din out to investigate new leads while she sets to piecing everything together in the background. It’s a well-worn trope, but in no way a bad one—Ana and Din have a very entertaining relationship and while she’s the more experienced investigator, Din himself is no slouch either. And as they’ve really only known each other a few months, they’re also investigating each other’s backgrounds on the sly; how did a woman of Ana’s calibre end up in such a backwater canton? (No, it wasn’t that she mouthed off to everyone). And how exactly did Din pass his Iudex exams and obtain his position when it is discovered that he has several secrets of his own?
The other thing I loved about The Tainted Cup is the setting. I have already mentioned the utter weirdness of the leviathans and their contagions. And you may have also picked up the Roman-esque theme running through everything as well. But I think the thing that I love the most is the fact that much of the Kingdom runs on a kind of alchemy that feels more than a little creepy. A world that runs of toxins and decomposers. A place that makes mycologists feel right at home, but makes the rest of us wish we were back at home just dealing with a spot of black mould in the bathroom. Because there are much more dangerous things out there.
Ana might be enjoying the magic mushrooms, but not everything here is conducive to a good time.
I really loved this book, and I had a lot of trouble putting it down. I’m very glad we’re going to be seeing more of these two in the future.