The world of Ana & Din has sucked me in! I love a good mystery & love it even more when it contains the perfect amount of fantasy/sci fi!

“A Tainted Cup” fully submerged me in this world of altered characters & titans. “A Drop of Corruption” continues this world, but expands with new characters & places perfectly. The descriptions are great & makes for a very vivid world in my head while reading! And the plot twist- chef’s kiss…did NOT see that coming!

I cannot wait for book 3! I hope we get to see more of Din’s personal life. I also would love more of Ana’s backstory because her quirks are my favorite!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review.

Ana and Din are my favorite new charcters from my favorite new series by one of my favorite new authors.

This second book took everything that was great about the first one and expanded on it. We get to dive deeper in to the characters and the struggles that they face as well as while they work to solve another murder that has strange circumstances around it.

As the plot is laid, the little details work to hook further and further together for a story that has a deeper message that applies to people throughout the world and allows us to reflect on the stories we are told and appreciate as readers of fantasy.

Thanks to the team at Del Rey Publishing, I was able to devour this ARC like Ana Dolabra devours rare and exotic meats.

This second installment of the series, which is like the love child of Sherlock Holmes and The Witcher in tone and theme, was even more compelling than the first. The characters, the imagery, and the twisty turny plot kept me engaged from page one: I can’t wait for #3!

TL;DR

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett is the second in the Shadow of the Leviathan series. It’s a wonderful book that builds upon the first in the series. Ana and Din, once again, must protect the Empire in their unique way. Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

One of my favorite books of 2024 was the wonderful The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. It had everything I enjoy in a fantasy novel: beautiful world building, intriguing characters, and mysteries that build upon themselves. Well, Jackson is back with A Drop of Corruption, the second in the Shadow of the Leviathan series. I loved the first book; so, how will the second hold up? Does A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett live up to the first book?

Once again, Din and Ana find themselves on the edges of the Empire in the port of Yarrowdale. They have been called to investigate the murder of a treasury agent. The man was killed in a locked room with no visible means for for the assassin to escape. The treasury agents are in town negotiating the merger of a small kingdom with the Empire. A murder makes an already tense political situation even more ripe for disaster. The Empire needs the little kingdom of Yarrow because off the coast of this river delta, the mysterious Shroud sits. It’s where the ingredients for the Empire’s magical potions, drugs, therapeutics, etc., are harvested from dead titans. In other words, this is a valuable location for the Empire. As expected the small kingdom wants its freedom. Well, the aristocrats of the small kingdom do. The poor, the peasants, and the downtrodden don’t want to return to the feudal state. After all the Empire offers the potential for a better life for the poor.

Ana and Din arrive in country to get to work. Following Din is the financial company that owns Din’s father’s debt, which Din must pay off. With the posting to a wild and volatile part of the Empire, Din’s debt becomes even more cumbersome as the financial institution enacts a clause imparting harsher terms for the debt. Din believes his only way out of the debt is to leave the Iudex and become a soldier. As the investigation begins, Din gets caught up in local and Empire-wide schemes, again. His local guide, Malo, a Warden of the Apothetikals, guides him around Yarrowdale. Chasing an assassin that seems to be able to change his face and blend into the city or the surrounding jungles will test Din’s abilities. Playing the killer’s game and trying to get one step ahead of them will test Ana’s very sanity. On the very edge of society, the fate of the Empire’s magic rests in the hands of Ana and Din.

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett is the second book of the Shadow of the Leviathan series. It follows in the same vein as the first book but evolves the characters and their interactions with each other. A Drop of Corruption is a first-person account of Din and Ana’s investigation. While this book reads a little slower than the first, but it held my attention the entire time.

Thoughts

It’s not quite as tightly written as the first book because the focus of this book is Ana’s game against the assassin. Whereas The Tainted Cup was Din’s novel and felt driven by Din, A Drop of Corruption feels like Ana’s novel with Din being an errand boy. Readers follow Din around, but he’s not pushing the action forward; he’s reacting to situations as they evolve. This didn’t bother me as I found the mystery intriguing, and I think Din’s observations on his world and Ana to be wonderful. Though I do wonder how Bennett will balance Din as errand boy versus his own detective in upcoming novels. (And I do hope there’s more in the future. This is a series worth following.) As always in Bennett’s books, the world-building is wonderful. In the Shadow of the Leviathan series, I love the whole aesthetic. This is a world that has incorporated plants, and instead of the steel and concrete of our world, they have a leafy, plant-based construction. It’s excellent. In addition, the magic is cool and weird and gross. But where A Drop of Corruption shines is the expansion of the political world-building. In the first book, all the readers knew was the Empire. Now, we get a look at other civilizations and how the Empire deals with them. As the book progresses, we learn more about the history of the Empire and begin to see some internal political machinations. Bennett’s addition of these items expands his world into something even more messy than just aristocratic maneuvering.

Din and Ana

Din is a great character. I loved him in The Tainted Cup, and his character growth here is fun and interesting. Now that he’s risen in the ranks to leave his hometown, he’s learning that doesn’t necessarily mean the job gets better. He’s also learning that some jobs, while necessary and important, aren’t glamorous. He dreams of becoming a soldier because at least it’s proactive and, in his opinion, helps the Empire. He believes that solving murders is reactive and doesn’t help anyone. In his mind, being an investigator is not protecting the Empire or even improving it. This is a natural state for anyone, after all, even if you love your work, a job is still a job. There will be days you hate it, days you love it, days that make you think another line of work would be better. Din experiences that through the novel. Ana gives him a chance to experience other lines of work, though, in her requests. Din accompanies the Apothetikal Wardens upriver in search of pirates and smugglers. He visits the kingdom of Yarrow. Throughout, Din grows an investigator and starts keying in on the mystery of Ana herself.

Of course, Ana is very much her weird, wonderful, brilliant self in this novel. Bennett has created the perfect detective for his world in Ana. To be clear, she’s not a perfect person, but she’s the perfect character. Her frustrations, her pushing herself to her very limits, her interactions with other Empire agents, and even her abilities as a diplomat, all shine in this novel. She seems aloof, distant, and, perhaps, even analytically detached from the world, but that’s too simplistic of a reading. She cares for Din in her way. For example, more than once she orders him to rest for his own sake, knowing he won’t comply but still exhibiting concern. In this novel, she pushes herself to her physical and mental limits trying to understand and then out-predict the assassin. But she’s often frustrated as the assassin has already predicted her moves. Has she met her match here?

Conclusion

Robert Jackson Bennett’s A Drop of Corruption is the follow up to The Tainted Cup that I wanted. It expanded the world, developed the characters, and provided an intriguing mystery. This novel solidifies the Shadow of the Leviathan series as a must read for me. Ana and Din can now be ranked among the best of fantasy detectives. A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett continues this wonderful series in ways that I can’t wait to see play out. Bring on book 3!

after loving the first book in this series SO MUCH! i was so so excited to be accepted to read this arc, thank you so much to netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this.
i honestly could read any adventure of din and ana together. they’re just the sweetest and i love all the silly stuff they get up to. but also the mystery in this was really intriguing. many times i was feeling a little bit confused, but nevertheless the less i was invested and also left shocked with the reveal. i love din and ana sm <3

I flew through the first book in this series and while it did take me a while to get through this one, it’s not the book’s fault. The expansion of the world, the new characters and an intriguing new mystery had me thinking about this book long after I would put it down. I really hope the author is planning for this to be almost like a Dresden-type series and I cannot recommend it enough! I also can’t stress enough how nice it is to have the representation that the author puts into their books. Thank you.

While I loved book one I feel like the second book in the series maybe even better, no second book syndrome here. A Drop of Corruption. Give us a new case to follow and this time we are leaving that place that we know and are traveling. We end up in Yarrowdale. We meet new people and with that a new side character emerges…enter Malo. I really enjoyed her.
I think that the writing is still impeccable. I Love RJB and how he crafts a overall story, The world building, the mystery itself kept me guessing and fascinated until the end. I still have never read a fantasy that was more of a true mystery as well until this series and every time I go to pick up Tainted Cup and this I always enjoy myself even more. I have reread the first book about 3 times already. This one will be no different. No matter what if RJB keeps writing exactly like this it is goign to be fantastic. I see that already that there is a untitled book 3 coming for this series and I can’t wait and see what is next!

Thank you Del Rey and for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review!

I found Robert Jackson Bennett’s first book in his Shadow of the Leviathan series, The Tainted Cup (https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-the-tainted-cup-by-robert-jackson-bennett/), to be entertaining and intriguing. In the sequel, Bennett expands on his worldbuilding, continues character development, introduces new antagonists, and explores a twisting plot. Anyone who enjoyed the first book should find A Drop of Corruption: An Ana and Din Mystery (Shadow of the Leviathan: Book 2) equally satisfying. I definitely advise against jumping into the series with the sequel, though; start with the first one.

This second book in the series shows more about how a lot of things work: the relationship between assistant Iudex(1) investigator Dinias Kol (Din) and his reclusive genius boss Anagosa Dolabra (Ana); the ways the Empire uses the corpses of the dreaded leviathan invaders from the sea in order to fuel its magic and its economy; imperial interservice rivalry and cooperation; and the complicated politics on the frontier. I wouldn’t exactly call the plot convoluted, since it tracks the investigation as it occurs, fairly directly, but events are revisited and rethought as fresh evidence requires reinterpretations, and many avenues of investigation are followed.

At the start, Ana and Din are sent to the eastern edge of the continent, to a kingdom that is still in the slow process of assimilation-by-treaty, but which by circumstances of geography contains the most important processing center for leviathan corpses, from which the empire extracts vital magical substances. Initially, they’re investigating a locked-room mystery in which an imperial Treasury agent has disappeared from a guarded tower, but Ana quickly realizes that it’s a case of murder. As the investigation proceeds, more people die, and tensions rise between the empire and the semi-subject kingdom, with kingdom-internal disputes between assimilationists and resisters providing further complications and possible motivations, as imperial Treasury agents, Apothetikists (basically potion magicians), and the mysterious Augurs try to preserve their departmental secrets from the Iudex imperial investigators.

Since Din narrates (first-person, past tense), we know Ana only secondhand, from her reported actions and words. She cares passionately about justice, and preserving the Empire to bolster its ceaseless battling against leviathans. In this book, we find that she also cares about Din’s welfare, including his mental health and sense of choice – she doesn’t say this, exactly, but some of her subtle maneuvering definitely points to this. And she also deliberately leads Din to a realization about her nature, and another imperial secret. He may still mostly be a tool to her, but one she is investing in, to increase his stability and long-term utility.

Less vague but not plot-critical spoilers for the first and second book:
Meanwhile, Din, suffering from newly increased strain due to his family’s heavy debts, seeks momentary release with a woman (not his boss), and then they keep getting thrown together; I wasn’t expecting this, after the first book’s hesitant, slow-burn male-male relationship, but upon reflection, it makes sense that Din has become more needy instead of less, having little hope of renewing that fleeting former romance. I appreciate what a complicated character Din is.

I also appreciate RJB’s musings, through the mouths of Din, Ana, and various other characters, about the nature of service vs. glory, and justice, and governance. Discussions throughout, and events sweeping through the kingdom by the end of the book, also explore the relationships between rulers and ruled people, and show the unwisdom of relying upon royalty. Bennett’s Author’s Note essay at the end reflects even more explicitly and expansively on the nature of power and autocracy. I appreciate his insights, and his illustrations of them through fiction.

I can imagine RJB ending the series here, having provided some revelations and explanations about worldbuilding, and having resolved certain aspects of Ana’s and Din’s lives through their choices, but that would be disappointing. I’d be happy even with some “the further adventures of Ana and Din” books, but RJB being RJB, I expect that further books in the series, if any, will include much more worldbuilding goodness, deepening of characters, and exploring of societal structures.

Fantastic story and world. I have not read Tainted also by RJB but am immediately going to it now after this. Loved the writing and the description made me feel like I was there in the story. The banter between the characters was also a great time. HIGHLY recommend this book.

Robert Jackson Bennett knocked this out of the freaking park!!
In fear of making this review excited gushing (I'm gonna be honest, that's just what it's gonna be), this was a fantastic sequel and a great installment in the adventures of Din and Ana!
It's more dark in tone than the previous installment, but I thought it worked really well with the horror of the science that this world uses. We also got more lore about the world, great social commentary on autocracy, and the deepening bond between Ana and Din.
All in all, a fantastic sequel and I can't wait to read more. I expect this series is going to become one of my favourite of all time.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for the ARC of this book.
4.5 Stars
Sherlock Holmes mystery thriller meets Magician Esque High Fantasy in this brilliantly constructed tale.
A Drop of Corruption is a Sequel to The Tainted Cup following the Detective Ana Dolabra and her assistant Dinios Kol, as they delve into a complex case involving a missing Treasury officer in the Empire's distant canton of Yarrowdale.
• The narrative is suspenseful and rich with political intrigue - keeping readers engaged from start to finish.
• The world-building is exceptional, a vivid and immersive setting that enhances the story's depth. This is done perfectly – you’re not overwhelmed by the complex details, rather carried along on the journey.
• The plot is complemented by well-developed and interesting characters.
• It is is well-balanced, with a gradual build-up that culminates in a satisfying and thought-provoking conclusion.
Honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this ARC and cannot wait to see what else Robert Jackson Bennett comes up with next. If you enjoy High-Fantasy and Mysteries, I think you will enjoy this one.

A Drop of Corruption was a thrilling sequel to my favorite read of 2024.

The investigation kept my interest through the entire book. Pacing was great!

We got to learn more about Ana and Din, but we were still left with questions about Ana's past. I'm eager to learn more about her in the final book. Malo was a great new addition to the cast, and I loved getting a deeper dive on Apoths and their works. I also enjoyed exploring a new culture within this world.

Overall, I had a great time, and this book did not disappoint!

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC!

Oh boy.

look, I understand that I might not be the target audience for this book but I am honestly dumbfounded by how much I hated this book. Plenty of people love RJB and I have seen nothing but praise for him so I trusted my fellow readers and now I will never make that mistake again. I have never hated a book as much as I did foundryside, but still saw a lot of love for this newer series and I succumbed to peer pressure once more as I am still not convinced I read the correct book the first time. And I will admit the tainted cup, in comparison to his other works, wasn't awful; it wasn't good by any means but I was able to finish it with little pain and pure spite. this one is a different story.

ignoring all the issues I have with the writing style, as I believe this man writes like an angry seventh-grade boy, the general plot points of the story seemed interesting enough in the first book but felt overly convoluted in the sequel. There were a lot of things that never got explained in the first book that seemed to be over-explained in this one to make up for it which made everything very confusing. Also, in the first book, the conclusion to the "mystery" felt resolved enough and served its purpose but the ending of this one felt too big and like it was trying too hard to tie all these little details in order to seem clever. Which honestly is a large part of my issue with his writing in the first place, its a very basic writing style with random big fancy words thrown in to make him seem fancy and sophisticated but mixed with the crudeness of the writing feels incredibly off-putting to me.

This is clearly not my author and I need to accept that. if you enjoy high fantasy and murder mysteries, feel free to give it a try because so many others enjoyed the story so I guess I'll go back to assuming that I just keep reading the wrong book.

thanks to random house/del ray and netgalley for the arc.

Why this book?

1. This is an absurdly good, evolved reimagining of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson.

2. I have said this throughout RJB’s entire catalog – he writes women in a way that DELIVERS. They are smart, clever and often don’t give a damn. My feminist side is delighted. Ana is such an awesome character build. And I flipping love Malo’s introduction in this book.

3. Man, Hollywood would be missing out if they sleep on this. The unique world building alone makes this a page turner. Equal parts creepy, cool and crazy.

The hype is real on this one.

I missed the audio (only because Andrew Fallaize is pitch perfect for this series). BUT I wouldn’t turn down a generous ARC opportunity for this- so TY @netgalley + Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore.

This was even better than the first book! Fantastic characters, unique and intriguing world-building and an engaging mystery - I did figure out all of the twists ahead of time, but it kept me guessing long enough that I just felt clever for doing so, rather than bored.

Ana and Din are back in a new mystery that gives us a few more clues about their world and the mysterious leviathans.

Some back story: Ana and her assistant Din live in an Empire where during the rainy season, leviathans -giant sea creatures that remind me of Godzilla – come ashore, causing death and destruction. To combat these monsters, the population has collected the blood of the creatures and used it to enhance themselves – having an incredible sense of smell or sight for example, or in Din’s case, a photographic memory. Meanwhile, Ana’s augmentation remains hidden, from both the reader and Din. It’s implied that it enhances her brilliance and helps her to solve criminal cases, but as a side effect, causes her to be easily overwhelmed so she frequently wears a blindfold. It’s a bit like Nero Wolf and Archie Goodwin; like Nero, she heavily relies on her assistant Din to go out in the world, and report back what he sees so she can solve the case with her intelligence.

Their most recent case takes place in a small kingdom just outside the Empire. It’s along the coast near where the carcasses of the leviathans are taken to be stripped of all the valuable bits before floated out to sea to be disposed of. It’s a bit backwards, but of high strategic importance. A treasure man, in the small kingdom to discuss merging the kingdom into the empire, has disappeared – he went to bed, and his room (heavily guarded – even people in fantasy realms don’t like tax agents) in one of the upper floors was empty the next morning with traces of blood on the bed. Because of the possible political implications, Ana is given the case. She quickly figures out how the agent was murdered but finds another dozen or so questions that need to be answered. At each step, it seems like the killer has anticipated their move, raising the pressure even more in the tense situation.

I adore Ana and Din! They’re such a good combination with Ana being totally aware of what Din is thinking. They’re protective of each other as well, much like Din taking care of an elder relative, or Ana taking care of her young nephew. The mystery was lovely, a bit like an onion where’d they’d peel back one layer to find another. I also love how there’s layers of mysteries within the books: in this one, there’s the question about what happened to the treasury officer and why, but also the ongoing one about what exactly are the leviathans. Sometimes I get tripped up by fantasy novels and fighting with the world building, but not in this one (and the previous one, The Tainted Cup) which I found easy to read. In a few spots, Din didn’t know something which allowed the writer to have another character explain it to him and thus spell it out for the reader.

Highly, highly recommended. I’m already looking forward to the next one in the series. I received a copy of this from NetGallley.com that I voluntarily reviewed.

Many years ago, RJB with a single book made me a lifelong fan, and every book of his I’ve read since has only reinforced that opinion for me. And now he gives us A Drop of Corruption, which might very well be the best thing he’s written to date.

It’s been a few years since the events of The Tainted Cup, and Ana and Din have a comfortable partnership, solving multiple cases across the breadth of the empire. But when they arrive in the Kingdom of Yarrow to investigate the death of a diplomat, what starts as a locked room mystery quickly becomes a conspiracy that threatens the security of the Empire itself. It’s a case that will push them to their limits, and can very well be the final chapter in their partnership.

You thought The Tainted Cup was creative, fascinating and entertaining? RJB made us hold his beer before he sat down to write this one, because holy crap. I just have to start with the worldbuilding, because in this outing we’re in a very edge-of-civilization style setting, and it’s where the biopunk element hits a whole new level. Juxtaposed against another civilization with more mundane technology and governmental systems we get to appreciate firsthand just how different, strange and preferable the Empire is to the more run-of-the-mill style imperiums. Imagine a world where rulers actually decided to focus on their subjects and not on their pride, greed or vanity. Imagine a world where the one makes the sacrifice for the betterment of the many, regardless of whether their contribution will be acknowledged. These are all things RJB plays around with in this story in all the best ways.

And then lets get to the mystery. It begins with a locked room story, and what for other books would be the entire mystery is little more than a jumping point for RJB’s story with dramatic ramifications. One of my main issues with The Tainted Cup is that we were never quite given the full picture to figure it out ourselves, in this outing we get everything in the most random, obscure ways that have major ramifications. Read carefully and read well. Aside from the mystery that’s the overarching plot, we also have the mystery of Ana that gets dived deep into in this book, and RJB sets us up spectacularly with a neat bit of misdirection in that regard. And then there’s Din’s personal circumstances, quite familiar to the average reader in the predatory way one of his obligations rears its head, that combined with his other aspirations creates a friction point between him and Ana that gets played with. Of course, every dynamic duo has to go through a moment like this to come out stronger at the end, but if they do I’ll leave for you to find out - never assume you know what’s going to happen when RJB’s at the wheel.

For overall reading experience, this was just start to finish entertaining. The mystery hooks you deep and keeps you going, multiple threats on short deadlines rear their head to keep the tension and intensity up even as we delve deeper into the mystery and technology of this incredible world. Mystery, fantasy and horror are combined in such a wonderful way in so many moments of this book that there’s little doubt in my mind this is a book that’s just going to be better on a re-read. A wonderful instalment in what I hope is going to be a series longer than a trilogy. This world is rich in content, strange in texture and with plenty to explore and enjoy. And if you liked The Tainted Cup, you’re absolutely going to get your fix with this one.

NOTE: Youtube link goes public on March 5th, 2025 @ 3 PM EST.

Din's eidetic memory and Ana's inhuman intellect have helped them solve mysteries all over the empire, but nothing prepares them for what they encounter in the backwater of Yarrowdale. A bureaucrat who vanishes from a locked room and reappears in pieces is just the first link in a conspiracy that's been brewing for years. Their opponent is omniscient, ruthless, and horrifyingly adept at the dark magic that passes for science in this world. Simultaneously a fast-paced horror/fantasy/mystery and a scathing indictment of corrupt institutions. Ana is chaos personified, and the morally-tortured Din is her ballast.

Murder mystery//Sherlock & Watson//lush, botanical world//political undertones//humor//sinister deeds

I’ve probably mentioned The Tainted cup about 200 times over the last year, so you could say I was VERY excited to read this. And it was a GREAT time. I’m still processing my full thoughts on it and how it compares to my love for book one. Discovering this world for the first time definitely had its charm in Tainted Cup. But the pacing and mystery aspects of book two really shined! Another conundrum, more fascinating world building, and new side characters were introduced (including a new fav character!) Ana is iconic and hilarious as usual, and Din goes through is own complex journey. I love their dynamic. Alongside the humor, the story explores the complexities and darker side of human nature and power.

RJB has managed to create one of the most fascinating worlds that continues to surprise me, without bloating the story via info dumping. Much like book 1, the story feels mostly independent, and yet once again, I am so excited for the next installment 😩 can’t wait to hear all your thoughts once you’ve read it!!

I received an early copy via NetGalley.

This second book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series is somehow more gripping than the first. These books are brilliant: fantasy murder mysteries with a whiff of ancient Rome, overlaid with a veneer of weird horror. Bizarre as the combination is, it works in Bennett's masterful hands.

This mystery is set in an outpost that presents a peculiar mystery: a treasury official vanishes from a locked hotel room, pieces of his body later found in a remote swamp. On the case is Din, a magically-enhanced engraver, meaning he can commit to memory whatever he experiences by aligning it with scent cues. He works for Ana, a Holmesian reclusive genius who is blind, perhaps a lunatic, sometimes driven by bizarre, insatiable hungers and obsessions. She can see patterns no one else can.

This book is an incredibly fast read. I had trouble putting it down. I really hope Bennett continues this series for many more books, as I am in awe of the world and characters he has created.