Review: The Tainted Cup

/ Eric Primm
Some books just click with you. The plot, the characters, the setting, the mystery, the themes, etc., all just work together to make a truly wonderful reading experience. The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett did that for me. It’s a book that just hit on all cylinders, and I cannot wait for the next one in this promising series.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

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TL;DR

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is a delight to read. It’s an innovative world filled with mystery and oddity. The characters are wonderful; the mystery is excellent; and the setting is fantastic. Highly recommended.

Review: The Tainted Cup by Robert Bennett Jackson. Book Cover: A book in black leather with gold lettering that says the name. Green vines grow to the left.
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From the Publisher

Review: The Tainted Cup by Robert Bennett Jackson

The world of The Tainted Cup is strange in the best possible way. It reminded me a lot of the videogame Against the Storm. (Probably because I’m addicted to that game.) The world incorporates plants and biology in wonderful ways. For example, the people who work for the Empire are ‘enhanced’ in certain ways. Din, the main character, has been altered so that he cannot forget anything…ever. He is apprenticed to Iudex Inspector Ana Dolabra, who is enhanced in unknown ways herself. Din does the legwork, and he acts like the Watson in this duo. Ana is definitely the Sherlock character. She’s voracious in consuming knowledge and excels at piecing things together. Logic and deduction are her tools, and she’s a master artisan with them. As a downside, she can’t handle much stimulation. In fact, she spends most of the novel with a blindfold around her eyes. It isolates her and lets her think. The downsides of Din’s alterations won’t come until late in his life when his brain is full of memories. But he also harbors another secret. He’s dyslexic. Not a concern in our world, but it’s one that he hides from everyone for fear of being drummed out of his apprenticeship. When a particularly gruesome murder happens to a high ranking Engineer in their town, Ana and Din must investigate. The death is caused by sudden plant growth from the torso of the Engineer in the home of one of the richest and most powerful families in the Empire. Soon, the death leads them to others in a city that protects the Empire from the Leviathans that emerge from the sea during the wet season. The investigation is also conducted in a town under evacuation warning as the leviathans rise from the sea. Can Din and Ana figure what the murderer is trying to do before the town is destroyed?

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is a first person point of view novel that puts a mystery in fantasy clothing. It’s an engrossing read that gets better with each turn of the page. Bennett layers all the elements together to make a story that grabs you and won’t let you go. Highly recommended.

Setting

Bennett is wonderful at creating worlds. His Divine Cities series were set in a weird and interesting world. As much as I loved those settings, The Tainted Cup surpasses them hands down. It’s a verdant setting. Leafy greenness suffuses the book, and reagents open doors that are blocked by plants. Plants make up much of the building material and, in some cases, technology. There’s a fungus that acts as an air conditioner.

Then there’s the leviathans themselves. Their threat hangs over the novel throughout. The novel takes place in the Titan’s Path. It’s where the Titan’s emerge from the sea and walk on land. When they die, the magic in their blood and bodies change the very landscape itself. This creates the magic of the world and the modifications that people live with here. Bennett never explains them or their purpose, and that’s perfect.

Characters

Din is the main character, and he’s wonderful. In the beginning of the book, he’s more unsure of himself; he’s worried he’ll be found out and lose his lucrative position. Coming from a poor family far from the center of the Empire, Din sends his money home to his family in the hopes of moving them to safer locales inland. He’s insightful and improvises well. The novel treats him as an extension of Ana’s will in the world, but he very clearly surpasses that at various points throughout the novel.

Ana, on the other hand, is a wild character. She has zero f’s to give. It’s clear that she’s a woman used to money, and readers learn that she may have been sent to the outer lands in disgrace. She cares about Din in her own, and we see that throughout the novel. Later on, we get to see her mentoring him, and it’s clear that she’s training him for something great. The more the reader learns about her throughout the novel, the more she grows on you.

Themes

The themes of this book hit home. I’d love to discuss them, but the ones that stuck with me are spoilers. I can say one that that Bennett gives us at the end of the novel that struck a chord deep within me. To paraphrase Bennett, the more people think society is broken, the more broken it becomes. Anyone in the U.S. has to feel this. Trying to encourage people – regardless of party – to vote is often met with what’s the point? And it’s hard to argue with that. Bennett’s novel is filled with people trying to improve and better society. It also contains some who are willing to do what it takes to improve themselves. There are Engineers literally trying to patch a breach in the walls that protect society. I’m looking forward to discussing this more with others when they’re read it.

Conclusion

Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Tainted Cup was a pure delight to read. It introduces a wonderful world with excellent characters. I cannot wait to return to Bennett’s world and follow Din and Ana on their next investigation. Highly recommended.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is available from Del Rey Books on February 6th, 2024.

© PrimmLife.com 2024

8.5 out of 10!