syrena_of_the_lake

Last year I read "The Tainted Cup," which kicks off the "Shadow of the Leviathan" series; detective Din, who's been magically modified to have a perfect memory, goes around conducting interviews for his boss Ana, who's brilliant but easily overstimulated, in an empire built on a bio-hacking arms race between humans and sea monsters. My impression of that one was that, as always, Bennett's worldbuilding is fantastic, and the mystery plot was well done. However, I wasn't as engrossed by the characters: Din was harboring a terrible secret that turned out to be neither, and Ana was completely unable to hold her tongue even in front of important people, while the "good guys bending the rules but getting away with it" versus "bad guys breaking the rules and causing problems" felt like a distinction without a difference at times.

Well, I am here to report that "A Drop of Corruption" sticks with the stuff I loved from "The Tainted Cup," while improving upon the stuff I didn't!

Din's personal issues seem more prosaic here: he's working as a civil servant to support his family, but dogged by his father's debts. Last book, he had a thing for Captain Kepheus Strovi, and this book establishes that, a year later, it was more than just a fling; Din still carries a torch for Kepheus, and in the latter's absence, has been having a lot of casual sex as an ineffective coping mechanism. (This book establishes that he enjoys unfulfilling one-night stands with women as well as men.) If anything, I think "A Drop of Corruption" glided over his reading difficulties almost too well; there are several places where Din just...reads stuff, instead of asking for help.

Ana, for her part, is as foul-mouthed as ever around Din, but is less of a nuisance around others. And one of the suspects who, if ultimately innocent of the worst of the conspiracy, was still acting outside the law, does face consequences for their actions.

This book moves the plot to Yarrow, a small monarchy northeast of Khanum. Because of its geographic location, it has great strategic value for the Imperial scientists and researchers; almost a century ago, the king signed a treaty to incorporate it into Khanum a hundred years later. So as that deadline is approaching, there's lots of political and economic integration, but Ana and Din are still technically not on the Empire's soil, which puts their investigation in a legally murky status. And I think that level of "...well, I dunno if our jurisdiction applies, but let's go with it..." makes Ana's shenanigans easier to tolerate.

We meet a new supporting character, Tira Malo, a native of Yarrow who has been modified to give her preternatural senses that help with the investigation. Malo's cynicism about the way monarchy and society work in Yarrow felt like a realistic POV.

There's some potty humor:
Spoilers for this and one of Bennett's other books:
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I'm not much of a horror person, and this series has lots of body horror: skin turning into leaves, leaves turning into bones, bizarre research facilities that are made of enormous plant and animal tissue. Yet, with Bennett, it almost always works for me, it's just "part of the aesthetic, let's roll with it." I was squicked by some forced drug use as applies to Din in his investigations. (Ana has her own, very idiosyncratic, methods of sensory stimulus or dampening that work for her; she sometimes enjoys overindulging in lots of food, and/or doing lots and lots of drugs, but that's her own choice.) I've seen some discussion on other people's reviews that sort of primed me to look for foreshadowing about where the series might go later, and that felt intriguing without being too much of a distraction from the main plot.

The way things ultimately resolve (or don't) with Din's feelings for Strovi wasn't really satisfying. But ultimately, it's pretty high praise that the weakest part of the book for me was the author's note at the end. I don't think it's a great look to dunk on other creative works in your own acknowledgements. And the book itself does a good job of communicating the message that "as cool as Yarrow looks to Din" (they don't have the biotech that Khanum does, so all the royal buildings are made of stone, which to Din connotes opulence) "kings aren't some divine creatures, they're just humans, and the power structures are really unjust and unfair for people like Malo." The note goes to tendentiously make the point that Did You Know Tyranny Is Bad Mkay, but like...what do you call the Empire? They don't exactly have the right to use force to unilaterally bring Yarrow under their control; are they at fault if they just leave Yarrow alone? IDK. I personally have been in the position of "aw jeez I'm just a miniscule civil servant, what am I supposed to do to fix all the problems of the world," so I could sympathize with Din, but the note felt tacked-on. Overall, though, this is a fun puzzle, and a fast and engrossing read!

(This has nothing to do with the book itself but I loved the cover art on the hardcover edition. Blue flowers, and silver leaves growing out of a hand. Silhouettes of people in the corner--I think Ana in her robes, Din in a conical hat, Malo with her bow, and who's the fourth figure with the spear? Thelenai???)

P. S. The book has a one page "the story so far" at the beginning, so if you want to skip "Tainted Cup" and jump in here, you can do that too!

Bingo: This series is a perfect fit for the Biopunk square. Could also count for A Book In Parts, Published in 2025, LGBTQIA protagonist.