In Review: The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (Spoiler Free)
Tropes are an interesting thing. If handled poorly, they are a set of osmium shoes, dragging a story to the depths of forgettability faster than an author could imagine. If handled well, they are a love letter to the genres they are pulled from. All stories have tropes, but none have so many as the mystery novel.
Mysteries, as a genre, don't just have tropes, they have rituals. There are forms to be observed, shibboleths that must be sounded out, and plots that must be executed with extreme care and cleverness. In short, there is a formula. Ironically, this formula means that mystery often isn't about the puzzle. It isn't about the crime. It's about the characters and their relationships, and what those characters and relationships have to say about real people in the real world. The crime is merely the pretext, the inciting incident. When the book is over, the crime must have done two things. First, it must have made sense, otherwise the reader is unable to believe in the ability of the characters to solve it. The second thing a crime must do, is it must be ever so slightly less than the detective. It must challenge them, but with few exceptions, it must not break them.
With this in mind, I can say, quite cheerfully, that if you are a mystery fan, you have read The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption before. You've probably read them many times, but I doubt you've read a version that is this good. Part of this excellence is how moving the mystery to a fantasy world enhances the believably. Sherlock Holmes is the genre's archetype for a reason, but his leaps of logic tend towards the ridiculous and impossible. They make sense in the context of his story, but fall apart when placed against reality. Ana and Din though, are the experts of their world, with access to magic and alchemy. We the audience are not in a position to contradict their expertise, so long as that expertise isn't effectively challenged by another character. This prevents moments of "Wait a moment, that's not how that works!" that can often interfere with the immersion of a mystery, when an expert in a field clashes with an authors more limited understanding.
It helps even more that Ana and Din are believable characters in their own right. While they are clearly an homage to the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, they have their own quirks and complement each other in different ways. Ana is a foulmouthed and irritable creature with predilection for "moodies" (though in the second book her vice of choice appears to be gluttony, in a manner similar to Nero Wolfe). Interacting with people wears on her, to the point she wears a blindfold when out amongst the world. On the outside, she is a mess, but this mess hides the brilliance of her mind. Internally, she is organized, hyper-focused, and dedicated to her task. Din on the other hand is much better with people. He's intelligent, but not brilliant. His perfect memory grants him a degree of capability, but he can't form the connections that Ana can. He can't make the same leaps of logic that Ana can. While externally he is the more put together, Din lacks the conviction, and over the course of these two books he struggles to maintain Ana's focus.
Together they complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, but they are also whole in a way that quirky detectives usually aren't. Sherlock doesn't work as a character without Watson. Watson's personality is a little too tied to Sherlock. Ana and Din are their own people. They wouldn't be as effective separately, but there is a sense, that they would still be doing their best in a broken, shroompunk world.
However, Shadow of the Leviathan isn't just a mystery series, it's a Fantasy series, and Fantasy lives and dies on worldbuilding. So how does that stack up?
It's really good, though not handled quite as well as the character work is. If I had to describe it, it would be 'Lovecraftian gods kept back by the walls from Attack on Titan, if they were manned by shoompunk roman legionnaire alchemists.' It's awesome! But it also isn't that easy to follow, especially when abstract concepts are being discussed or when alchemical detail work is being brought up. This, unfortunately, means that the details by which the plot hangs are occasionally a little tremulous. The conversations always flow well, but sometimes I found it hard to put the details of the conversation in their proper context. For instance, someone might claim something is impossible, but it isn't always clear why it is impossible and whether it is actually impossible or whether they have a flawed understanding of the world. This often and unfortunately coincided with a number of plot points, muddying the waters of an already convoluted story. The second book does a lot to correct this, but it hasn't gone away completely.
But if you can get past that minor flaw, I highly recommend the Shadow of the Leviathan series to anyone who is interested. There are very few worlds as well realized as this one, and few characters as fascinating. If you are a fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky, Eldritch Horror, or Sherlock Holmes, It is well worth picking up the Tainted Cup now, and A Drop of Corruption when it releases in April. (That's right I got an ARC!) Thanks for reading.
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Edit: I don't know why this is tagged as deals. That's odd, because I didn't have any tags on this post.