Let me just say up front, this is not a book for the faint of heart, and would definitely be PG-13 if not higher given some of the content, themes and descriptions. Including some grisly deaths. But that said, all of it is within context to the world in which this story is set. It’s a dark, definitely bleak story, and yet?

And yet, Bennett does something unique amid all the darkness he gives us hope, he gives us humour and plenty of courage, as his characters fight through the harsh realities of their lives and situations. In the end, despite the tragedies and hardship, friendship, commitment, strength and courage bring a disparate band of diverse characters together to overcome a great deal. 

I was blown away with the world building in this one, which was beautifully wrought in all it’s grim darkness. The characters themselves range from the well written protagonist, Sancia Grado, a small time thief, to several secondary characters that support and surround her story and journey, to some wonderfully sketched foes who just wreak of evil intent.  

Our heroes hardships unite them in going up against a terrifying foe the likes of which they (and us) have yet to fully understand. 

Throughout Bennett teases us with Sancia’s past, and events that formed and shaped her childhood and life. Taking us on a wild ride of revelation after revelation, as he spins us a marvellous fantasy hideous in places, but hopeful in others. And gives us just enough humour, levity, and light to lessen the bleak situation our erstwhile heroine finds herself in when, as a petty thief tasked with stealing what, at first glimpse, is a simple wooden box, turns out to be so much more. Giving us, the reader, one hell of a ride along with Sancia, as she tries to figure it all out without getting herself killed in the process. 

This intricate, complex, well defined, tightly woven story is dense, ambitious and, in the end, delivers on a grand scale. Thoughtful, and hopeful, it’s devastating but it’s also a book you won’t be able to put down till you’ve finished and then, you’ll be left wanting more. I know I was.

I can’t wait for book two, Shorefall, to see what happens next.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

As with book one in this series from Robert Jackson Bennett, A Drop Of Corruption is an action-packed adventure come murder mystery, and fantastical exploration of a magical world that sees our erstwhile heroes, Dinios Kol and brilliantly eccentric Ana Dolabra, doing what they do best. Sifting through the clues however confounding and tedious a job, to catch a brilliantly clever killer.

This time around, Din and Ana are far away from all they know in Yarrowdale, a territory outside of the Empire. But one on the cusp of joining the Empire. That is, till a high ranking officer of the Treasury delegation leading the negotiations with the King is murdered. A murder that necessitates Ana’s sharp mind and Din’s formidable skill, as an engraver, at committing every last detail to memory.

Untangling a plot that has lies and corruption at every twisted turn, Ana and Din are in a race to find a killer and get to the heart of a mystery with so many layers and misdirects, you may be forgiven for feeling bewildered. But thankfully we have Din and Ana, the Empire, and all the checks and balances we wish existed in our own world.

“This work can never satisfy, Din, for it can never finish. The dead cannot be restored. Vice and bribery will never be totally banished from the cantons. And the drop of corruption that lies within every society shall always persist. The duty of the Iudex is not to boldly vanquish it but to manage it. We keep the stain from spreading, yes, but it is never gone. Yet this job is perhaps the most important in all the Iyalets, for without it, well … The Empire would come to look much like Yarrow, where the powerful and the cruel prevail without check. And tell me—does that realm look capable of fighting off a leviathan?”

A wonderfully complex murder and political mystery that flies along through a few hundred pages without ever missing a beat, without ever dragging or rushing, paced perfectly and with constant tension and high stakes and the satisfying feeling you get when you read a story that’s plotted and executed with confident mastery.

Bravo Mister Bennett, I cannot wait for book three, A Trade of Blood, coming out in June, to see where you take us next.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧