A Holmes and Watson–style detective duo take the stage in this fantasy with a mystery twist, from the Edgar-winning, multiple Hugo-nominated Robert Jackson Bennett “Great fantasy detective stories are too rare, but Bennett—[a] rising star of fantasy—more than delivers.”—Charlie Jane Anders, The Washington Post “A thoroughly satisfying delight from start to finish.”—Amal El-Mohtar, The New York Times Book Review In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible. Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home. At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective. As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect. By an “endlessly inventive” (Vulture) author with a “wicked sense of humor” (NPR), The Tainted Cup mixes the charms of detective fiction with brilliant world-building to deliver a fiendishly clever mystery that’s at once instantly recognizable and thrillingly new.

We read The Tainted Cup when a couple of NUBClubbers asked Byron to give us a fantasy novel that would change our minds about the genre and by and large The Tainted Cup succeeded in showing us a kind of storyworld we hadn't seen before. Bennett created a world in which human bioengineering using plant life has created superhuman specialized and in which an empire protects its people against giant titans that invade from the ocean every year. In this world, Bennett creates a Sherlock Holmes and Watson pair and has them investigate a mystery that explores corruption, power, and how the law and government function. The last point is what truly made the book interesting -- it's one of the few things many of us had read that offers a believable picture of why an Empire would be a necessary evil and how different power groups would exploit it. As a Sherlock story, Bennett also delivers the goods, creating a comprehensible mystery with lots of twists that makes sense when solved but still impresses you with its depth. We withheld our highest marks for a couple of reasons. Aside from the protagonist, Din, no character really evolves or develops, and even Din's revelations are pretty thin. This is in part a product of the Sherlock Holmes structure, but we felt that there was a ceiling on how good the novel could be when it's sticking so tightly to that formula. But this criticism doesn't detract from the fact that the novel has an original world, a good plot, and a solid story. If you're looking for something different in your fantasy, The Tainted Cup is a good place to start.