A Drop of Corruption: An Ana and Din Mystery (Shadow of the Leviathan)
NATIONAL BESTSELLER ⢠ONE OF BOOKPAGEâS TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR ⢠AN ELLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
The eccentric detective Ana Dolabra matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant fantasy-mystery from the author of The Tainted Cup.
âWonderfully clever and compulsively readable . . . another winning blend of fantasy and classic detection.ââPublishers Weekly
In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empireâs reach, a Treasury officer has disappeared into thin airâvanishing from a room within a heavily guarded tower, its door and windows locked from the inside.
To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.
Ana soon discovers that they are investigating not a disappearance but a murderâand one of surpassing cunning, carried out by an opponent who can pass through warded doors like a ghost.
Worse still, the killer may be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud, where the Empire harvests fallen titans for the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.
Din has seen his superior solve impossible cases before. But as the death toll grows and their quarry predicts each of Anaâs moves with uncanny foresight, he fears that she has at last met an enemy she canât defeat.
The eccentric detective Ana Dolabra matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant fantasy-mystery from the author of The Tainted Cup.
âWonderfully clever and compulsively readable . . . another winning blend of fantasy and classic detection.ââPublishers Weekly
In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empireâs reach, a Treasury officer has disappeared into thin airâvanishing from a room within a heavily guarded tower, its door and windows locked from the inside.
To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.
Ana soon discovers that they are investigating not a disappearance but a murderâand one of surpassing cunning, carried out by an opponent who can pass through warded doors like a ghost.
Worse still, the killer may be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud, where the Empire harvests fallen titans for the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.
Din has seen his superior solve impossible cases before. But as the death toll grows and their quarry predicts each of Anaâs moves with uncanny foresight, he fears that she has at last met an enemy she canât defeat.
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I gave 4.75 to the previous book, and this one was a five throughout. I had some reservations or small issues with it here and there, but still, it was worth 5 stars until...well, the end. It's a bit disappointing and predictable. I canât tell why without spoilers, but the ending ( maybe the last 5 chapters) made it drop to 4.5
( lower than the first one, then). Still incredibly entertaining, fun, mysterious, and I couldnât put it down.
I will say that this book has a better mystery, a better investigation, better stakes, and the political aspects here are far better developed and more intricated than in the first one. Ana feels finally as her own character rather than just being a pale copy of Sherlock Holmes ( my main issue with the first book). Also, everything has a purpose to be there. Nothing is put just for show or unnecessary reasons . There are no loose ends, at least from what I can tell.
I can't wait for the third book and just hope we would have more character development in that one since it was merely in this book. The mystery and the investigation are the main characters here more than anything else, which i can appreciate. We had good introductions in the first book, so in that regard, it's more a wish than a real complaint.
Saying that there is no character development might be a bit unfair, but aside from trivial soap opera-esk obstacles and personal ordeals that Din go through, there isn't much.
What I mean : *spoilers*
He struggles with three things : money issues, he wants to change his job and has too many one-night stands. Pretty bland stuff imo, even if there are good reasons for them to be mentioned. They don't equal the character's depth. To me, at least.
And yes, you have some revelations about Ana, but I don't understand why it took so long for everyone to discover it. I did, like mid way, and I'm no Iudex investigator.
.....End of spoilers....
( lower than the first one, then). Still incredibly entertaining, fun, mysterious, and I couldnât put it down.
I will say that this book has a better mystery, a better investigation, better stakes, and the political aspects here are far better developed and more intricated than in the first one. Ana feels finally as her own character rather than just being a pale copy of Sherlock Holmes ( my main issue with the first book). Also, everything has a purpose to be there. Nothing is put just for show or unnecessary reasons . There are no loose ends, at least from what I can tell.
I can't wait for the third book and just hope we would have more character development in that one since it was merely in this book. The mystery and the investigation are the main characters here more than anything else, which i can appreciate. We had good introductions in the first book, so in that regard, it's more a wish than a real complaint.
Saying that there is no character development might be a bit unfair, but aside from trivial soap opera-esk obstacles and personal ordeals that Din go through, there isn't much.
What I mean : *spoilers*
He struggles with three things : money issues, he wants to change his job and has too many one-night stands. Pretty bland stuff imo, even if there are good reasons for them to be mentioned. They don't equal the character's depth. To me, at least.
And yes, you have some revelations about Ana, but I don't understand why it took so long for everyone to discover it. I did, like mid way, and I'm no Iudex investigator.
.....End of spoilers....
âA Drop of Corruptionâ delivers Bennettâs signature worldbuilding, weaving a biotech-alchemy empire thatâs both fascinating and intricate. The pacing, however, feels uneven: the central mystery doesnât fully crystallize until the halfway mark, which makes it harder for the reader to engage as a detective. Anaâs character is deliberately alienatingâa reflection of her divergence through experimentsâbut this distance sometimes limits emotional investment, though Din offers a more relatable perspective.
The side characters are colorful and memorable, yet the overarching lore, especially concerning the Leviathans and the empireâs biotech magic, remains tantalizingly underexplored. This leaves the story rich in atmosphere but occasionally diffuses in focus.
While I found it enjoyable and compelling in its ideas, it doesnât quite reach the impact of Bennettâs first book. For those who love immersive settings and complex ideas more than traditional pacing or early plot reveals, itâs worth the read.
The side characters are colorful and memorable, yet the overarching lore, especially concerning the Leviathans and the empireâs biotech magic, remains tantalizingly underexplored. This leaves the story rich in atmosphere but occasionally diffuses in focus.
While I found it enjoyable and compelling in its ideas, it doesnât quite reach the impact of Bennettâs first book. For those who love immersive settings and complex ideas more than traditional pacing or early plot reveals, itâs worth the read.
I received this DRC from NetGalley.
This was a fun story, much like the first. It has a lot of the same elements: some body horror, Ana knowing more than everyone else, Din still being a little clueless. I would've liked Din to grow a bit more between books, though. I don't know how, at this point, he still thinks he would be able to keep a secret from Ana. It's not like he's gotten way smarter or Ana less so. Some parts are a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed it.
This was a fun story, much like the first. It has a lot of the same elements: some body horror, Ana knowing more than everyone else, Din still being a little clueless. I would've liked Din to grow a bit more between books, though. I don't know how, at this point, he still thinks he would be able to keep a secret from Ana. It's not like he's gotten way smarter or Ana less so. Some parts are a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed it.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with the e-ARC for this book in advance in exchange for an honest review, because let me tell you I could not wait to get my hands on this book. Din and Ana were already two of my favorite new fantasy characters, and the world building here is just absolutely impeccable, so with the addition of the Yarrow culture and Maloâs character, this world is just so vibrant. I could not put this down, reading until 2 in the morning because I had to know what happened next, and just like The Tainted Cup, I figured things out at about Dinâs pace, so I was always guessing. I genuinely canât say enough good things about this sequel, and I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in this series to come out. In my opinion, one of the most exciting new fantasy seriesâ that has come out in at least four or five years!
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