You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

A review by vigil
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley. 

this was an interesting one. RJB made his anti-monarchial sentiments very clear with this one, though I don't quite think the empire came out unscathed either, even if i remained unconvinced by the grand speeches about the glories of serving your nation (but that's on account of my personal politics). 

malo was an excellent addition to the plot, and played off of din especially well. and din himself.....
yeah having sex you don't really enjoy because you are sad and bored is a bad idea but hey. enjoy your fuckboy era ig.
i am glad to see the further development of ana in this book, especially as we got more answers as to what the fuck her entire deal was. much of this book was not spent exploring the politics of the empire (which i think is somewhat of a missed opportunity, even if i understand RJB's intentions) but instead on the decaying kingdom of yarrowdale, but i don't think for a second we are finished with it. 

i think the empire of khanum is a bit odd in contrast to most empires, due to it's odd structures and supernatural abilities of the citizens, so it sort of plays a "good guy" in comparison to yarrowdale. this does somewhat muddy the anti-monarchial themes in this book, and the anti-imperialist themes of the first, but considering that outside of ana and din are two imperial representatives were
thelani and kardas, who got mulitple subordinates killed in a secret experiment, and was fully willing to continue bank rolling the slave trade respectively, maybe the word i ought to use is less shit.
still i think the empire loses much of it's complexity in the narrow focus on yarrowdale, and the political world is written with a disconcertingly liberal view for my tastes. the empire itself operates off of the bodies and debts of people they have tied to it's service, which is certainly not the slavery of yarrowdale, but operates off of similar principles. i don't think it necessarily comes off clean, but it is a noticeable hole in it's political commentary. but nobody is reading fantasy sherlock and watson for anti-imperalist theory except for me, so i'll move on. 

the mystery is just as odd and twisty as book one, and ended being an interesting journey considering
we had already determined the culprit halfway through the novel, and from there spent the rest of the book untangling his web so to speak.
it was a risk choice for a murder mystery, but given the moriartyesque nature of the antagonist, i think it paid off. 

all in all i enjoyed myself! RJB is at least writing another book, and i'm hoping that his wish for an episodic style murder mystery comes true. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings