The Tainted Cup

I recently read an excellent new book called The Tainted Cup. It is a mystery story told in a different world. It is also one of those books that I enjoyed so much that I’d make up reasons to go to bed earlier so that I could read more before falling asleep.

My favorite thing about this book is the characters. Ana Dolabra is instantly one of my all time favorite characters. She’s funny and extremely competent. Her dialogue is sharp and perfect. She’s a deeply flawed human being, but then that seems to be part of what I like in a great character. If I think about my other favorites she shares a tendency to put the truth over compassion similarly to Walter Bishop from Fringe. She can be cutting when people aren’t performing to the level she expects similarly to Jackson Lamb from Slow Horses. And she swears not quite as much as Christen Avasarala from the Expanse. Her dialogue though is so well done, she reminds me of Kerr Avon from Blake’s 7, but she’s less selfish that Avon, she just doesn’t quite appreciate other humans on the level one would think a person with a healthy mindset would.

One of the interesting things I noticed involves genre. On the surface this seems like a fantasy book: it has giant monsters, the technology isn’t modern. But in some ways the setting is more like science fiction with a different type of technology. Many of the people in the book are augmented, but they aren’t magically augmented. There aren’t spell books or people chosen by gods. They derive technologies from the tissue of the monsters that they’re fighting. This is more biochemistry than magic. In many ways this is a multiple genre mashup: there are elements of sci-fi, sword fights, mystery, and horror.

It’s an alternate world, but it’s definitely not a medieval Europe analog. The Empire seems to be influenced by a mix of Roman, Chinese, and even a few aspects of the Holy Roman Empire. I’d say it’s completely unique, but the setting has some similarities with Attack on Titan (a walled civilization under the threat of attack from giant monsters). Still it felt unique enough and so well realized that I wondered if the author had the idea fully formed or had been influenced by Attack on Titan.

I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Robert Jackson Bennett. I was at a convention in New Orleans a little over a decade ago when he said of American Elsewhere that it was “Twin Peaks meets Lovecraft.” I bought a copy then and there, and loved that book. I also particularly enjoyed his City of Stairs series. I liked the Foundry Side books, but there wasn’t a character that drew me in as strongly as American Nightmare, City of Stairs, or now The Tainted Cup.

I read a lot. I can’t get to sleep unless I read something first, but it’s a few books a year at most that are so tempting that I look forward to going to bed just to get started reading. The Tainted Cup is excellent, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.