Review: A Drop of Corruption

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book, the second in the series called Shadow of the Leviathan (at least for book #1, The Tainted Cup ) apparently has the publisher changing its mind and emphasizing the mystery aspects. The tag on this one reads, "An Ana and Din mystery."

Which is fine. I happen to prefer the worldbuilding and characterization end of the spectrum, and this book still excels at both. We find out more about the Empire of Khanum, built on substances derived from the highly mutagenic leviathans, monstrous kaiju from the sea who are simultaneously the enemy and heart of the Empire. We also have two layered, well-drawn characters, the investigator Ana and her assistant Din, and in particular, we find out more about who (and what) Ana really is. I suppose the mystery aspects have been brought to the fore because the mystery genre sells better than fantasy, and the mystery in this one is also well constructed. But make no mistake, the core of this series is its fascinating, oozing, horrifying world, and the trap the Empire has built for itself. It cannot survive without the leviathans--they are the entire basis for its economy and existence. At the same time, the sea monsters are growing ever larger and nastier, and the Empire is only barely managing to contain them.

I imagine this will come to a head in the third book, which I will snap up the instant it is released. (It also helps that these are beautiful books, which look quite lovely sitting on your bookshelf.) But this one takes a harder look at why Ana and Din do what they do, and their concept of justice:

"Oh no," she said, sighing. "I do not mean to mock you, Din. For I understand. Justice is not a terribly satisfying task, is it? The Engineer can see a bridge span a river, and marvel at what they made. The Legionnaire can look upon the carcass of a leviathan,and know they've saved countless lives. And the Apoth can watch a body mend and heal and change, and smile. But the Iudex...we are not granted such favors."

She leaned closer to the glass. "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?"

This is very much the "middle book" of the series, setting things up for the finale. But it is still a satisfying book all on its own, and I cannot wait for the next.

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