I have been itching to read A Drop of Corruption since I got it on my shelf but diligently waited until this moment of post-PhD chaos to start. What a spectacular, immersive, and thoroughly entertaining fantasy mystery this is! Now I definitely know I will be snooping around Robert Jackson Bennett’s works to get more of his brand of fantasy.

In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, an impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—abducted from his quarters while the door and windows remained locked from the inside, in a building whose entrances and exits are all under constant guard. To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial investigator, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol. Before long, Ana’s discovered that they’re not investigating a disappearance, but a murder—and that the killing was just the first chess move by an adversary who seems to be able to pass through warded doors like a ghost, and who can predict every one of Ana’s moves as though they can see the future. Worse still, the killer seems to be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud. Here, the Empire’s greatest minds dissect fallen Titans to harness the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the destruction would be terrible indeed—and the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn. Din has seen Ana solve impossible cases before. But this time, with the stakes higher than ever and Ana seemingly a step behind their adversary at every turn, he fears that his superior has finally met an enemy she can’t defeat.

A Drop of Corruption, much like The Tainted Cup, drops us into the initial stages of an investigation that does not shy away from gruesome and graphic detail. This brand of gruesome and graphic is not so much to do with how bloody it is but the ways in which plant and organic matter have aided or caused such a death. It comes from the fantasy magic and elements that make this world incredibly fresh, unique, and engaging to read. Moreover, the characters and setting also contain many fascinating additions, augmentations, and natural elements which turn this world into something else. I don’t think I have been so mesmerised by a fantasy world before, and the world within Robert Jackson Bennett’s Shadow of the Leviathan series certainly provides much to be wonderstruck by.

The characters are so wild and whacky and brilliant and crass, it really makes this fantasy world feel authentic and lived-in. On an individual level, characters like Din and Ana create such strange impressions yet demand a particular level of respect – especially in Ana’s case and she can go from 0 to 100 in five seconds – and the same can be said for the minor characters we meet like Malo, the commanders and leaders in charge, and the lower-tier fighters who do the brunt of the dirty work. But interactions between these individuals bring something special into play, something that sticks out and answers questions hiding under the present action. These interactions give us the kinds of people in this world, the driving motivations and goals, the deeper concerns and secrets that point to aspects of humanity and societal expectations, the secrets and curses and unspoken truths about others waiting to be discovered.

I had such a joyous time reading A Drop of Corruption, and RJB is quickly becoming one of my all-time favourite fantasy authors. I’ve got my eyes on The Founders next while I bide my time before the next Ana and Din mystery novel. I hope it is early in 2026 because my need for RJB fantasy might explode after The Founders. I guess we will just have to wait and see!