The first instalment of the Shadow of the Leviathan series cured my recent, long-standing, reader’s block. Therefore I was very excited to read the seThe first instalment of the Shadow of the Leviathan series cured my recent, long-standing, reader’s block. Therefore I was very excited to read the second, and I was not disappointed. If anything, I found this one more satisfying than the first!
Having read The Tainted Cup, I was aware of the “Holmes-and-Watson� similarities (I have read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories. The audiobooks are particularly marvellous!) Therefore when I read the blurb for A Drop of Corruption, before I’d even started the book, I was hooked. The “locked-room murder� is the feather in the mystery genres cap! Upon reading the synopsis, I immediately thought of the locked-room murder in the Sherlock Holmes Adventure, the Speckled Band.
Din and Ana were as weird and wonderful as they were previously (if not more so). I love a complex, anti-hero, morally-grey character. However, I will say that I wish I understood them better � although perhaps that is a contradiction in itself. Can so complex a character ever be fully understood by the reader? I also love Ana’s potty mouth. Nevertheless, the use of the word “piss� so frequently really does take me aback every time. Perhaps I am more of a prude than I thought! Bizarre that I find her swearing charming, but “piss� jarring. I imagine a therapist would have a field day with that. Moving on swiftly...
Whilst I so want to know and understand everything about our main characters, I also want to know and understand their world! Whilst I feel I have imagination enough to fill the Empire and the locations within it that the stories have taken us so far, I could not for the life of me imagine the Shroud. I think I perhaps do not have the scientific knowledge to understand the composition of it. I get enormous lettuce leaf vibes.
Having reached the halfway point of the book, I marvelled that the literary structure of Robert Jackson Bennett’s books is very similar to that of Terry Pratchett’s in the Discworld series (another favourite). “You’re reading too much into it,� I thought, before feeling vindicated upon reading the Author’s Note, in which he himself quotes Pratchett.
I now eagerly await the return of Ana, Din and � dare I hope � Malo.
Upon writing this review, I searched Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to source various quotes and references. Whilst doing so I realised that, whilst RJB may be a new author to me, they certainly aren’t ‘new.â€� On the contrary, it seems I have a new, complete, best-selling series to start whilst we wait for the next Shadows of the Leviathans episode. I can’t wait to get my metaphorical teeth into The Founders Trilogy.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily....more
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