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A review by tobin_elliott
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Well wasn't this one a pleasant surprise.
Not that I should be surprised...Robert Jackson Bennett has never let me down. I've always enjoyed each of his novels that I've read...yet...weirdly...for some reason, perhaps based on the book's description, I rarely expect to.
But this one? Hmmm...I still think American Elsewhere is his best, but this is a very close second.
Yes, it's in a fantasy world setting, so...how to describe this? Imagine if Terry Pratchett joined forces with Jonathan Maberry, mashing their fantasy worlds of Discworld and Kagen together, then Pratchett wrote his own Holmes and Watson characters, making Sherlock far more housebound and feral and foulmouthed and calling her Ana Dolabra, and Watson far younger, far less sure of himself, and responsible for being Ana's bloodhound and eyes on the ground, and calling him Dinios Kol, or Din.
The rest of the story should be enjoyed as it unfolds, with no spoilers. But it's a mystery within a mystery within a mystery, and it's so much fun.
Easily one of my favourite novels of the year.
Not that I should be surprised...Robert Jackson Bennett has never let me down. I've always enjoyed each of his novels that I've read...yet...weirdly...for some reason, perhaps based on the book's description, I rarely expect to.
But this one? Hmmm...I still think American Elsewhere is his best, but this is a very close second.
Yes, it's in a fantasy world setting, so...how to describe this? Imagine if Terry Pratchett joined forces with Jonathan Maberry, mashing their fantasy worlds of Discworld and Kagen together, then Pratchett wrote his own Holmes and Watson characters, making Sherlock far more housebound and feral and foulmouthed and calling her Ana Dolabra, and Watson far younger, far less sure of himself, and responsible for being Ana's bloodhound and eyes on the ground, and calling him Dinios Kol, or Din.
The rest of the story should be enjoyed as it unfolds, with no spoilers. But it's a mystery within a mystery within a mystery, and it's so much fun.
Easily one of my favourite novels of the year.