A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan #2)[April 8, 2025]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett starting on April 8, 2025.


Happy Reading!

[Nirkatze]

Thank you!

Series Schedule!
1. The Tainted Cup (March 8) [link]
2. A Drop of Corruption (April 8)

Fairly new, so probably not any easy cheap/library copies.

[Tonari no Emily]

I would like to reread #1 actually! I didn't reread the last BR...

[Nirkatze]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I would like to reread #1 actually! I didn't reread the last BR..."

Oh sweet! Does March 8 work for you Emily, or would you like a different day?

[Tonari no Emily]

That's fine for me! Rachel also commented in Buddy Read Invites that March 8th works for her.

[Ann-Marie]

I nominated book 1 for my IRL book club for March but won't know until next Sunday if it gets picked but I am in regardless. If it does get the nod for book club I just may wait until the end of the 2 weeks to start :)

[Nirkatze]

Whoo, coolbeans! Putting in the request!

[Nirkatze]

Yay! Finally starting!! Man, reading the little precis at the start of the book, introducing/summarizing Ana & Din--with the ending "Together, they bring justice to the empire." I totally heard in my head, as clear as a bell, the Law & Order TV show DUNDUNG chime. You know, the one that follows that opening narration in every episode, the "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories."

[Diana Stormblessed]

I started this one this morning as well. I’m probably 30% in but it’s bit gripping me like the first one. I’m very character driven and this book is all about the case. I need more of case points about the characters. So far the scene where Din goes to the bar was the most interesting part for me.

[Nirkatze]

Through Part I and enjoying. Not quite 30% yet. Interesting--I seem to be feeling more character connections than you so far @Diana--most of what I've noticed has been character....

But whew! There's some rather gross physical descriptions--which is to be expected when you combine murder and fungus magic/tech. I should probably avoid eating while reading. (view spoiler)[The liason Athos, Malo, is fun and biting. I'm looking forward to her getting to know Din well enough that she feels bad about poking him so much. I loved it when she meets Ana for the first time, and gets a little of her own medicine.

Din becoming a chain-smoking nymphomaniac is a little disturbing. But I suppose there are worse vices... like the ones he agreed to supply Ana with at the end of the last book. The way their augments hang over their futures... in a world that requires these kinds of sacrifices... well, I was wondering why Din was so gung-ho to join the Legion, when they have such a high deathrate... Learning about his family debts more in detail too... I hope some help on that comes this book...

I was excited when this started out as a locked room mystery--but man Ana solved that fast! I wonder what the connection of the tapping fingers is, and I imagine it has to tie back to the Hong-Kong-style handover coming up in 10 years, and the Shroud... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Definitely don't be eating while reading Chapter 22.

[Nirkatze]

Or Chapter 23.

Through Chapter 25/Part II. (view spoiler)[I think we got the introduction to our title here--the "drop of corruption" is the Titan's Blood... Similar to what happened with the dapplegrass murderers--caught by their own reagents. Seems like this was a way for our message-leaver to both clean up loose ends and try out his new toys...

I love that we're getting a bit more of the lore of this world, learning about the Khanum and the Emperor, the history of Yarrow etc. The overabundance of Apoths in the city is pretty amusing, and I like their camaraderie.

I'm having fun guessing at the culprit--cold-eyed nobleman being one option, but feels too obvious, especially now with the oathstone connection--but I have no leads otherwise. I'm getting Moriarty feels though--the descriptions of the "White King" feel very Ana, with his insight. I wonder if he'll survive this one, to plague them throughout the series. Pun not intended. At the least--with the hints of Ana's augments coming up a lot--I wonder if they might have the same augment, or if that conversation will happen, and Ana will reveal that hers are different, and she is naturally this insightful... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Oh gods, don't eat during Chapter 30 either. Dammit, why am I always sitting down to a meal during the gross scenes?

[RachelG.]

What I'm thinking is that this book might not be a very good read as you're going to sleep either?

[Nirkatze]

Mm, that's a good question. I actually have never had nightmares, so I'm not a good person to ask for that kind of basis... so far it's mostly gross stuff rather than horrifying stuff...

[Diana Stormblessed]

RachelG. wrote: "What I'm thinking is that this book might not be a very good read as you're going to sleep either?"

It’s not scary at all. Sleep is fine lol

[RachelG.]

I forget what book it was but I was reading something before bed and had dreams that totally related to the book. It was strange.

[Nirkatze]

Those can be fun, if trippy.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Any talk like this seems to loop back to Black Apple Orchard

[Diana Stormblessed]

RachelG. wrote: "I forget what book it was but I was reading something before bed and had dreams that totally related to the book. It was strange."

It’s like how I finally started watching The Last of Us last week. So far I only watched the first episode but immediately had nightmares about being chased by zombies.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Figure it's time to start reading... zoomed through a bunch of other books last night, and this might be my latest BR...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

OK SO... I'm 4hrs in... chapter 19...

(view spoiler)[This series is called Shadow of the Leviathan... and the mystery here includes people harvesting Leviathan/Kraken parts... including bone marrow most likely...

Cephalopods and Octopoids are known to have multiple brains in their tentacles...

And all these people are tapping out morse code messages with their fingers, almost subconsciously...

This is so cool, and giving me mild Cthulhu vibes... especially since the Sherlock lady stand-in learned the monk morse code language and it sounds like something trapped and sending a distress signal... I'm wondering if it's something in the bone marrow transferring...

Also reminding me Garden of Sanctuary, the Wandering Inn book I read recently with a similar messed up section involving (view spoiler)[living inside a dead Cthulhu-monster and eating it's flesh and transforming... (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Ooh, interesting vibes there!

Through Part IV: Death in the High City/Chapter 42 (view spoiler)[I wasn't expecting the twist on the Treasury group's goal being the opposite of what everyone thought. It's interesting seeing an almost-colonized city-state dealing with the question--regress and loose better tech & government or assimilate and lose some of their cultural identity.

Malo initially seems to diss the Empire big--but once she learns about the Empire planning to withdraw, she's unhappy. The dissing seems almost pro forma--you're a Yarrow, you diss the Empire--but she also benefits from it and looks forward to some of the changes, like freedom for the naukari. I wonder if we'll see the reaction for the general public once the word gets out? Will the everyday Yarrow change their tune?

And what is Pyktis's true goal then? I was originally thinking he wanted Yarrow to be independent of the Empire... but now everything seems muddled. Is he just attacking or pointing out the horrors in the Shroud? Is he aiming for power in Yarrow? Revenge against the nobility? Was he one of the naukari? With bringing up the royal tendency towards twins and triplets, and Darhi's twin dying at birth... could Pyktis be that twin--not dead, but maybe disposed of? We don't know anything of Pyktis's past yet... was there something about not knowing how old he was? Or was that a different book... Or could he be a twin of someone else, and replacing them...? (hide spoiler)]

I can see what Diana was saying about getting caught up in the plot--I was all character focused at the beginning but now I'm all about guessing...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I had fun theorizing there, early on before I found anything out...

All finished now, and I'll try and coalesce some thoughts after sleep... up way past my bedtime...

[Nirkatze]

I'm thinking about the royals thing, and keys, and even though (view spoiler)[apparently Pyktis had access to the bank box beforehand on his own, I have to wonder how those leaf-keys would work with identical twins? If say, Pyktis was a royal twin, thought dead, and his twin was high ranking enough to have blanket access on something, would he be able to open everything too? Probably a moot point, but those keys were interesting. I was also thinking about how you could potentially get around them if you were the one who did the keying in the first place, or designed the locks... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

End of Part V/Chapter 54... (view spoiler)[I hate it when I have a theory, and I don't comment about it, and then it turns out to be right earlier than I thought it would be divulged, and I don't get to crow about it.

Totally been thinking about Anna as possibly being a new Khanum attempt--but not from her grafts, from as a child, since she has been this way since she was young... and since her patron is obviously someone very very high in the Imperium, if not the Emperor himself... Is she training to be a new Empress, or simply a test run for further generations?

Still, it's a fun book when you figure everything out early enough, but not too early. I didn't quite have Pyktis nailed down as the Prince until they found "his" body. (hide spoiler)]

And finished! Loved it! (view spoiler)[I love that Ana brought up that old question--"who will watch the watchers?"--interesting that she already counts herself as one of those needing watching, rather than doing the outer-rim watching. And Din her watcher. How much is Din staying on because he realizes the importance of the Iudex, and how much because he realizes the importance of Ana? (hide spoiler)]

These remind me the most of the Empire of the Wolf books--well, similar setup, with a mentor/mentee in the Judicial system of an empire. There's been no talk of picking up that new book yet...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I hear yay on theory comment timing... happens to me all the time in BR threads... or I have to decide how best to comment on theories I had the first time reading, without divulging their veracity...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "End of Part V/Chapter 54... I hate it when I have a theory, and I don't comment about it, and then it turns out to be right earlier than I thought it would be divulged, and I don't get to crow abou..."

I liked reading all 3 Empire of the Wolf books when #3 was coming out... should try to do that with the new trilogy, too, if we can wait 1-2 years...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Otherwise, I think Nirkatze covered my feelings on the reveals nicely... watching the ending play out was chef's kiss... (view spoiler)["I HAVE RIGHTS"... stabby stabby stabby, murder murder murder, execution execution execution... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

LOL Love your summary of the ending there. It was indeed *chef's kiss*

I'm going to rely on you to poke us when the new trilogy is done, for a read... I think one of the reasons I'm like to read as we go is 'cuz I hate waiting... New series is called The Great Silence...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "I'm going to rely on you to poke us when the new trilogy is done, for a read... I think one of the reasons I'm like to read a..."

Book 2, Steel Gods, finished it's first draft in February, and has entered edits and redrafts, so I'm sure it'll be out in 2026, and book 3 in 2027...

[Nirkatze]

Yay!!

[RachelG.]

I really wanted to join in the buddy read for this one and I am so frustrated. I am #1 in line for the library book and they still are in process at the local library service center and have not gotten them out to anyone yet.

[Nirkatze]

Noooooooo! That's so frustrating!!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Read the sample opening on Amazon by midnight :D