Robert Jackson Bennett

Battle of the Book Covers: Part ?

| Jessica Crawford

U.S. and U.K. book covers often seem to embrace different aesthetics. Many readers (and book collectors—because as we know, BUYING books and READING books can be two separate hobbies!) tend to have a strong preference for one over the other. Personally, many of the U.K. covers utilize a style that’s a little too…cartoony for my tastes? That might not be the correct term, but they many times look like a novel I would mistake for a Middle Grade book if I had nothing more to go on. I also notice they seem to depict more concrete images of the plot, while many U.S. covers employ a style that more often consists of a design featuring motifs from the story. This is, of course, a generalization and not true in all cases.

But, at least in the internet circles I travel in, I feel as though I may be in the minority in my tastes. I’ve heard many others say they are specifically buying a book from overseas because they prefer the cover.

Here I’ll post comparisons of some of the newer books I have read this year. Images of the U.S. covers are on the left, U.K. on the right. What do you all think?

Book Review: A TRADE OF BLOOD by Robert Jackson Bennett

| Jessica Crawford

A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett is the third book in the Ana and Din Mysteries series, formerly known as the Shadow of the Leviathan series. It is 400 pages and was published by Del Rey in August of 2026.

Genre

Fantasy, Mystery

This post will discuss the series as a whole before focusing on the latest installment.

The Ana and Din Mysteries, featuring an investigative duo that have often been compared to Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, are first and foremost murder mysteries unfolding in a fantasy setting with some hefty worldbuilding. Each book’s plot follows these two unraveling the puzzle behind a grisly murder that often winds up with far-reaching political implications. Additionally, each addresses the nature of civilization and the question of whether people exist to serve their nation, or vice versa.

The Empire of Khanum is arranged like a succession of spoked wheels, with the the wealthiest citizens living in the center, the farthest from the outer ring’s sea walls. This is because every wet season, leviathans surface from the deep and try to breach the walls, destroying everything in their path. Branches of the military are dedicated to shoring up and defending the wall from the monstrous titans. Some people who serve the empire are given grafts or suffusions, altering their abilities in specific ways. Our main character, Din, is an engraver; he has been cerebrally altered to have a perfect eidetic memory of everything he sees and hears. He carries little vials of different scents with him to use as cues to associate with particular memories. With this ability, he acts as the eyes and ears of the exceedingly eccentric, and brilliant, Ana, the investigator to whom he is apprenticed.

Each entry in the series offers clever and twisty mysteries, the charming and hilarious relationship and banter between irreverent Ana and sincere Din, and lessons that go beyond magical mayhem to say something about the ills that come part and parcel with society.

And of course, the series has wonderful representation and inclusion.

If these things sounds like your jam and you haven’t yet picked up this series, what are you even doing?!

Now on to the specifics of Book 3, A Trade of Blood.

Description

Brilliant detective Ana Dolabra must prove a man’s innocence to stop a civil war in the third book of the series that began with The Tainted Cup, named an Edgar, Hugo, and World Fantasy Award Finalist and one of the best books of the year (New York Times Book Review, NPR, Elle)—from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy.

In the canton of Sapirdad, two of the Empire’s most powerful families are moments away from going to war with each other, their hundreds of retainers gathered with swords drawn. If blood is spilt, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and chaos.

To de-escalate matters, someone must do the impossible: prove that one family’s eldest son is innocent of a gruesome and unforgivable murder, despite the incontrovertible evidence against him.

It is with this undertaking that the great detective Ana Dolabra is tasked, her assistant Din at her side—and the two find themselves racing with great speed and little dignity to the scene.

As ever, the impossible proves little obstacle for the deadly combination of Ana’s intellect and Din’s keen eye, and mere hours after riding into the dusty town, Ana glimpses the greater pattern behind the crime. A deeper, subtler web of death is being woven in plain sight, by a mastermind with an ancient magical technology at his disposal.

But even Ana’s uncanny insight is of little use when each new suspect she uncovers ends up dead–with each new killing calculated to bring tensions between the two rival clans past the boiling point. And as Din pursues their adversary through the canton’s wild ranges, sprawling ranches, and reeking slaughterhouses, he finds his loyalties divided in unexpected ways.

Opening Line

“It is an inarguable truth, you know,” said Ana, “that most people are absolutely enthralled by dead girls.”

My Thoughts

This is another interesting and complex murder mystery for Ana and Din to solve in the fantasy world of the Shadow of the Leviathan series that began with The Tainted Cup and continued with A Drop of Corruption.

Our beloved duo is sent to a new location in the third ring of the Empire to investigate what appears to be a clear cut murder between two gentry clans, although this time things seem a little too pat to be left unquestioned. And once again, the story furthermore touches on some philosophical topics and those regarding the ills of society and potential pitfalls inherent in great civilizations.

“How you’ve grown,” I said softly.
“Is dread the same as maturity?”
I filled my glass. “In the Empire, perhaps.”

I have to say, even though the murder mystery that serves as the impetus of this adventure was compelling, it’s the world-building that really hits for me here—specifically the lore surrounding the history of the Empire, its founders, and its pantheons. But the fact that this murder utilizes a feature that often seems to really work for me in my fiction (this part is discovered early in the investigation, not to mention shows up in the cover illustration, but fair warning for readers who like to avoid anything even a hint spoilery, I’m referring here to parasitic fungal horror) serves as an added bonus. This time we get to meet one of Din’s family members. And though the interactions between the eccentric and foul-mouthed Ana and her straightman assistant are perhaps growing a bit stale, they continue to offer some levity amidst murder and a dark lesson about so-called civilized people being all too willing to tolerate the suffering of those they deem inferior for the sake of maintaining their own creature comforts. I do feel bits of the mystery were a little easier to unravel on my own this time, and I wasn’t sure I felt Din needed another dalliance at this point in the series, but the latter at least was a nice opportunity to present this bit:

Though a voice had spoken within me—not my memories, merely my experience—whispering: These things never last.
To which I had responded: Nothing does.

In all, this was an engaging story that was further enhanced by the new things revealed about the Empire and its history, and I will be happy to see where the series takes readers next.

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Goodreads

Book Review: A DROP OF CORRUPTION by Robert Jackson Bennett

| Jessica Crawford

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett is the second book in the Shadows of the Leviathan series with a publish date of April 1, 2025.

Genre:

Fantasy, Mystery

Opening Line:

Before there was memory, before there was history, there were the leviathans: the colossal, monstrous creatures that lumbered ashore each wet season and went wandering the plains, bringing death and panic with them.

My Thoughts:

“You know, you are not a stupid person, Din.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” I said, pleased.

“Or, rather, not an unusually stupid person.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” I said, far less pleased.

Ana and Din return in this solid installment in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, investigating another puzzler of a crime.

The events of this book take place in a different corner of the fantasy world than those of book one, but magical corruption and contagion are still things to watch out for. The Empire is in negotiations with the kingdom of Yarrow regarding its impending annexation when a member of the Imperial treasury goes missing from a locked room at the top of a tower, parts of him later found floating in the canals. Once Ana and Din arrive to look into the matter, they come to realize they are pitted against a mastermind of uncanny intelligence and the ability to parse patterns and predict their next moves before they themselves even know what they plan to do.

The investigation sees our unusual duo team up with the local wardens led by a woman named Malo, and an organization of Apoths tasked with obtaining the reagents that provide the people of this fantasy world with their special augmentations directly from the corpses of the dreaded leviathans. We also delve more into Din’s circumstances, his desire to return to Talgaray in service to the Legion in order to both be a hero and to be closer to his lover, as well as into the mystery of what, exactly, Ana is that allows her to accomplish the things she does.

The mystery was good and twisty, and the writing amusing, and the lessons once again go beyond magical mayhem to say something about the ills that come part and parcel with society. I will certainly continue reading on on this series to see what Ana and Din find themselves dealing with next.

Thank you to Del Rey of Random House Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

Book Review: THE TAINTED CUP by Robert Jackson Bennett

| Jessica Crawford
Shadow of the Leviathan #1

This engaging and original story is the first in a new fantasy series by the author of The Founders trilogy.

Buckle in and prepare yourself for some hefty worldbuilding, but part of what was admirable about this book was the fresh and unique setting. The Empire of Khanum is arranged like a succession of spoked wheels, with the the wealthiest citizens living in the center, the farthest from the outer ring’s sea walls. This is because every wet season, leviathans surface from the deep and try to breach the walls, destroying everything in their path. Branches of the military are dedicated to shoring up and defending the wall from the monstrous titans.

Some people who serve the empire are given grafts or suffusions, altering their abilities in specific ways. Our main character, Din, is an engraver; he has been cerebrally altered to have a perfect eidetic memory of everything he sees and hears. He carries little vials of different scents with him to use as cues to associate with particular memories. With this ability, he acts as the eyes and ears of the exceedingly eccentric, and brilliant, Ana, the investigator to whom he is newly apprenticed apprenticed.

“He’s new,” said Ana, “and big, and I think he lost his sense of humor in some tragic accident. But he helped me solve the Blas issue quick enough.” Then, simply, “He is good.”

The bulk of this novel focuses on a murder investigation Ana and Din undertake, one that winds up with far-reaching political implications. But there’s also a lot about the uncertainties of living in a world that is routinely under threat, not only by the titans of the sea, but also contagion, worms, and a host of other worries. It addresses the nature of civilization, and the question of whether people exist to serve their Empire, or vice versa.

One of the highlights of this book is the relationship and banter between Ana and Din (and a few other characters introduced during their investigative proceedings), which are charming and often downright hilarious. Ana is irreverent, Din is sincere.

“Just wish to comment, ma’am,” I said, “that, ah, I’ve no idea at all what’s going on anymore.”

And as if all of that wasn’t enough to secure a place for this book in my esteem, is also included great representation: of disability and neurodiversity, plus the minor romance included was queer.

“…if I hadn’t been the person that I was, then the alterations would not have been a success. It was my choice. I changed and became, I self-assembled. Just as you have done.”

I highly recommend this refreshing and entertaining tale of a murder mystery that unfolds in a new and interesting fantasy world, and I can’t wait to read about what Ana and Din get mixed up in next.

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