The Tainted Cup
core novel 2024 Shadow of the Leviathan
Record
| First published | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.29 (110,000 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781984820709 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
The Tainted Cup is set in the Empire of Khanum, a realm shielded from towering, seasonal leviathans by an immense engineered sea wall. Dinios "Din" Kol, a young investigator gifted with an unusually precise memory, is assigned to assist Ana Dolabra, an eccentric and reclusive Iudex detective renowned for her unorthodox methods, on what becomes his first major case. Their investigation begins when the engineer Taqtasa Blas is found dead, poisoned by a modified strain of a plant that causes rapid, fatal growth within the victim's body. Matters escalate when a leviathan breaches the sea wall nearby and several engineers responsible for its upkeep are found killed by the same poison. As Din and Ana travel through the empire gathering evidence, their inquiries lead toward the wealthy and influential Haza family, exposing a web of patronage, corruption, and possible sabotage that reaches deep into the empire's defenses.
Where it sits
- Universe: Shadow of the Leviathan
- Series: Shadow of the Leviathan core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Awards (verified)
- Hugo Award (Best Novel), 2025: won
- World Fantasy Award (Novel), 2025: won; Confirmed via the World Fantasy Convention's own official nominations-and-winners page, which lists all 5 finalists.
- Locus Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2025: finalist; Finalist, not winner -- the 2025 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel went to A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher. An earlier secondary source claimed The Tainted Cup won this award; corrected after checking Reactor's own award-winners report directly.
Notes
- From the series record (Shadow of the Leviathan): An ongoing fantasy-mystery series (Del Rey / Hodderscape) set in the Empire of Khanum, protected by sea walls against leviathan attacks, whose leviathan-derived technology grants investigators enhanced senses. Per this project's standing in-progress-eligibility rule (in-progress series remain eligible for ranking and are not penalised), this universe is admitted despite being unfinished. Internal chronology equals publication order; no dispute found. A Trade of Blood's release date (August 4, 2026) has passed (2026-08-06), confirmed via multiple contemporaneous review posts.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Shadow of the Leviathan: position 1 of 3: next A Drop of Corruption (2025)
Sources
- The Tainted Cup (Wikipedia)
- The 2025 Hugo Awards: The Tainted Cup Wins Best Novel (Penguin Random House)
- 2025 WFC Nominations and Winners (World Fantasy Convention)
- 2025 Locus Award Winners (Reactor)
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