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Shadow of the Leviathan #3
A Trade of Blood
Not yet published
Expected 4 Aug 26Brilliant 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.
“Great fantasy detective stories are too rare, but Bennett—[a] rising star of fantasy—more than delivers.” —The Washington Post, on The Tainted Cup
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 spilled, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and chaos.
To deescalate matters, someone must do the 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.
“Great fantasy detective stories are too rare, but Bennett—[a] rising star of fantasy—more than delivers.” —The Washington Post, on The Tainted Cup
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 spilled, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and chaos.
To deescalate matters, someone must do the 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.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication August 4, 2026
About the author
Robert Jackson Bennett
34 books23.7k followersRobert Jackson Bennett is a two-time award winner of the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel, an Edgar Award winner for Best Paperback Original, and is also the 2010 recipient of the Sydney J Bounds Award for Best Newcomer, and a Philip K Dick Award Citation of Excellence. City of Stairs was shortlisted for the Locus Award and the World Fantasy Award. City of Blades was a finalist for the 2015 World Fantasy, Locus, and British Fantasy Awards. His eighth novel, FOUNDRYSIDE, will be available in the US on 8/21 of 2018 and the UK on 8/23.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 563 reviews
June 27, 2026
Dins greatest torments: family trauma, having to cart heavy musical instruments around for his boss, another biological phenomenon wreaking havoc, and most notably himself
Love how all of din’s love interests go: i want that melancholy lonely bisexual man, crave him actually
A canton of blood grapples with buckets of it in Robert Jackson Bennett’s latest fantasy mystery medley, A Trade of Blood. Inspector duo Ana Dolabra and her chronically exhausted and disastrous assistant Dinios Kol are back for a third installment in the genre spanning, far too addictive Shadow of the Leviathan series. Another case with far reaching implications to plague main character Dinios Kol and rewrite our existing understanding of the Khanum empire. It all starts with an impossible murder (and doesn’t it always): a locked room where two lovers meet, one of whom murders the other with no true memory of having committed the act. This is where Bennett thrives, in the boundaries of the improbable which he utilizes to build out his greater exploration into the cattle industry and the systems put in place to uphold an empire’s insatiable hungers. Aforementioned disaster character Din stands at the forefront of this investigation, facing new challenges. Din’s greatest torments in A Trade of Blood include: family trauma, having to cart heavy musical instruments around for his boss, another biological phenomenon wreaking havoc, and most notably himself. For Bennett’s A Trade of Blood it all comes down to hunger and the lengths one will go to see them realized. Din and Ana will have to face the web winding beneath the canton of Sapirdad and the past violences which bleed eternally into its present.
Read my review
Thank you to edelweiss + del rey for providing me an advance review copy.
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Love how all of din’s love interests go: i want that melancholy lonely bisexual man, crave him actually
A canton of blood grapples with buckets of it in Robert Jackson Bennett’s latest fantasy mystery medley, A Trade of Blood. Inspector duo Ana Dolabra and her chronically exhausted and disastrous assistant Dinios Kol are back for a third installment in the genre spanning, far too addictive Shadow of the Leviathan series. Another case with far reaching implications to plague main character Dinios Kol and rewrite our existing understanding of the Khanum empire. It all starts with an impossible murder (and doesn’t it always): a locked room where two lovers meet, one of whom murders the other with no true memory of having committed the act. This is where Bennett thrives, in the boundaries of the improbable which he utilizes to build out his greater exploration into the cattle industry and the systems put in place to uphold an empire’s insatiable hungers. Aforementioned disaster character Din stands at the forefront of this investigation, facing new challenges. Din’s greatest torments in A Trade of Blood include: family trauma, having to cart heavy musical instruments around for his boss, another biological phenomenon wreaking havoc, and most notably himself. For Bennett’s A Trade of Blood it all comes down to hunger and the lengths one will go to see them realized. Din and Ana will have to face the web winding beneath the canton of Sapirdad and the past violences which bleed eternally into its present.
Read my review
Thank you to edelweiss + del rey for providing me an advance review copy.
Bookstagram | Blog
July 19, 2026
Would sell my soul for "Untitled"
(Edit: now I've traded my blood for "A Trade of Blood")
(Edit: now I've traded my blood for "A Trade of Blood")
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4,5*
RJB's brain works in mysterious ways, but sometimes you can notice a pattern, the logic behind it and speculate on the inspiration for the plot. For this one, I would guess it was born after an evening of watching Okja followed by The Last of Us followed by an existential crisis. :)
Bare bones: Ana and Din are sent to the canton of Sapiridad, agricultural hub of the empire, set in the third ring of the Empire where a young girl was killed. The girl in question is Zansay Burav, daughter of the powerful Burav family that hold the dominion of beans production. The main suspect is Castus Armenta, the scion of other powerful family in the region- Armentas- the main cultivators of the prized urhosi cows who yield the best cuts for the table. Buravs and Armentas going at each other can plunge the entire canton into civil war which can destabilize the entire Empire, so Ana and Din have a difficult job to navigate among grieving families and high tensions to discover what happened and stay alive in the process.
Opening the story with an epic rant from Ana, I immediately remembered why I love these characters so much. Ana is still astonishingly weird and brilliant and Din is still heroic and hopeless when it comes to certain thingsromance, but after everything they went through, I can say that in this novel they are working together like a well-oiled machine. Sure Din doesn't really follow advice when it comes to personal things, but professionally they trust each other's judgment completely. And this case certainly put their skills to test since it's a heavier and more brooding affair for several reasons.
One of the things I love about this series is this concentric zone model of Khanum Robert Jackson Bennett imagined- with Imperial Sanctum at the center and then three rings of territory divided by walls. And as we move to different places with Ana and Din, the social structure of the Empire is gradually emerging through each new installment. We start the series beyond the rings at the edge of the seas where wet seasons bring leviathans attacking the walls and destroying everything in their path if they breach through. And if you manage to survive that, it's still not safe because the environment is forever mutated and changed by close encounters with monsters. The second novel takes us to the bay of Yarrow, the annexed territory of old kingdom of Yarrow and industrial hub of Khanum's grafting industry. So, flora and fauna are still as much dangerous, but with added touch of having to reconcile with being integrated into the Empire. And now A Trade of Blood takes us to the third ring where people live a much different life, working on a vast lands in possession of Armentas or Buravs worrying only about their next paycheck. Influential families of the Khanum are mentioned quite a few times in the series, but this is where we see just how much power they can wield.
The reason I am highlighting this is that this dichotomy also impacts the nature of the crime Ana and Din are investigating. If the first two books were set in places where poorest and disenfranchised live and the crimes were the result and consequence of the system in place, then in the third ring we are getting the glimpse of those who benefit from the system. This peculiar crime in Sapiridad is not about people trying to survive this mutated nature, it's about those who are bending it to its will, and in that sense, it's a much more contemplative piece then previous two novels. For example, Armentas are using grafting technology to cultivate gigantic cows, big as houses. Buravs are using grafting technology to cultivate a new species of cats programmed to harvest beans all night. And as you read you are aware that there is something not quite right about this and I think Bennett wanted us to. The nature of the crime is definitely more cynical and this is emphasized by few revelations about the origins of the Empire and how history was made. I believe RJB is hinting that going closer to the center, things will get even more complicated.:)
I had an absolute blast with this book- this entire series is just consistently excellent.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore Del Rey and Robert Jackson Bennet for an advanced copy of A Trade of Blood. All opinions are my own.
--------------------
Please, RJB, Din is not handling this heartbreak that well. To think he will handle leviathans and lampreys and posinous ticks better than this...
RJB's brain works in mysterious ways, but sometimes you can notice a pattern, the logic behind it and speculate on the inspiration for the plot. For this one, I would guess it was born after an evening of watching Okja followed by The Last of Us followed by an existential crisis. :)
Bare bones: Ana and Din are sent to the canton of Sapiridad, agricultural hub of the empire, set in the third ring of the Empire where a young girl was killed. The girl in question is Zansay Burav, daughter of the powerful Burav family that hold the dominion of beans production. The main suspect is Castus Armenta, the scion of other powerful family in the region- Armentas- the main cultivators of the prized urhosi cows who yield the best cuts for the table. Buravs and Armentas going at each other can plunge the entire canton into civil war which can destabilize the entire Empire, so Ana and Din have a difficult job to navigate among grieving families and high tensions to discover what happened and stay alive in the process.
Opening the story with an epic rant from Ana, I immediately remembered why I love these characters so much. Ana is still astonishingly weird and brilliant and Din is still heroic and hopeless when it comes to certain things
One of the things I love about this series is this concentric zone model of Khanum Robert Jackson Bennett imagined- with Imperial Sanctum at the center and then three rings of territory divided by walls. And as we move to different places with Ana and Din, the social structure of the Empire is gradually emerging through each new installment. We start the series beyond the rings at the edge of the seas where wet seasons bring leviathans attacking the walls and destroying everything in their path if they breach through. And if you manage to survive that, it's still not safe because the environment is forever mutated and changed by close encounters with monsters. The second novel takes us to the bay of Yarrow, the annexed territory of old kingdom of Yarrow and industrial hub of Khanum's grafting industry. So, flora and fauna are still as much dangerous, but with added touch of having to reconcile with being integrated into the Empire. And now A Trade of Blood takes us to the third ring where people live a much different life, working on a vast lands in possession of Armentas or Buravs worrying only about their next paycheck. Influential families of the Khanum are mentioned quite a few times in the series, but this is where we see just how much power they can wield.
The reason I am highlighting this is that this dichotomy also impacts the nature of the crime Ana and Din are investigating. If the first two books were set in places where poorest and disenfranchised live and the crimes were the result and consequence of the system in place, then in the third ring we are getting the glimpse of those who benefit from the system. This peculiar crime in Sapiridad is not about people trying to survive this mutated nature, it's about those who are bending it to its will, and in that sense, it's a much more contemplative piece then previous two novels. For example, Armentas are using grafting technology to cultivate gigantic cows, big as houses. Buravs are using grafting technology to cultivate a new species of cats programmed to harvest beans all night. And as you read you are aware that there is something not quite right about this and I think Bennett wanted us to. The nature of the crime is definitely more cynical and this is emphasized by few revelations about the origins of the Empire and how history was made. I believe RJB is hinting that going closer to the center, things will get even more complicated.:)
I had an absolute blast with this book- this entire series is just consistently excellent.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore Del Rey and Robert Jackson Bennet for an advanced copy of A Trade of Blood. All opinions are my own.
--------------------
Please, RJB, Din is not handling this heartbreak that well. To think he will handle leviathans and lampreys and posinous ticks better than this...
May 1, 2026
So good it gave me a book headache.
Everything I didn’t love in A Drop of Corruption has been tightened. Din is no longer as mopey or mercurial, with romantic diversions standing in for character. In fact, he is experiencing changes in his engraving skills, something that is unsettling him a great deal. Are his skills already maturing? Is he headed even sooner for the confusion and pain of an old engraver?
“It was at that moment that I felt a profoundly strange sensation, one entirely new to me: something in my thoughts trembled. Shifted. Like a larva turning over within an egg.”
Ana, thankfully, is no longer bent on being as disagreeable as possible and even offers Din meaningful insight. But they have been called to investigate a murder, the scion of one powerful family having murdered the daughter of the rival family. Though Ana says she finds murder among nobility ‘boring,’ this one has the families up in arms–literally–and active conflict will threaten the Empire’s food production. Ana sums up the challenge of their investigation in her usually direct way:
“You are apprehending the shitpot we are currently bubbling in, Princeps! We must catch up, yet we must practice the utmost secrecy while we do so!”
What I most appreciated is how the mystery remained front and center, everything in service to the plot. Though there were times that I wondered about digression, it turns out that those also mattered, unlike that feeling I had in Corruption. It is a well-crafted mystery, wrapped in the particular biology of this world, with strong parallels to our own (as an aside; wow, the plant-based autopsy was something!).
I do have one note, however, and that is that I found the afterward rather… unnecessary. I thought Bennett’s message clear enough, but maybe there are those readers who need things spelled out–though I think they are unlikely to be among his audience. The afterword threw the storyline all out of proportion in my memory. And perhaps the second note is that the world no longer feels as astonishingly odd as it did in the first and second, with the exception of that autopsy. Maybe it’s because Bennett didn’t have time or inclination to truly flex his language skills, or maybe the parallel to our own world was too strong. Still, these are minor complaints, and truly only mentioned in the scope of his work.
Ever since reading City of Stairs in 2015, I’ve been a fan of Bennett. To be sure, there were a few books that didn’t land as solidly as the Divine trilogy, but I’ve found his storytelling to be very aligned with my reading. Interesting main characters? Imaginative world-building? Unexpected plotting? Lovely language? Awareness of diversity of humans? Check, check and double check, and in the case of the Divine and Leviathan series, we can add truly gorgeous cover art. Truly worth buying.
Many thanks to NetGalley and to Del Rey for an advanced reader copy. All quotes subject to change. Clearly, my own opinion.
Everything I didn’t love in A Drop of Corruption has been tightened. Din is no longer as mopey or mercurial, with romantic diversions standing in for character. In fact, he is experiencing changes in his engraving skills, something that is unsettling him a great deal. Are his skills already maturing? Is he headed even sooner for the confusion and pain of an old engraver?
“It was at that moment that I felt a profoundly strange sensation, one entirely new to me: something in my thoughts trembled. Shifted. Like a larva turning over within an egg.”
Ana, thankfully, is no longer bent on being as disagreeable as possible and even offers Din meaningful insight. But they have been called to investigate a murder, the scion of one powerful family having murdered the daughter of the rival family. Though Ana says she finds murder among nobility ‘boring,’ this one has the families up in arms–literally–and active conflict will threaten the Empire’s food production. Ana sums up the challenge of their investigation in her usually direct way:
“You are apprehending the shitpot we are currently bubbling in, Princeps! We must catch up, yet we must practice the utmost secrecy while we do so!”
What I most appreciated is how the mystery remained front and center, everything in service to the plot. Though there were times that I wondered about digression, it turns out that those also mattered, unlike that feeling I had in Corruption. It is a well-crafted mystery, wrapped in the particular biology of this world, with strong parallels to our own (as an aside; wow, the plant-based autopsy was something!).
I do have one note, however, and that is that I found the afterward rather… unnecessary. I thought Bennett’s message clear enough, but maybe there are those readers who need things spelled out–though I think they are unlikely to be among his audience. The afterword threw the storyline all out of proportion in my memory. And perhaps the second note is that the world no longer feels as astonishingly odd as it did in the first and second, with the exception of that autopsy. Maybe it’s because Bennett didn’t have time or inclination to truly flex his language skills, or maybe the parallel to our own world was too strong. Still, these are minor complaints, and truly only mentioned in the scope of his work.
Ever since reading City of Stairs in 2015, I’ve been a fan of Bennett. To be sure, there were a few books that didn’t land as solidly as the Divine trilogy, but I’ve found his storytelling to be very aligned with my reading. Interesting main characters? Imaginative world-building? Unexpected plotting? Lovely language? Awareness of diversity of humans? Check, check and double check, and in the case of the Divine and Leviathan series, we can add truly gorgeous cover art. Truly worth buying.
Many thanks to NetGalley and to Del Rey for an advanced reader copy. All quotes subject to change. Clearly, my own opinion.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I'm so infected by this series. And not just because it's full of poisonous plants, mind-controlling fungi and contaminated places. I always have the best time when I read an Ana and Din mystery and book three was no different. This time my favorite detective duo gets a break from the leviathans that regularly try to annihilate humanity, but their new murder case still wasn't that much less stressful than the previous two. Ana and Din travel to the canton of Sapirdad, city of Lacanthim, a region that is known for its revolutionary agriculture – and the two feuding families who created the new ways of farming. The feud between the Armenta and the Burav families seems to have escalated recently as Ana and Din are called to the murder of a Burav daughter. At first everything hints at a Romeo and Juliet situation, with Romeo eventually brutally butchering his Juliet, but the case quickly goes way deeper and even darker than that. Ana and Din investigate in their usual way. Din looks at crime scenes and talks to everyone and their mothers while Ana listens to his perfectly remembered report and notices the right clues. In the meantime she probably plays one of the 300 instruments that she is always traveling with, hides in a dark closet or tries the most disgusting local dishes imaginable. Again there are no returning side characters from books one and two, and I guess it's safe to say that this is just the way of the series. I don't mind that even though I always really like the side characters. I know that people are still missing a certain Captain Strovi from book one, but maybe I can interest you in Commander Tauri from this book instead. He and Din made a nice team and his craft and augmentations really added to the story. This book also dives deeper into Din's backstory and mentions his family. I was pleasantly surprised at this turn of events, but in the end I had hoped for more on this part. It got a bit overshadowed by all the unethical agriculture, lethal music, trippy walks through the forest and people full of fungi. There's also more about the godlike races of the past, which is always interesting to read about. A Trade of Blood fortunately doesn't wrap up anything and leaves many questions unanswered. Ana is still a very mysterious creature and Din only started to learn the full extent – and the full downsides – of his abilities. I'm perfectly fine with only being fed little pieces of information per book as that means that I will keep getting more Ana and Din in the long run. I don't see a reason why fans of the series wouldn't enjoy this new installment too and I can only recommend all three novels and the new short story as well. Book two will remain my personal favorite so far, but we will see what the future holds.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
What an absolute JOY it is to be back in the world of Din and Ana. This series has become one of those annual events that I hang out for and this third instalment is a wonderful edition to the lore and world building of these characters and The Empire.
As always I will keep everything very vague to avoid spoilers to the plot and mystery but I had a wonderful time once again losing myself and escaping into this universe.
I think that the mystery here has become my favourite so far. I really enjoyed RBJ using his real world concerns of capitalism, over consumption and agriculture to explore the nature and machinations of The Empire whilst alluding to some of the larger mysterious elements underpinning the mystery of the Khanum and the Leviathans. Although I still have SO MANY QUESTIONS and I am distressed in the best way possible that I have to continue to wait.
One of my favourite elements of this volume was the addition of the beautiful, strong willed and independant Fotia. I desperately hope (and suspect) that it wont be the last we see of her.
I am so glad that this is a series with no foreseeable end in sight. I adore Din as a protagonist and his dynamic and relationship with Ana just delights me more and more with each books worth of interaction and history between them.
I will happily gobble up every single one of these books that RBJ blesses us with and not get bored. I remain foolish and steadfast in my (perhaps naive) commitment to the Captain Strovi end game agenda.
✨✨Planned release 11 Aug ‘26✨✨
A huge thank you to Netgalley and Del Ray for blessing me with an ARC of this release. These thoughts are my own ❤️
Consider following my instagram
As always I will keep everything very vague to avoid spoilers to the plot and mystery but I had a wonderful time once again losing myself and escaping into this universe.
I think that the mystery here has become my favourite so far. I really enjoyed RBJ using his real world concerns of capitalism, over consumption and agriculture to explore the nature and machinations of The Empire whilst alluding to some of the larger mysterious elements underpinning the mystery of the Khanum and the Leviathans. Although I still have SO MANY QUESTIONS and I am distressed in the best way possible that I have to continue to wait.
One of my favourite elements of this volume was the addition of the beautiful, strong willed and independant Fotia. I desperately hope (and suspect) that it wont be the last we see of her.
I am so glad that this is a series with no foreseeable end in sight. I adore Din as a protagonist and his dynamic and relationship with Ana just delights me more and more with each books worth of interaction and history between them.
I will happily gobble up every single one of these books that RBJ blesses us with and not get bored. I remain foolish and steadfast in my (perhaps naive) commitment to the Captain Strovi end game agenda.
✨✨Planned release 11 Aug ‘26✨✨
A huge thank you to Netgalley and Del Ray for blessing me with an ARC of this release. These thoughts are my own ❤️
Consider following my instagram
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
── 5.0✦
(thank you random house publishing group - del rey through netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review)
“A Trade of Blood” is the third entry in the Shadow of the Leviathan series and I find this to be the darkest of the three released books.
We’ve been to the sea walls of the eastern seas, the marshes of Yarrowdale and now we venture to the third ring of the Empire for in one of the agricultural backbones of the population, a murder has occurred. Not just any murder but the murder of the daughter of House Burav. The perpetrator? The son of the rival house Armenta. When Ana and Din arrive in farmlands tasked with preventing outright war between the two houses, they think it’s a simple and shut case but the scene of the crime proves something much more sinister.
Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet in Verona, Castus Armenta and Zansay Burav in Lacanthim. Though their families were bitter rivals, the two young kids were in love. Yet all evidence and testimonies show that Castus murdered Zansay and fled. But why? Why do so when they were planning to run away together? With the town close to conflict with each side having their swords drawn, Ana and Din must do the impossible; prove Castus’ innocence.
Like I said, this is the darkest book in the series and I think a lot of it has to do with Robert Jackson Bennett’s ability to set the scene. Throughout this series, he describes these lands and biological marvels in such detail—his descriptions of the marshes in Drop of Corruption made me feel suffocated—and for this book, it nearly turns it into a horror. Because that is what I felt reading this book, abject horror.
Me, throughout this book: That’s fucked up
And all the worldbuilding and lore that was introduced or expanded has me so grateful that this series will be more than three books because I need more. I need more history lessons about the Empire. I need more of Ana’s background because what we got here was delicious. I need more of Din being a sad wet cat of a human being. My poor son was going through it in this book and I enjoyed every moment of his misery.
(thank you random house publishing group - del rey through netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review)
“…all the Empire is a tomb, and all of history. So much age, so much death. We live within tombs, within tombs, within tombs. The question is—how to find our way out?”
“A Trade of Blood” is the third entry in the Shadow of the Leviathan series and I find this to be the darkest of the three released books.
We’ve been to the sea walls of the eastern seas, the marshes of Yarrowdale and now we venture to the third ring of the Empire for in one of the agricultural backbones of the population, a murder has occurred. Not just any murder but the murder of the daughter of House Burav. The perpetrator? The son of the rival house Armenta. When Ana and Din arrive in farmlands tasked with preventing outright war between the two houses, they think it’s a simple and shut case but the scene of the crime proves something much more sinister.
This is the third ring, ludex. People here do not change. Custom, culture, ancestors, fealty—these rule all. And the hatred between the Armentas and the Buravs is very old.
Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet in Verona, Castus Armenta and Zansay Burav in Lacanthim. Though their families were bitter rivals, the two young kids were in love. Yet all evidence and testimonies show that Castus murdered Zansay and fled. But why? Why do so when they were planning to run away together? With the town close to conflict with each side having their swords drawn, Ana and Din must do the impossible; prove Castus’ innocence.
“It was like every fiber of the world was singing to me. Every street, every wall, every roof was a reed that danced in the wind, creating this pure tone... All of creation, praising me, whispering to me, as if the stars and moon themselves were singing just for my ears.”
Like I said, this is the darkest book in the series and I think a lot of it has to do with Robert Jackson Bennett’s ability to set the scene. Throughout this series, he describes these lands and biological marvels in such detail—his descriptions of the marshes in Drop of Corruption made me feel suffocated—and for this book, it nearly turns it into a horror. Because that is what I felt reading this book, abject horror.
Me, throughout this book: That’s fucked up
And all the worldbuilding and lore that was introduced or expanded has me so grateful that this series will be more than three books because I need more. I need more history lessons about the Empire. I need more of Ana’s background because what we got here was delicious. I need more of Din being a sad wet cat of a human being. My poor son was going through it in this book and I enjoyed every moment of his misery.
“Much can be read in the shiftings of small things”
Want to Read
May 18, 2026ARC received!! Thank youuuu, Del Rey!!
Original:
I don't need a cover.
I don't need a title.
I don't need a synopsis.
I do need this book ASAP!!!
Original:
I don't need a cover.
I don't need a title.
I don't need a synopsis.
I do need this book ASAP!!!
Want to Read
July 16, 20261.) The Tainted Cup ★★★★★
2.) A Drop of Corruption ★★★★★
♡.) The Lion’s Tusk ★★★★
once im done with hugo nominees - this is next <3 (also... i am almost done with attack on titan now, so i feel like this might hit even more so this time around)
blog | instagram | youtube | wishlist | spotify | amazon
2.) A Drop of Corruption ★★★★★
♡.) The Lion’s Tusk ★★★★
once im done with hugo nominees - this is next <3 (also... i am almost done with attack on titan now, so i feel like this might hit even more so this time around)
blog | instagram | youtube | wishlist | spotify | amazon
Want to Read
April 21, 2025Is this truly going to be a trilogy? because 3 books suddenly don't seem like enough.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Out of the three books, this is the best one yet!!
While the two books had focused on murders and politics, A Trade of Blood was about something darker and much more terrifying.
It kept me on the edge of my seat as the body count rose. Soon, I was asking myself: who will be left as a suspect if everyone keeps dying?!
Ana was as eccentric as ever. The previous book gave us a vague clue about her true nature, but this story pulls back the curtain further. We also get to see more of Din as his own person—not just as Ana’s faithful assistant or the Empire’s engraver, but as an individual.
I want to avoid spoilers, so I’ll just say that the concept behind the murders in this book is deeply disturbing. I was especially struck by the author’s note at the end. RBJ took inspiration from a very real-world topic: the often unnatural state of modern agriculture, where crops and creatures are modified to produce the “best” quality for human consumption.
When you see how that concept is applied to this fictional world, it is horrifying—yet it is essentially a reflection of what is already happening in our lives. It is amazing how the author inserted this “plain truth” into such a gripping, unsettling story that is more than just about crime and murders.
It's funny how I was always in a reading slump when I received an email about my advanced copy of the series. This also happened with the previous book, A Drop of Corruption. The thought of going back to Ana and Din's adventure almost felt like going back home. I could use five more books about them, and I wouldn't ever get sick of it.
Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the ARC!
While the two books had focused on murders and politics, A Trade of Blood was about something darker and much more terrifying.
It kept me on the edge of my seat as the body count rose. Soon, I was asking myself: who will be left as a suspect if everyone keeps dying?!
Ana was as eccentric as ever. The previous book gave us a vague clue about her true nature, but this story pulls back the curtain further. We also get to see more of Din as his own person—not just as Ana’s faithful assistant or the Empire’s engraver, but as an individual.
I want to avoid spoilers, so I’ll just say that the concept behind the murders in this book is deeply disturbing. I was especially struck by the author’s note at the end. RBJ took inspiration from a very real-world topic: the often unnatural state of modern agriculture, where crops and creatures are modified to produce the “best” quality for human consumption.
When you see how that concept is applied to this fictional world, it is horrifying—yet it is essentially a reflection of what is already happening in our lives. It is amazing how the author inserted this “plain truth” into such a gripping, unsettling story that is more than just about crime and murders.
It's funny how I was always in a reading slump when I received an email about my advanced copy of the series. This also happened with the previous book, A Drop of Corruption. The thought of going back to Ana and Din's adventure almost felt like going back home. I could use five more books about them, and I wouldn't ever get sick of it.
Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I LOVED IT!
RTC
Thanks so much to the author and publisher for offering me each book in exchange of reviews! 🥹
Pre-read
They sent me the eARC! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
I LOVED IT!
RTC
Thanks so much to the author and publisher for offering me each book in exchange of reviews! 🥹
Pre-read
They sent me the eARC! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
July 18, 2026
Ana and Din are back!
This time in the canton of Sapirdad, where a Hatfield/McCoy type situation is going on between the two largest cattle baron families. One slight misstep on their part could devastate the entire region, if these two families go to all out war. Will they solve the mystery in time to prevent a disaster? You'll have to read this to find out!
I absolutely love both Ana and Din. In this volume we learn a bit more about the alterations to Din's brain and his uncanny abilities for memorizing. We learn a bit more too, about Ana and her erratic, but skillful, behavior and abilities. Ana remains for the most part, yet another mystery of this world. As are the leviathans! I still want to know more about them...and hell, I want to know more about everything in this world Robert Jackson Bennett has created.
The introduction of Fotia was a pleasant surprise, but it's hard to say much without spoilers. I will say that I loved her spunky, fiery character and I hope we'll see more of her in the future.
Lastly, this is a dark and sometimes funny fantasy, but at the heart of it are serious questions involving overpopulation, farming, and the ever widening circle of damage being done in the name of feeding ourselves. Admittedly, this is a topic that I haven't thought much about before, and now that I am aware of the full scope of it, I wonder if necessity will become the mother of invention, but that's a topic for another day.
Right now, I just want to sing this book's praises to every single reader out there, (though you do need to read this series in order.) This world RBJ has created is a fascinating one, layered and well thought-out, yet it still has connections to the world of today. Bravo, RBJ! Bravo!
*ARC from publisher, due out August 4
This time in the canton of Sapirdad, where a Hatfield/McCoy type situation is going on between the two largest cattle baron families. One slight misstep on their part could devastate the entire region, if these two families go to all out war. Will they solve the mystery in time to prevent a disaster? You'll have to read this to find out!
I absolutely love both Ana and Din. In this volume we learn a bit more about the alterations to Din's brain and his uncanny abilities for memorizing. We learn a bit more too, about Ana and her erratic, but skillful, behavior and abilities. Ana remains for the most part, yet another mystery of this world. As are the leviathans! I still want to know more about them...and hell, I want to know more about everything in this world Robert Jackson Bennett has created.
The introduction of Fotia was a pleasant surprise, but it's hard to say much without spoilers. I will say that I loved her spunky, fiery character and I hope we'll see more of her in the future.
Lastly, this is a dark and sometimes funny fantasy, but at the heart of it are serious questions involving overpopulation, farming, and the ever widening circle of damage being done in the name of feeding ourselves. Admittedly, this is a topic that I haven't thought much about before, and now that I am aware of the full scope of it, I wonder if necessity will become the mother of invention, but that's a topic for another day.
Right now, I just want to sing this book's praises to every single reader out there, (though you do need to read this series in order.) This world RBJ has created is a fascinating one, layered and well thought-out, yet it still has connections to the world of today. Bravo, RBJ! Bravo!
*ARC from publisher, due out August 4
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A NetGalley widget!!
April 8, 2026
I did like the second book a little bit more, but I'm still enjoying Bennett's prose very much :))
“A Trade of Blood” is the third book in the Shadow of the Leviathan’s series. In this installement, Ana Doloraba and her assistant Din are sent to investigate a murder case that, at first glance, seems almost too straightforward. There is already a suspect who appears to have clearly committed the crime. However, what initially looks simple quickly unravels as they dig deeper, revealing a far more complex situation, a wider conspiracy, and rising tensions that threaten to push powerful families toward open conflict.
I really enjoyed getting more time with these characters. It felt like revisiting old friends. Ana, in particular, continues to stand out. She's extraordinary and her sense of humor is hilarious. Every scene with her was a highlight for me. However, I feel like this book had a bit less scenes with her then previous.
Additionally, I think the central quest in the previous book was a bit more compelling and engaging. I also think it was a bit predictable. Nevertheless, I still had a great time reading it and appreciated the journey it offered.
One thing I continue to love about this series is the world itself. I’m really fascinated by how this world operates and eager to uncover the deeper layers and hidden secrets it still holds. Although this book expands on that to some extent, I found myself wanting even more insight into the bigger picture.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed this entry, and it’s left me eager to continue. I’m really looking forward to picking up the next book in the series. I can’t imagine how I’m supposed to wait so long for the next book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
“A Trade of Blood” is the third book in the Shadow of the Leviathan’s series. In this installement, Ana Doloraba and her assistant Din are sent to investigate a murder case that, at first glance, seems almost too straightforward. There is already a suspect who appears to have clearly committed the crime. However, what initially looks simple quickly unravels as they dig deeper, revealing a far more complex situation, a wider conspiracy, and rising tensions that threaten to push powerful families toward open conflict.
I really enjoyed getting more time with these characters. It felt like revisiting old friends. Ana, in particular, continues to stand out. She's extraordinary and her sense of humor is hilarious. Every scene with her was a highlight for me. However, I feel like this book had a bit less scenes with her then previous.
Additionally, I think the central quest in the previous book was a bit more compelling and engaging. I also think it was a bit predictable. Nevertheless, I still had a great time reading it and appreciated the journey it offered.
One thing I continue to love about this series is the world itself. I’m really fascinated by how this world operates and eager to uncover the deeper layers and hidden secrets it still holds. Although this book expands on that to some extent, I found myself wanting even more insight into the bigger picture.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed this entry, and it’s left me eager to continue. I’m really looking forward to picking up the next book in the series. I can’t imagine how I’m supposed to wait so long for the next book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
TYSM Del Rey and NetGalley for the ARC!
Oh, I’ve realized once again how much I missed these characters! 🤧 Can we have more, please??? It’s so hard to wait for the next books 😭
At first, it gave me slight Romeo and Juliet vibes, two feuding families with their own secrets. But a quarter into the book, it hit me: this is The Pied Piper of Hamelin!!! It has shades of both stories, and yet the world is unique and the tale is haunting.
I waited for this sequel for so long and recommended the series so many times that I actually started fearing I’d be disappointed. But I was hooked from beginning to end! I loved the twists and the way both the town and the main characters were fleshed out. I don't claim to be a genius, so my theories were minor (or I didn't even try), which made every reveal a total surprise.
I love how every book is different, new location, new story, but we still have Ana with her classic: "I’m the genius here, you're all idiots, what would you even do without me?"
4,5/5⭐️
Oh, I’ve realized once again how much I missed these characters! 🤧 Can we have more, please??? It’s so hard to wait for the next books 😭
At first, it gave me slight Romeo and Juliet vibes, two feuding families with their own secrets. But a quarter into the book, it hit me: this is The Pied Piper of Hamelin!!! It has shades of both stories, and yet the world is unique and the tale is haunting.
I waited for this sequel for so long and recommended the series so many times that I actually started fearing I’d be disappointed. But I was hooked from beginning to end! I loved the twists and the way both the town and the main characters were fleshed out. I don't claim to be a genius, so my theories were minor (or I didn't even try), which made every reveal a total surprise.
I love how every book is different, new location, new story, but we still have Ana with her classic: "I’m the genius here, you're all idiots, what would you even do without me?"
4,5/5⭐️
Currently Reading
April 24, 2026foaming at the mouth for this book
ahhh i got the arc 😭😭 i love you del rey
ahhh i got the arc 😭😭 i love you del rey
April 14, 2026
Sometimes all it takes for a small family reunion to happen is a deadly neuro-fungus.
Themes & Sparks: Knives Out but make it a high fantasy murder mystery, deadly flora and fauna, a brilliantly unhinged and chaotic investigator duo, worldbuilding revelations, just Ana Dolabra (yes, that’s the theme), imperial power and power dynamics, worldbuilding revelations
The waiter left and never returned with my next course (book 4), so I am now left starving in the restaurant after what was the brilliance of A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett.
In this third novel of the Shadow of the Leviathan series, we accompanied our chaotic genius Dinius Kol and our brilliantly unhinged Ana Dolabra to a canton that lives and dies on the never-ending hunger of the empire. There, we not only met two feuding gentry families with a deadly neuro-fungus and buried secrets (as well as other mind-blowingly familiar faces (joke fully intended)), but we were also confronted with cleverly interwoven references and links to the agricultural business of our own real world.
No matter if they are wandering around an unsettling, semi-sentient forest or playing with bees and butterflies on a dusty country road, I will truly never grow tired of the impeccable dynamic, chemistry, and banter between Din and Ana, which once again made me fly through this novel in no time at all.
In addition to yet another captivating and gruesome crime, what also made this novel unputdownable were the new revelations the reader received about the neon fluorescent world, as well as the mysterious religion and history of the empire. Which all eventually led to a cliffhanger that left me screaming and throwing a pillow against the wall.
I don’t want to write too much about the story’s investigation for the sake of keeping this review spoiler-free, but just as with the two preceding novels, A Trade of Blood was yet another clever, chaotic, suspenseful, and smart gem of a fantasy murder mystery. I could eat a whole platter of these books and never grow tired, and I wholeheartedly hope that RJB gets to write more Ana and Din novels!
Thank you so much to PRH, Dely Rey and Inklore for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
P.S.: Pls find my initial reaction here:
Waiter !!
Where is book 4 ?
I’m done with this course!
...waiter ?! …..WAITER !!
I NEED MORE AFTER THIS ENDING!!
Themes & Sparks: Knives Out but make it a high fantasy murder mystery, deadly flora and fauna, a brilliantly unhinged and chaotic investigator duo, worldbuilding revelations, just Ana Dolabra (yes, that’s the theme), imperial power and power dynamics, worldbuilding revelations
The waiter left and never returned with my next course (book 4), so I am now left starving in the restaurant after what was the brilliance of A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett.
In this third novel of the Shadow of the Leviathan series, we accompanied our chaotic genius Dinius Kol and our brilliantly unhinged Ana Dolabra to a canton that lives and dies on the never-ending hunger of the empire. There, we not only met two feuding gentry families with a deadly neuro-fungus and buried secrets (as well as other mind-blowingly familiar faces (joke fully intended)), but we were also confronted with cleverly interwoven references and links to the agricultural business of our own real world.
No matter if they are wandering around an unsettling, semi-sentient forest or playing with bees and butterflies on a dusty country road, I will truly never grow tired of the impeccable dynamic, chemistry, and banter between Din and Ana, which once again made me fly through this novel in no time at all.
In addition to yet another captivating and gruesome crime, what also made this novel unputdownable were the new revelations the reader received about the neon fluorescent world, as well as the mysterious religion and history of the empire. Which all eventually led to a cliffhanger that left me screaming and throwing a pillow against the wall.
I don’t want to write too much about the story’s investigation for the sake of keeping this review spoiler-free, but just as with the two preceding novels, A Trade of Blood was yet another clever, chaotic, suspenseful, and smart gem of a fantasy murder mystery. I could eat a whole platter of these books and never grow tired, and I wholeheartedly hope that RJB gets to write more Ana and Din novels!
Thank you so much to PRH, Dely Rey and Inklore for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
P.S.: Pls find my initial reaction here:
Waiter !!
Where is book 4 ?
I’m done with this course!
...waiter ?! …..WAITER !!
I NEED MORE AFTER THIS ENDING!!
April 30, 2026
A Trade of Blood leans fully into the fungal potential of the narrative world of the Empire, so you will enjoy it if you enjoyed T Kingfisher's Sworn Soldier books. The writing and worldbuilding is still impeccable and the case and its resolution is intriguing. Those of us who have waited for more revelations about Ana will get some in this installment. Those of us wanting more of a bisexual disaster Din won't be disappointed either, although I can't wait for him to meet the Captain again - I hope he will! Overall, Din gets through a lot here, poor boy. There are also some developments showing the further direction of the series that suggest it won't be just touring the Empire solving crimes (which is a delight of its own but, you know).
A+ author note as always.
A+ author note as always.
May 20, 2026
Finally a series that answers the question: what if you wrote a buddy cop duo about the most demented place you can imagine?
Read this book if you are interested in: forests that are definitelynot haunted, Ana playing the flute much to Din's ultimate chagrin, unexpected family reunions, Din once again disappointing Ana's expectations when it comes to mixing work and play.
In ONE fantasy novel, Robert Jackson Bennet has done more to convince me to stop eating beef than even this pos economy and documentaries. RJB - I used to like a good burger! What now!
Anywhoo. I really can't describe the plot of this book further. If this series ever ends, I will be writing a personal letter to Del Rey and RJB demanding that it continue for my mental health.
Read this book if you are interested in: forests that are definitely
In ONE fantasy novel, Robert Jackson Bennet has done more to convince me to stop eating beef than even this pos economy and documentaries. RJB - I used to like a good burger! What now!
Anywhoo. I really can't describe the plot of this book further. If this series ever ends, I will be writing a personal letter to Del Rey and RJB demanding that it continue for my mental health.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
5/5 stars
Oh this series. This series. I love it so much it actually hurts to think how long I must wait for the next book. I just need RJB to write like 20 of these books, PLEASE.
In A Trade of Blood we are back with Ana and Din and their adventures in the beguiling Khanum Empire. Here, they investigate the murder of a gentry girl by her secret lover, a member of the rival cattle family. But just like every story, there is much more here than what we originally think. And Ana and Din must comb through the pieces and figure out what really happened in this blood-soaked butcher's city.
I adored the themes here, especially regarding how and what we worship from history, and how it may not be all its cracked up to be. We delve into the grisly meat farms and explore how we use animals cruelly for our own ends and comforts. Is this right or even natural? Are farms an abnormality in history, or the way humans are meant to live and survive? Such amazing questions and the exploration of them is just stunning.
As always, the characters of Din and Ana are incredible and full of complex nuances and secrets upon secrets. The layers of deceit this Empire is built on, and how it continues to use it, is fascinating. We get crumbs of answers in each book, which only serve to heighten the stakes of this world and create MORE questions that I'm now dying for answers to!
Love love love these books so much. If you haven't read The Tainted Cup do yourself a favour and read it RIGHT NOW. You're welcome.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Del Rey for an early copy! Releases 11th of August 2026!!!
Oh this series. This series. I love it so much it actually hurts to think how long I must wait for the next book. I just need RJB to write like 20 of these books, PLEASE.
In A Trade of Blood we are back with Ana and Din and their adventures in the beguiling Khanum Empire. Here, they investigate the murder of a gentry girl by her secret lover, a member of the rival cattle family. But just like every story, there is much more here than what we originally think. And Ana and Din must comb through the pieces and figure out what really happened in this blood-soaked butcher's city.
I adored the themes here, especially regarding how and what we worship from history, and how it may not be all its cracked up to be. We delve into the grisly meat farms and explore how we use animals cruelly for our own ends and comforts. Is this right or even natural? Are farms an abnormality in history, or the way humans are meant to live and survive? Such amazing questions and the exploration of them is just stunning.
As always, the characters of Din and Ana are incredible and full of complex nuances and secrets upon secrets. The layers of deceit this Empire is built on, and how it continues to use it, is fascinating. We get crumbs of answers in each book, which only serve to heighten the stakes of this world and create MORE questions that I'm now dying for answers to!
Love love love these books so much. If you haven't read The Tainted Cup do yourself a favour and read it RIGHT NOW. You're welcome.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Del Rey for an early copy! Releases 11th of August 2026!!!
April 25, 2026
Kinda like Romeo and Juliet, but instead of Montagues and Capulets, it’s GMO cows v bean-picking cats all while Ana sits contented in tiny closet.
March 30, 2026
I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley.
The further we get into the SHADOW OF THE LEVIATHAN series, the more impressed I get.
Now, it's not like Robert Jackson Bennett is new to me. I read and enjoyed his FOUNDERS trilogy, and THE DIVINE CITIES is one of my favorite SFF series ever. But with Ana and Din, it feels like Bennett is doing something both more ambitious and more restrained than in either of the earlier series. The schtick is well-known at this point: it's biopunk fantasy Nero Wolfe (or Sherlock Holmes, for those readers unfamiliar with Rex Stout's classic shut-in detective).
In the tradition of detective mysteries, these books are by nature episodic. A new case arises, Din and Ana arrive on the scene and solve the case, and then they move on. There is less of an overarching plot for the stories to rest upon than in most epic fantasy—no Dark One to eventually defeat, no Iron Throne for a dozen factions to battle over, no Dominator to keep sealed away. Even in Glen Cook's GARRETT, P.I. series, which like SHADOW OF THE LEVIATHAN is directly inspired by Nero Wolfe (among other classic detectives), there is an epic war going on in the background, with the hero Glory Mooncalled taking the spotlight for most of civilization while Garrett solves mysteries.
But the closest we get to that in these books is the mystery of the leviathans and the wet seasons. Yes, humanity is fighting against something, but there's not much *direction* to that war. It's a seasonal defensive action. The empire knows so little about the leviathans. It doesn't distract from the work of Ana and Din—indeed, the leviathans are hardly even mentioned in A TRADE OF BLOOD. Across three books, we've seen precisely one leviathan.
So what does that mean? It means that Bennett is focusing the scope tightly, right? Yes and no. Even as he restrains the narrative scope, he broadens the world and the empire through subthemes. If THE TAINTED CUP is about the military frontier, and A DROP OF CORRUPTION is about imperial colonialism, A TRADE OF BLOOD is about the agricultural complex.
Bennett deftly weaves social commentary and economic insights into a story about deadly mushrooms and revenge. He treads the line between passive awareness and direct criticism even as his characters struggle with the fallout of broken sibling relationships and abusive parents. There is A LOT going on in such a slim volume, and it speaks volumes to Bennett's continually growing ability as a writer.
A TRADE OF BLOOD is relentlessly compelling, profoundly disturbing, and just mysterious enough to keep the reader guessing without becoming frustrating. It's brilliant, and perhaps the best in the series so far.
The further we get into the SHADOW OF THE LEVIATHAN series, the more impressed I get.
Now, it's not like Robert Jackson Bennett is new to me. I read and enjoyed his FOUNDERS trilogy, and THE DIVINE CITIES is one of my favorite SFF series ever. But with Ana and Din, it feels like Bennett is doing something both more ambitious and more restrained than in either of the earlier series. The schtick is well-known at this point: it's biopunk fantasy Nero Wolfe (or Sherlock Holmes, for those readers unfamiliar with Rex Stout's classic shut-in detective).
In the tradition of detective mysteries, these books are by nature episodic. A new case arises, Din and Ana arrive on the scene and solve the case, and then they move on. There is less of an overarching plot for the stories to rest upon than in most epic fantasy—no Dark One to eventually defeat, no Iron Throne for a dozen factions to battle over, no Dominator to keep sealed away. Even in Glen Cook's GARRETT, P.I. series, which like SHADOW OF THE LEVIATHAN is directly inspired by Nero Wolfe (among other classic detectives), there is an epic war going on in the background, with the hero Glory Mooncalled taking the spotlight for most of civilization while Garrett solves mysteries.
But the closest we get to that in these books is the mystery of the leviathans and the wet seasons. Yes, humanity is fighting against something, but there's not much *direction* to that war. It's a seasonal defensive action. The empire knows so little about the leviathans. It doesn't distract from the work of Ana and Din—indeed, the leviathans are hardly even mentioned in A TRADE OF BLOOD. Across three books, we've seen precisely one leviathan.
So what does that mean? It means that Bennett is focusing the scope tightly, right? Yes and no. Even as he restrains the narrative scope, he broadens the world and the empire through subthemes. If THE TAINTED CUP is about the military frontier, and A DROP OF CORRUPTION is about imperial colonialism, A TRADE OF BLOOD is about the agricultural complex.
Bennett deftly weaves social commentary and economic insights into a story about deadly mushrooms and revenge. He treads the line between passive awareness and direct criticism even as his characters struggle with the fallout of broken sibling relationships and abusive parents. There is A LOT going on in such a slim volume, and it speaks volumes to Bennett's continually growing ability as a writer.
A TRADE OF BLOOD is relentlessly compelling, profoundly disturbing, and just mysterious enough to keep the reader guessing without becoming frustrating. It's brilliant, and perhaps the best in the series so far.
May 4, 2026
RJB the writer that you are!! Another brilliant installation in the world of Ana and Din. A mystery remniscent of Romeo & Juliet, with two forbidden lovers from rival agricultural mogul families except the crime is that Romeo is accused of killing Juliet and is sentenced to die. Castus [Romeo] swears he is innocent yet was the only man in the room with Zansay [Juliet] and has literal blood on his hands so how did the killer orchestrate this? The two most influential families now go to war over the crimes commited against one another which esclates into an unraveling of the systems in place that are feeding a whole society. And thats how we turn a ME problem into a WE problem, hats off killer.
I would have read this purely for Ana’s unhinged one-liners, but there is more!! The setting has such a vivid, botanical [and disgustingly fungal] aesthetic to it and the underlying message shows RJB has his finger on the pulse of such relevant dilemmas. Just the perfect fantasy series through and through.
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I would have read this purely for Ana’s unhinged one-liners, but there is more!! The setting has such a vivid, botanical [and disgustingly fungal] aesthetic to it and the underlying message shows RJB has his finger on the pulse of such relevant dilemmas. Just the perfect fantasy series through and through.
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Want to Read
February 18, 2026my favorite cover for this series. i want to eat it.
May 3, 2026
A Trade of Blood is a book that’s been on the top of my priority list since last year. Ever since I finished that second book, I immediately went to the link for the third, obsessively refreshing its page until there was a title, then a release date, then a cover. After freaking out about seeing the ARC in my mail, I finished it in about two days;
…and my feelings are subdued at best and anticlimactic at worst.
I gave The Tainted Cup five stars because I felt giddy that I managed to “detect” the undertones of a fling way before it actually happened.
I gave A Drop of Corruption five stars because that last scene between Ana and Din evoked this poignant feeling from within me and it was something I never thought would be possible from a dynamic such as that between the two, until then.
As much as I’d love to stick a five star rating to my most anticipated release of the year, I couldn’t find a reason to do so no matter how desperately I wanted to. Din’s love affairs by now are something the readers have grown accustomed to. I’d already guessed who the killer would be and Ana’s reveal of the murderer didn’t feel as explosive as I thought the previous two books had been. Maybe because it’s my third book of RJB’s mysteries, maybe I’ve gotten a hand of how things go. In such a small cast, it was easy to deduce who it’d be just by the method of exclusion. But being able to guess the killer normally wouldn’t guarantee a lower rating from me because the way Ana laid things out had always been so refreshing, cathartic and climactic for me. It was something I didn’t get here.
There’s also the nature of the mystery that felt contained to me. In the previous books, the matters always seemed so overwhelming, as if being unable to solve it would bring catastrophic consequences to this world. Here, it just felt like a conflict between two families. We got more world building and the continued overarching question of the dawn of the Empire and its existence, but I don’t think we ever really went there. It kept feeling like we teetered on the edge, caught a glimpse and retreated back into the safety of the two feuding gentries.
Even so, I enjoyed the expansion of the world. It’s so fun to follow Ana and Din from canton to canton, being introduced to new characters, new careers, new places and new mysteries. It’s such a lovely and vivid place to immerse myself in and this series has become one where I know, with no doubt, I’ll have a good time.
Thank you to Del Rey for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
…and my feelings are subdued at best and anticlimactic at worst.
I gave The Tainted Cup five stars because I felt giddy that I managed to “detect” the undertones of a fling way before it actually happened.
I gave A Drop of Corruption five stars because that last scene between Ana and Din evoked this poignant feeling from within me and it was something I never thought would be possible from a dynamic such as that between the two, until then.
As much as I’d love to stick a five star rating to my most anticipated release of the year, I couldn’t find a reason to do so no matter how desperately I wanted to. Din’s love affairs by now are something the readers have grown accustomed to. I’d already guessed who the killer would be and Ana’s reveal of the murderer didn’t feel as explosive as I thought the previous two books had been. Maybe because it’s my third book of RJB’s mysteries, maybe I’ve gotten a hand of how things go. In such a small cast, it was easy to deduce who it’d be just by the method of exclusion. But being able to guess the killer normally wouldn’t guarantee a lower rating from me because the way Ana laid things out had always been so refreshing, cathartic and climactic for me. It was something I didn’t get here.
There’s also the nature of the mystery that felt contained to me. In the previous books, the matters always seemed so overwhelming, as if being unable to solve it would bring catastrophic consequences to this world. Here, it just felt like a conflict between two families. We got more world building and the continued overarching question of the dawn of the Empire and its existence, but I don’t think we ever really went there. It kept feeling like we teetered on the edge, caught a glimpse and retreated back into the safety of the two feuding gentries.
Even so, I enjoyed the expansion of the world. It’s so fun to follow Ana and Din from canton to canton, being introduced to new characters, new careers, new places and new mysteries. It’s such a lovely and vivid place to immerse myself in and this series has become one where I know, with no doubt, I’ll have a good time.
Thank you to Del Rey for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Currently Reading
June 14, 2026STOP EVERYTHING. I GOT THE ARC!!!! All other planned reads are hereby cancelled until I finish this.
impatiently waiting for this to be released...
Want to Read
May 14, 2025I hope this series never ends, please RJB give it to us
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
My short reaction, may review more later:
Three books are clearly not enough in this series. I tried to make this one last longer but still finished it in two days, because I just needed to know what happened. This is the first one where I felt like I was partially solving the case alongside Ana and Din, as opposed to being flummoxed, but I still enjoyed this immensely, and I love the continuing hints to Ana's nature and . I also appreciated the author's note, connecting the political and economic situation of the food supply chain in this fantasy world to real-world concerns. I guess there is nothing left to do but reread all three again.
Update 3/30/26: Approved on Edelweiss! Thank you Del Ray!
Update 1/30/26: Still stalking Edelweiss for a digital ARC...please put it up soon!b
Update 3/30/26: Approved on Edelweiss! Thank you Del Ray!
Update 1/30/26: Still stalking Edelweiss for a digital ARC...please put it up soon!
Three books are clearly not enough in this series. I tried to make this one last longer but still finished it in two days, because I just needed to know what happened. This is the first one where I felt like I was partially solving the case alongside Ana and Din, as opposed to being flummoxed, but I still enjoyed this immensely, and I love the continuing hints to Ana's nature and . I also appreciated the author's note, connecting the political and economic situation of the food supply chain in this fantasy world to real-world concerns. I guess there is nothing left to do but reread all three again.
Update 3/30/26: Approved on Edelweiss! Thank you Del Ray!
Update 1/30/26: Still stalking Edelweiss for a digital ARC...please put it up soon!b
Update 3/30/26: Approved on Edelweiss! Thank you Del Ray!
Update 1/30/26: Still stalking Edelweiss for a digital ARC...please put it up soon!
Want to Read
March 23, 2026@RJB and Del Rey, need this immediately pls!!!
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