Cecile’s Reviews > The Tainted Cup > Status Update

Some find this book too filled with characters and world building.

I agree and yet I love it. There’s a lot going on. A LOT.

Strange names and terms and ranks and processes involving augmenting the body in frankly bizarre ways that serve a complex community.

And then there’s the sea monsters.

I dared to read some 1 star reviews to measure my own reactions. Some felt the book is doing too much. That may be the case, but I’m eating it up. Some feel detached from the detectives. I’m okay with them, although I’m waiting for a shoe to drop about Kol and his exam which earned him his role. So, while I agree with some of the 1 star reviews, I’m quite enjoying the book.

Amazingly intriguing. You’ve got characters with names such as Anath Topirak, Nusis and Miljin. You’ve got hierarchy of engineers, apotheks and engravers with titles such as Conzulate and Immunis. And, towns named Talagray and Oypat on some mythical peninsula or island. Homes are built of fern paper. Then you read the occasional “fuck,” “shit.” They speak English!! Or that is the translation, right?