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Why it matters
Its Hugo win recognizes a mystery whose fair-play investigation is inseparable from inventive fantasy world-building.
A celebrated work
The Tainted Cup
Robert Jackson Bennett2025 selection · Science fiction & fantasy
The Tainted Cup
In an empire defended from giant sea creatures by biological engineering, an imperial officer is killed when a tree erupts from his body. Investigator Ana Dolabra and her magically altered assistant Din follow the impossible murder into a wider network of corruption and danger.
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Read this if…
You want a Holmes-like detective partnership inside a strange, ecologically transformed empire.
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Ideas inside
InvestigationBiological engineeringCorruptionEmpire
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Hugo Award for Best Novel — official winner recordOfficial record↗ (opens in a new tab)