The Tainted Cup
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennettby Robert Jackson Bennett
Shares rank 14 of 41 fantasy novels by recommenders
Recommended as a compelling mystery with a fantasy twist, often compared to Sherlock Holmes meets Godzilla, and the start of a series.
Recommended as a compelling mystery with a fantasy twist, often compared to Sherlock Holmes meets Godzilla, and the start of a series.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Compelling, engaging writing
“his writing is compelling”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Strong mystery with unique premise
“Sherlock Holmes meets Godzilla.”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Good sequels in the series
“I can strongly recommend ... Robert Jackon Bennett's The Tainted Cup & sequels”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
Other fantasy novels people recommend
The four most recommended other fantasy novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lord of the Ringsby J.R.R. Tolkien | 66 | 11 | 86% | 12 | 15 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| The Hobbitby J.R.R. Tolkien | 49 | 13 | 79% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Dungeon Crawler Carlby Matt Dinniman | 48 | 6 | 89% | 11 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationalityby Eliezer Yudkowsky | 19 | 17 | 53% | 7 | — | — |
| The Tainted Cupby Robert Jackson BennettThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“his writing is compelling”
“I can strongly recommend ... Robert Jackon Bennett's The Tainted Cup & sequels”
“Sherlock Holmes meets Godzilla.”
“These are all excellent books, each of which has something different to recommend them.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.