Oooo, this is a good one. The main character, Sancia, is a great thief due to her magical abilities that she doesn’t quite understand. In a world where magic is a little more mechanically inclined (think being able to tell a piece of wood it is much stronger than it really is aka remaking reality a bit) the city is run by campos (or Companies) with everyone else just living in poverty/slums Then Sancia gets a job that is bigger than she has every had and is pulled into a whirlwind that will change her world. If you like great world building, likable characters, heists and talking keys, this book is for you. I can’t wait for the series to continue.

Awesome fantasy and the beginning of a new series! I was thoroughly immersed and absorbed in this adventure. One of the best fantasy books I've read lately. Sancia, who is a thief, has been engaged to steal a box from a safe and is told not to open it. Sancia didn't know it, but this box contained an artifact of unimaginable power. Now there are people who want her dead and want this magical artifact for themselves. The artifact can be used in "scriving" - engraving certain significant symbols on inanimate objects that give them properties to make them think they are something else or have other abilities.

This book was so much fun I hated to get to the end and I eagerly await the next in the series. Kudos to Robert Jackson Bennett for a great read!

Thanks to Robert Jackson Bennett and Crown Publishing through Netgalley for an advance copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The world-building was amazing and included a form of magic that felt unique among magic-systems. The characters felt fully fleshed out, and I'm not just talking about the main characters. Even the minor characters felt fully fleshed out in a way that I haven't often seen in a number of books. The political intrigue was believable without being cloying and the story was a ton of fun. The book itself travels through a variety of genres: while ostensibly a heist novel, there is a healthy amount of spying, the aforementioned political intrigue, and an overall sense of fun.

I liked this! Good worldbuilding, interesting characters, propulsive plot. One reason I generally prefer fantasy to sci-fi is that I don't really care about the physics of the magic/technology I'm reading out - just tell me it works and demonstrate it is consistent and I'm happy. This had much more explanatory world-building than I generally prefer, but it didn't bother me because the system being described seemed interesting.

Tevanne is a city of property owned and managed by four major Merchant Houses, who scrive, a magical technology with imbues objects with different powers and properties. The rest of the city is unsafe slum, and the home of Sancia, a thief. When Sancia is hired to steal a package from a warehouse she finds out information about the history of scriving which makes her a target. Together with a privileged scion of one of the Houses who just wants order and some talented scrivers and engineers, Sancia has to protect her stolen package - because it might just be the key to fixing some of her own long-held secrets.

I want to start by sharing that I find the premise of this book fascinating. The cover art caught my eye and after reading some of the book I see that it captures the main character and the world well, which i appreciate.

The main character is quite interesting. I like her motive but I want her to be more badass, more adult. I also love the unique magic system of scriving. The possibilities are endless of what you can dream up with the magic system.

While I find the premise to be fascinating I felt that that I was being spoonfed the information. Not only was the information handed to me on a silver platter but it was also dumbed down. I do think that if I overlook the way the information is delivered and just enjoy the easy read I may actually like the story. I am, however, going to dnf the book. I could not stay hooked and kept falling asleep or finding my thoughts wandering.

Though I will not be finishing this book I am giving it 3 stars for the premise. I am confident that the story will intrigue other readers though it was not what I personally enjoy.

I thank Netgalley, the author, and the publishers for providing this uncorrected proof for my honest review.

This book starts off a new series with some very interesting characters and a lot of room to add others. The world is built on the ruins of a former civilization and the founders are using the scraps of what they have learned to create some amazing and some awful things. The protagonist, Sancia, is a thief - but readers will be very sympathetic to her as they learn more of her backstory and come to see why she is isolated, loath to touch anyone, and desperate to escape from her current location. She is not one of the fortunate who work directly for the Founders, and definitely not a member of one of the Founder families. So she has little hope of survival in their world of mechanical marvels that seem to run on magical inscriptions built into the mechanisms. But as we follow her path into an increasingly complicated situation, we can see how the traditions and customs of the Founders have created a strict class system, and how tightly controlled the power is within their world. The more hopeless the plight of those like Sancia seems, the more we root for her to succeed. As she weighs everyone she encounters to determine if they are ally or enemy, we look through her eyes and make those same judgments. We won't know if we are right, if she is right, until the very end. And even that is unsure, since it is only the first book in this new tale.

For those who like heroines who persist, even though they have been deeply wronged or hurt; for those who savor complicated plots and detailed settings; for those who have enjoyed stories such as The Court of Fives, or existing fans of Robert Jackson Bennett - give this book a try.

Having never heard of this author before I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book but as soon as I started reading I was hooked. The story begins quickly as we follow Sancia on a mission to steal an object that will become central to the story. She has been instructed not to open this object if she retrieves it and has no idea what it is that she is supposed to be stealing. We get to know Sancia before we understand the world and time in which she lives. She is a perfectly flawed heroine that has managed to survive in unlikely circumstances through her wits and special skills. We come to learn that this world is full of industrialized magic that can change objects and reality. The setting is fascinating and unique.

Sancia will be joined by a unique cast of characters. There is the man who is determined to do his best to bring justice to this corrupt world. There are the scrivers who can create the impossible. There are objects that take on a life of their own. Of course there are plenty of villains. In many ways this world is its own lawless land where those in power make the laws everyone else must contend with.

The story follows Sancia as she pivots from looking out for herself to looking out for others and doing her part to make the world better. The odds are stacked against her but the risks if she fails are too high to walk away from. At times the author did get too bogged down in the details for me but overall this was a fast paced adventure set in a very unique world. The world is very different by the end of this book and I will definitely be reading the next book in this series!

There are many ways one can approach Robert Jackson Bennett's upcoming fantasy novel, Foundryside. Some may read it as a heist story akin to Ocean's 11. Others might see it as a buddy-cop-style tale featuring a wealth of banter between the main characters. Or one might, as I did, find themselves reading a technical manual devoted to a complex magical system interspersed with plot elements and character sketches.

Foundryside features a world of industrialized magic where devices are built and then enchanted using designs and symbols to convince them to do particular things. Locks will only respond to specific people, wood used for construction is told that it is really stone, weapons are made deadlier when issued specific commands. It's an interesting concept carried out with intricate detail to the detriment of the world and its characters.

The main character, Sancia Grado, is a thief-for-hire tasked with stealing a box containing a powerful magical artifact. When circumstances conspire to keep her from delivering the artifact to her employers, she must run for her life. She teams up with a soldier-turned-constable and a pair of magic workers from the wealthy side of town. Together, they unravel the artifact's secrets and discover that their enemies have dire plans in store for the artifact itself, as well as for the rest of the city. This, too, is an interesting idea and would have held my attention better if the characters had been deep enough to drive the plot forward instead of being driven by it. As it was, the only thing keeping together the trope of the scrappy-thief meets constable-with-a-good-heart was the plot itself, not any mutual loyalty they had built. They fail to grow as individuals from beginning to end. They also sound alike. Whether the speaker is a nearly-illiterate and impoverished teenage thief or a well-educated and wealthy magic user from the rich part of town, the characters all sound the same. Without dialogue tags, it would be hard to tell which character was speaking in their oddly anachronistic way-- speech that would sound normal in an urban fantasy, but is out of place in a world based upon Renaissance-era Venice.

The world, too, is underdeveloped. The story is set in Tevanne (which I constantly read as 'Teavana'), a city of canals and docks where a nearly impassable wall separates the wealthy merchant houses from the impoverished slums. It's a setting that I should like, given my general love of the Renaissance, but the city is so lightly described that the only images I could generate in my imagination were "generic shabby slums" and "generic rich neighborhood", and that was when Tevanne settled upon a time period it wanted to be based upon. At times, it felt like a Renaissance theme, and other times it felt like Industrial Age England, minus steam engines and guns. There's no rule that a story can't have Industrial Revolution era technology in a Renaissance-style setting, but I was never convinced that these elements hadn't been cobbled together because the plot required it, or because an idea sounded cool in the moment.

For all the imagination that went into the structure, Foundryside failed for me in its general execution. I never felt a connection to the characters, and the world building was thin at best, making Tevanne feel like an island utterly unconnected to a larger world. And while the magic system was compelling in the beginning, there was so much info dumping that I often felt like I was reading a technical manual.

If intricate magical systems and characters who constantly snark at each other are a draw for you, then you will likely enjoy Foundryside. But because magical systems and their explanations are not what draw me to fantasy, this book did not work for me. It is light on character growth, lighter on world building, and full of workaday prose that did nothing to keep me invested in the story.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett has all the ingredients to make it a winner with fantasy readers. These ingredients include: A loveable main character, excellent world building and a well-executed plot with unexpected twists throughout.

Sancia Grado is a well-known thief with special abilities that allow her to be an expert in her craft. She is highly sought after for those most difficult and delicate jobs. She has just accepted a job to steal an item from a highly guarded safe in the port area of Tevanne. Unbeknownst to her, the item is not only highly valuable but is a powerful ancient artifact and there are people willing to kill to possess it.

The job is proceeding nicely and Sancia has managed to break into the safe and steal the artifact. Her problems start when she makes her escape from the warehouse that housed the safe. She finally makes it back to her hideaway and stows the box she has stolen into her secret hiding place. Then curiosity gets the better of her and she has to look in the box. What she finds is a key. All this for a key? Then the key starts speaking to her. She quickly realizes that very powerful people will be looking for her and that she is in grave danger. In order to survive, she will need all her abilities and those of others she would never have trusted with anything let alone her life.

In the main character of Sancia, the author has created a strong female heroine that is loveable and to who the reader quickly develops empathy for. Sancia is tenacious, loyal and of course an underdog and you will not be able to resist pulling for her even though she is a thief. Actually I quickly forget that she was basically a criminal. It helps, of course, to know that this harsh world has left her no choice.

The world building is solid and information is doled out perfectly. In addition, Foundryside felt very original to me. I read a lot of fantasy so to have something this original was very refreshing. Add to this a fast paced plot and twists to keep the reader engaged and you have a winner.

Hands down I highly, highly recommend to all fantasy lovers.

I received an ARC from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Foundryside is the first book in a fantasy series that takes place in a world built around the concept of using magic as a technology and driver of the economy. The story follows Sancia, a thief with a unique gift who (unknown to her) was hired to steal an object with unimaginable power that has the potential to change the world. Trouble ensues. There were layers of complex, creative world building in this story. The author took the time to really think through and describe to readers this unique magic system and the consequences it has on both the physical world itself and the castes of people living in the world. While I appreciate the imagination and time taken, I felt this aspect of the story was a bit too repetitive at times. The book started off with some good action with Sancia going through the complicated motions of stealing the object. Readers got a good taste of the magic system from these scenes. I really didn't feel the need to have to continue describing things that were already described during these scenes after the scenes occurred. Regardless, I absolutely loved that the author took a logical, technological approach to the magic to create this concept of industrialized magic. He also gave examples of how the magic was used in concepts readers could relate to and understand, to include building architecture and weaponry and enabled redefining the concept of a computer and coding. Lots of potential for future installments in this series.

I just love this author. I was excited to see a new series by him, it did not disappoint . The worlds he creates are so easy to get lost in.

When I read the first book in a fantasy series I usually begin to crave more action as there is so much focus on world building, this is especially so with a book thelat is introducing a complex magic system as this one did. I did not have that problem with this book and felt it was evenly balanced. In this we get a city with industrialized magic.

I love the way the author builds his characters with layers. One minute you love them, the next not so much.

So much anticipating the second book.

Review copy provided by Netgalley.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
Foundryside (Founders, #1)
by Robert Jackson Bennett (Goodreads Author)
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review Aug 04, 2018 · edit
it was amazing

I can't remember being so quickly immersed into a fantasy world since reading Philip Pullman's "Dark Materials" Trilogy . This is my first foray into a novel written by Robert Jackson Bennett ... I had no idea I was in for such a treat. Not only is his world building amazing, but the extent of his lush characterization is eye popping. Assembled is an outstanding cast of diverse characters realistically fleshed out in cinematic fashion. A group of unlikely characters from various strata of society unite to fight the blurred front of a nefarious force. The setting is somewhat medieval with a healthy dose of a magical system using "scriving" to alter reality. The methodology and application of scriving is extensively elucidated throughout the book.
Four merchant houses dominant, control and rule the society... and have total disregard for the outsiders living in the surrounding slums of The Commons. The action immediately begins with the opening pages ... introducing our main protagonist, Sancia "Grado" , an accomplished thief with mysterious origins and master of not only utilization of scrived tools but also an uncanny perception of touch. We are thrust right into the conflict with the waring factions when she steals a artifact and inadvertently burns down the waterfront. The immediate effect is to have Captain Gregor Dandolo on her trail ... who eventually reveals himself to be a warrior prince and is referred to as "The Revenant". A complex plot is unveiled and suggests the nefarious forces may be trying to rewrite history. Multiple twists and turns arise evolving almost into a "heist movie" ... with a heavy narrative of political intrigue.
The tension ratches up to near boiling level with the denouement and although a satisfying culmination occurs, it obviously leads into unanswered questions and future books. Thanks to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for providing this wonderful ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As he demonstrated with his Divine Cities Trilogy, Robert Jackson Bennett knows how to build dysfunctional fantasy worlds that you'll comfortably get lost in. His understanding and crafting of unique mythologies is exciting to bare witness to. With Foundryside he's crafted the type of novel that you devour and immediately want to dive into the next in the series. Sancia is the heroine 2018 desperately needed. I would be shocked if this was not my favorite fantasy read of the year.

FOUNDRYSIDE begins with a small grain of perspective that quickly and continuously evolves into a multilayered plot to destroy the world as they know it. Following thrilling heist after heist, characters thrown together and bound by tenuous alliances, and an industrialized form of magic that holds their realities together, one nobody thief just might have the key to history and with it unlock a whole new and unexpected future. This is a definite read for fans of fantasy and mayhem.
-pooled ink

In Tevanne, the 4 merchant houses run the show, while the lesser humans scrape by. Sancia, a slave turned thief, tries to make it by any way that she can. She does have a little help, though; she can hear scrived objects, a magic form popular in Tevanne. After completing a big job, Sancia realizes that what she stole could change the history and future of everyone in Tevanne forever.

This book had a lot of potential. The rich history of Tevanne and the art of scriving is unique and well thought out. However, sometimes there was just too much about the history and scriving-- get back to the action! The characters were a little lackluster, save for Sancia. She was well developed, and everyone else just seemed to revolve around her. There was also SO MUCH going on. It wasn't complicated, but it was just overwhelming.
3.5 stars! I would recommend to fantasy lovers, definitely.

You all know how much I fell in love with Robert Jackson Bennett's Divine Cities series, right? They are amazing go read them. I wasn't even aware he was working on a new series until I got an email about Foundryside being available on Netgalley. I am so glad I was able to get access to it.

When I first started this book almost forgot who the author was, but as soon as I settled into the story I thought, "oh, yeah! RJB is awesome!" One thing that he really does well is world building and this book is no different. Right off the bat I got a good feel for this weird fantasy, steampunk-esque world. It was so fascinating and so intricate that I couldn't stop myself from reading on. The author has a real knack for weaving in data dumps into the story, but in a way that doesn't make you feel like he's doing that.

Other than the awesome world building, I think what made me love this book was the characters. Our main character Sancia is a sarcastic jerk, but is also an interesting thief whom is just trying to survive in this crazy world. She winds up stuck in the middle of a conflict she wants no part in when she steals a mysterious key. Oh that she can also talk to? It's hard to explain without getting into spoiler territory. Sancia ends up having to work with Gregor, a real stick in the mud whom is unsuccessfully trying to bring order to a chaotic work. She also is reluctantly helping Orso and his assistant Berenice, both scrivers for a merchant house. Orzo is kinda of a old curmudgeon so of course I loved him. I didn't really know what to make of Berenice, she was certainly a smart and resourceful character, but I found myself not that interested in her.

The city they live in Tevanne is set up with all these complicated scrivings in order to make things work better. It made the world have that industrial/steampunk feel to it. The book explains how this all works, which seemed super complicated to me, and I'm not sure I actually understood it completely, but in the context of the story it made sense. It seemed like physics was highly involved with it. Which I have absolutely no understanding of, so maybe that's why I had a hard time understanding how exactly it worked! I will say it was really cool!

There were a couple things I wanted to point out about this book that I think readers need to be aware of. It's pretty clear that Sancia suffers from PTSD, so if that is a trigger for you be aware. There are also depictions of slavery, torture, we abuse so keep that in mind if you plan to read this one.


Personally, I loved this book and if you enjoyed the Divine Cities series I highly recommend it

I received a free egalley copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Foundryside (Founders #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett is a fantasy novel, the first in a series it seems taking place on a different version of our Earth. Mr. Bennett is an award winning author.

Sancia Grado, a thief, was hired to steal an item off the docks in her city, Tevanne. This is nothing that Sancia hasn’t done before, but the time she is stealing wields an unimaginable power that many rich families with kill to get.

Tevanne is a city that runs on industrialized magic, a system to spells that can overwrite reality. Sancia is the only human, as far as she knows, that can hear these magical objects

I don’t know what prompted me to read a fantasy novel all of the sudden. The genre is not my usual forte, I tried to read Lord of the Rings several times but could never make it past 150 pages, and the only reason I read the Song of Fire and Ice books is because of the TV show (admittingly though, they were very good).

I have heard about the author through some forms I’m on and decided to give his books a shot. I’m glad I did, Foundryside (Founders #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett was an excellent, exciting read even for someone like myself that has a hard time “getting” fantasy.

This is not the usual book when thinking about the genre though, there are no elves or dragons, this is more of a book about magic, if anything else. I loved the world building and characterization in this novel, the innovative story and the narrative.

A world where humans can tap the consciousness of objects, convincing them that they are something different is an exciting premise. Telling a wooden pole it is made of steel, which makes it believe it’s steel and hence just as strong, or convincing an arrow it is falling at a great rate of speed when being shot are just a few examples which I can think of throughout this novel.

The protagonist, Sancia Grado, can hear these objects which help her make a living as a thief. The walls can “tell” her where the weak part is, and the floors can “tell” her where the guards are. Of course, her powers come with a great price though.

The book is very smart, the author builds a complex world, filled with multi-dimensional characters, a class system. The author dives into the nuances of why the magic works, how it came to be and the class system which rules the city. A bit of science is injected into the book as well, which makes the story more compelling and believable.

**I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review**

This had to be one of my favourite reads so far this year. I found it engrossing from the first page on. A lot of times with fantasy stories, the story can get bogged down by world-building. This type of narrative is expected in the genre, by I was so glad that Robert Jackson Bennett broke with tradition here. In reading this, there was no time when I felt the narrative stall for the author to build his world. Bennett parsed out details as needed and his story is all the better for it.

I can't say enough positive things about this one. It was simply amazing and I can't wait for the next book in the series so I can return to these wonderful characters and their unique world.

5 stars.

3.5 rounded up. This title is the first in a new series. Those that love fantasy, and especially those that already enjoy this writer’s work will want to check it out. My thanks go to Crown and Net Galley for the DRC, which I received free and early in exchange for this honest review. Bennett comes to this project with a list of awards as long as your arm, so I was excited to read him. I probably would have been more impressed by this book if there hadn’t been so much build up. Still, it has a lot going for it. It will be released August 21, 2018.

The fictional city of Tevanne in which this story takes place is even more polarized than the developed world of today; there is a walled city in which the haves get everything and live in tremendous luxury, and then we have The Commons, where not only is there no law enforcement or legally held private property; in fact there are no laws at all. This is where the dispossessed try to stay alive. Our protagonist is Sancia, a thief that has been commissioned to steal a valuable artifact. Buildings speak to Sancia through her hands, so when she doesn’t want to be distracted or drained, she must wear gloves. The technology of the time is scriving, a magical method similar to artificial intelligence on steroids, and this dominates the plot. Sancia discovers Clef, a key that is scrived, and Clef becomes her sidekick.

The story starts out with a lot of noise, but not much of substance takes place; we have scriving, and we have a lot of chasing, running, hiding, climbing, jumping, running, fighting, running some more and…well, you get the idea. I generally prefer a more complex plot along the lines of Stephen Donaldson or Tolkien, but I was glad I stayed with it when I saw where it ended up.

I am pumped to have a series that has a strong female protagonist, and here we also have a female villain. I would be even more pumped if rape were never even mentioned. I read an interview years ago with movie director Jodie Foster, who said that working with male writers, directors and producers was frustrating, because so few of them were able to imagine motivation for a female character without landing there. Why would this character do [whatever]? Why, she must have been raped. It was rape. She’s afraid of rape.

Still, after all of the scriving, running, chasing, hiding, fighting and fleeing, we come to an ethical quandary that makes it worth the wait. And of course, the series is still in its infancy, so it’s fun to get in on the ground floor.

Bennett’s fans will be delighted, and those that love fantasy should consider adding this book to their queue.

I enjoyed reading Foundryside, a complex story with a lot of excitement. The plot was original with a lot of information to digest. I thought the characters were interesting and likable. The ending suggests more excitement and adventure ahead in Founders, #2. I enjoyed the authors writing style and would read book #2.

I give Foundryside 4 stars for its original complex story.
I would recommend this book to Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans.