I'm going to start this review by doing something evil, which is to compare this book to other books you might have read. It's a game I don't often play, at least at the beginning of a review, but today I spent my lunch break picking up little tiny bits of shattered pasta out of someone else's rug thanks to a half-wild husky, so you'll forgive me for doing the easiest and funnest bit first. To that end, I recommend this book to readers who enjoy Patrick Rothfuss' 'Kingkiller' series (here's a complicated magic system that looks a lot like science, or math, only fancy and not so tied to irreducible facts). I also recommend it to readers who liked Tom Miller's "The Philosopher's Flight" (for the magical science, and also characters who can chew your face off without blinking), and to those who like Bradley Beaulieu's 'Shattered Sands' series (mostly because, in both worlds, you underestimate women, good and bad and morally grey, to your soul's eternal peril).

Another pertinent question worth asking is, of course: Will those who loved Bennett's 'City' trilogy also like this latest work? The answer is complicated, but by and large a soft 'yes.' This book is very much city-centric, with an urban fantasy vibe that is pleasurably complicated by the aforementioned magical science, and the lack of overcooked fantastical races. (Although, for a great contrast, check out Kameron Hurley's "Apocalypse Nyx," which makes the stereotypes take a good long look at themselves, then turn around and evolve to a higher plane of bonkers, campy existence.) But the "cityness" of "Foundryside" is more reminiscent of the Boston in Miller's book than the cities of Bennett's previous trilogy; those cities are eerie, and full of echoes, and the lost and shattered dreams of trapped and exiled citizens. This city feels more, well, pedestrian. Even if our lead character, Sancia, has a habit of leaping from roof to roof instead of actually walking it. This is a city where shit happens, where there are the equivalent of walled compounds housing feudal dynasties in various states of disrepair; there are resonances with P. Djèlí Clark's new novella, "The Black God's Drums" here, in more ways than one.

There's much to admire in "Foundryside," and a first reading doesn't even do it justice; just checking out the author's notes on Goodreads opened my eyes to some of the reasoning behind various choices and characterizations. Bennett put care into his craft, and it's apparent on every page. The downside is, as often is the case, that the mind behind the story can intrude rather than assist an immersive reading process when so much thought has gone into the details—and to an extent, that happens here. I am not as won over by Sancia as I have been by Bennettian characters in the past, but not so much that I can't appreciate the book's strengths and celebrate its differences as well as its synergy with my much-beloved 'City' trilogy. This is an entertaining read, full of lengthy action sequences where the strange and logic-defying magical science is brought to bear in interesting ways. Lovers of magical systems will drool over this book, which is why I'm not loaning them my copy. My copy must be kept safe, so that I can re-read it before the next book in Bennett's new 'Founders' series is released. And yes, this book does necessitate a sequel. Rejoice, oh book-lovers!

I am a fan of the The Divine Cities Trilogy, so was excited to read this book.

Jackson has the wonderful happy talent of absolutely spectacular world-building. He can make something see like it was here yesterday or is just across the ocean or that I should be able to open a history book and find out more. While he only gives us pieces his mythos is complex and coherent. Honestly its just gorgeous.

So this a great meld of magic and tech. The magic system was awesome and I liked the tech blend. I found Sachia to be witty and a good hero to root for. It was break neck adventure and cops& robbers and I enjoyed it very very much.

“Sancia liked stealing. She was good at it.” A hazardous career for a 5-foot, 20-year old girl in which even a small error in her assignments can result in her immediate death. Sancia’s latest task is to break into a fortified safe at a heavily armed merchant house to retrieve a wooden box. Her reward? The largest payout she’d ever earned. She is told not to open this unremarkable box, but of course her inquisitive nature propels her to do so. Inside she finds is a key named Clef. Why is Clef so valuable? For one thing he is a talking key, the second is he is a ‘scrived’ key, made to open locks and doors, and third, Clef can read Sancia’s mind. What an interesting character Clef was, this charismatic talking key with a sense of humor!

Sancia’s character lands somewhere between MacGyver and Ethan Hunt, racing against time to unravel a mystery and includes a world domination scheme that involves ‘scriving’ , where instructions are written for a specific action to be performed, making objects and people do things on demand. What a very entertaining and creative fantasy ride.

Foundryside is exactly what I needed to fill the void after finishing Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft. Though, now, I have an even bigger hole to fill because Foundryside is everything you could want from a fantasy novel and more. Robert Jackson Bennett has created an expansive world and an innovative magic system with characters that brighten each page they’re on.

Bennett’s world is huge, literally and figuratively. Foundryside begins with a small info dump about the magic system at work, the political landscape, and the setting. All the information is communicated effectively, despite it being an info dump. After the first few pages, Bennett then expertly teases out the finer details of the world organically leaving the reader wanting more.

The magic system that Bennett has crafted reminds me a lot of the magic system found in Brandon Sanderson’s short story The Emperor’s Soul. Shaping and changing the reality of objects so they act in different ways than they’re supposed to. However, Bennett brings his magic system a step farther. Instead of just changing the appearance of objects, Foundryside scrivings give life to inanimate objects.

The reader follows Sancia as she uses her unique abilities to carve out a life for herself. These abilities are then honed, developed, and expanded in ways I didn’t see coming. The magic system is multifaceted with the ability to grow beyond what was initially introduced.

Overall, Foundryside is a fantasy novel I would recommend to anyone. With an innovative magic system, a comprehensive world, lively characters, and an action packed adventure, Foundryside is sure to please almost every type of fantasy reader.

Riveting!

Enter the tough, tempered world of Tevanne where machines are run by plates scribed by sigils that convince objects of a different reality, which in turn sets them in motion according to the demands inscribed. Scriven humans though are illegal, harmful and an anathema to the original ideas of the inhabitants of this world.
A world where the ruling merchant classes live in order and wealth, where morality is doubtful and integrity a troubling word. Those unfortunates out in Foundryside live in disgusting conditions, reminiscent of industrial English slums à la Oliver Twist, crossed with Jabba the Hutt's abode, where the strong prey on the weak and where all sorts of despicable activities are the norm. Where the price of life is cheap and virtue is a non existent entity.
Sancia Grado is a young woman with a painful past, deep secrets locked away from even herself, an inhabitant of the slums outside the merchant enclaves. She's a gifted thief and those gifts will become beacons for the greedy. Undoing the toughest of locks is her specialty. Her latest assignment is to steal a small box from a warehouse. A task filled with danger. A highly paid job for such a small object. Of course Sancia can't resist opening the box and like Pandora her world shifts!
What she has released is an artifact from the beginning of scrivenings, an artifact that goes back to the time when the godlike ordered the world. It seems someone wants to take up that mantle and Sancia finds herself with allies she'd never have normally considered. She's pursued on every side by those who want to use her and those who want her dead. Friends and enemies blur and scrivening underlies it all.
As the story continues there appears little divides the morality of the Merchant enclaves to Foundryside, except perhaps access to clean water.
A powerful new fantasy with betrayal and death found at every turn, and where the downtrodden still find avenues of hope.

A NetGalley ARC

4.8

<i>Foundryside</i> is a refreshing fantasy novel that puts on a clinic for solid, but approachable world-building while having a fast-paced plot that still takes time to develop fun characters with interesting abilities. This was my first time reading this author and despite some of the hype I had going in, I still was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It was a very easy read that I was able to appreciate on multiple levels and ranks highly among my 2018 reads so far.

Perhaps the best aspect of the novel is its setting and world-building. <i>Foundryside</i> takes place in a heavily industrialized fantasy setting in a city that’s mostly ruled by a handful of powerful merchant houses who are most concerned with their own business and personal interests and enforcing law and order only to the extent they meet those ends. There is minimal regulation on industry (with a few big exceptions) and the society is rather cutthroat and hard on the common people, though we don’t see too much of this side. Even the laws of the city are often dodged by outsourcing more questionable practices to the plantations beyond the city limits where human rights are even less protected. Just to be clear, despite the heavy industrial focus, because of the way the magic works, this isn’t really steampunk as it might sound. The technology level is in some ways similar, but the aesthetic isn’t really there since the machines run on a more magical than mechanistic source. While the society isn’t entirely unique, this pro-commercial social and political structure is a big impetus for the development of scriving technology, which acts as the magic of this world.

Scriving is an art that allows practitioners to carve runes into objects to make them do things they normally wouldn’t, even things they shouldn’t physically be able to. From what we see of it, the language of scriving seems to work very similar to computer programming languages in the real world, even relying on “lexicons,” big extremely complex scrivings hubs that define certain complex functions that other scrivings nearby can call to utilize those functions without duplicating all the same scriving verbatim on every little device, similar to the libraries you might find in real code. Scriving is very flexible and is capable of making objects bend the laws of reality itself. A simple scriving might tell a wheel to move on its own, which is already bending some physical laws since no energy is apparently transferred. But it gets even wilder when scrivings can for instance order a block of wood to “think” that it is as durable as stone but weigh as much as a feather. The possibilities are mostly limited by what is and isn’t accomplishable with scriving and what scrivers have been able to figure out how to do thus far. This allows the book to play around with some really wonky mechanics that make for cool fight scenes and innovative problem solving without implying that everything is possible (ie, scrivers have had a lot of trouble defying gravity or scriving humans). Further, despite how much the book extrapolates from the basic premise, I never really felt lost on the world-building in its mechanics or their implications on the plot. On top of all this, scriving implies a really interesting metaphysics that includes some form of panpsychism, which is really fun.

The basic idea of programming-like magical rune languages is something I’ve played with in my head a lot and have always found it an interesting blend of sci-fi into a more magical setting allowing for a more scientific version of magic than is usually seen. Better, we get to see that idea extrapolated quite far from its basic premise. This, in my opinion, is where <i>Foundryside</i> shines most. I’ve always felt like, with some exceptions, the best world-building is all about digging deep into an idea and considering all of its implications and applications as far as is reasonably feasible within the work’s parameters. It can be challenging, especially in a fantasy world to really go that distance, but this book pulls it off nicely. I’m not sure how long this series is planned to be, but this book alone explored a lot of ways scriving can be used and abused, including its taboos and deeper mysteries/capabilities to the point I have to wonder what’s left for future installments. One of my favorite parts of the novel was just hearing more about the system and how it’s being used both ordinarily and with new innovations coming about through the plot, which stirs up the scriving landscape a lot. Better yet, the world-building is seamlessly integrated into the story. Aside from a few introductory infodumps early on, illustrations and extrapolations on how scriving works and can be applied all make sense when they’re given and are both succinct and engaging, never slowing down the narrative.

The characters for the book are very functional for the novel and work well. Our main character, Sancia, is a scrived human, the only one as far as we know, who has scrivings on a plate in her head that give her a sort of involuntary extraperceptive power with anything she touches, allowing her to see what a thing is “thinking” and some glimpse into its nature and origin. I was personally a bit hazy on what all her powers tell Sancia and while it didn’t end up bothering me simply because most of the details didn’t matter for the plot, I do wish it had been a bit clearer. Sancia’s powers, while extremely useful for a thief, as the first couple chapters demonstrate, cause her a lot of grief and a lonely existence since she can’t bear human contact and too much would literally kill her. In fact, her current goal is to get rid of them if she can. I can’t really go into detail without spoilers, but while I like Sancia okay and found her character arc intriguing and sympathetic, I think it could’ve been done a bit better to hit the emotional beats harder. I also didn’t get a feel for her until a ways into the novel. This however was mostly due to the amount of action going on and wasn’t too big of a deal to me.

Of the minor characters, prime among them is Gregor Dandolo, a sort of secondary protagonist who is hunting down Sancia in the name of his merchant house and his own sense of justice. I didn’t like Gregor especially much, but he was an alright character and he did have some cool fight scenes with his scrived whip-like weapon. There are a few minor characters, namely Orso and Berenice who I actually liked a lot as minor characters. I won’t go into too much detail as this review is long enough, but they did what minor characters should, not taking up too much spotlight while still being fun, interesting, and fleshed out. As a side issue, I wish the characters had been physically described a bit more. I know some writers prefer to avoid physical descriptions altogether for various writing philosophy reasons, but I didn’t feel like that was what was going on as characters did get some description, I just don’t feel like I have a clear image of what any of them is supposed to look like. Ultimately, none of the characters was I quite in love with, but they were still great characters, especially for the purposes of this book. This is a strange sort of situation where I’d say the characters might be the weakest part of the book, but in no way is that really a bad thing, it’s just that other aspects shine more.

The tone of <i>Foundryside</i> I found a bit odd. This could just be me, but I often felt like it was a bit contradictory. When I think about the events of the novel, there is some really dark stuff, including some extremely violent deaths, mention of human slavery and sacrifice, torture, etc. Sancia really resents a lot about her existence as even changing into new clothes triggers her advanced perception and prevents her from basically any physical contact with other people (she also can’t bathe because of this, which would probably kill me faster than a merchant house or two hunting me *shudders*). There are some really evil people getting away with evil things in a society that’s more concerned about monetary gains than it is the people living under it. Yet to me, most of the book felt more like somewhat light-hearted adventure. I think this mostly has to do with the fact that the main characters are highly competent, resilient, mostly moral, fairly irreverent, and humorous. While I don’t think this really worked in the book’s favor, it didn’t really bother me as much as it might in other books. It’s not like the characters make light of any of the horrible stuff that happens or is mentioned (though they do perhaps get over some of the violence they see a little too easily). That might have affected me more, but as is, it was just a bit odd and I could see that bothering some people. I think another reason for this clash is that the book is a very fun read even if there are dark themes and events in it. That core pleasure of the read not only disagrees with some of the darker themes, but masks them in a way that a more grimdark narrative does not.

A somewhat related issue is that this is the first time I felt like a book was using curse words way too much. I don’t have a problem with cursing in books or real life by any means, but there were times when it felt like a dialogue crutch where most of the characters are potty mouths, including Clef, simply to be more emphatic when other techniques could’ve been used to carry that emphasis instead. The cursing also didn’t feel like it fit the world very well as it was very in-line with real world modern curses like “god damn” (despite there not being much of a “god” for the people in this world to swear by, unless I missed something) or “bullshit.” The cursing almost felt like placeholder dialogue at times because of this. Similar to the tone, this didn’t bug me too much other than a few times when it broke immersion.

The plot in <i>Foundryside</i> is very fast-paced. For fantasy, which tends to have longer books, this one is a good page-turner. There’s a lot of action and really exciting fight scenes. I’ve found in the last year or so that I care less and less for big action sequences in books and I often read them fairly quickly or skim a bit without even thinking about it. But even for me, the action in this book was very vivid, exciting, and interesting. I think this was because so much of it was playing with the scriving system and what its tools are capable of. Most other books with this much action probably would’ve bored me, but this was one of the more engaging reads I’ve had over the last few months. There is a political side to the plot that, while important, I wouldn’t say is really all that genre-defining as its mostly background information that provides plot hooks rather than the focus of many of the scenes. There are a few exceptions to this, but for the most part I’d say the focus is more on action, cat-and-mouse scenarios, and magic/lore exploration than on political intrigue, even if some of that is definitely there.

Overall, I was thoroughly pleased with <i>Foundryside</i> and it really exceeded my expectations. My only complaints are relatively minor and are mostly of the form “this could have been done even better, but it’s still good,” and that’s the only thing keeping this from being <i> quite </i> five stars for me. I definitely plan to check out more from this author and will at the very least keep up with this series should he put out any sequels. Either way, even if you don’t like this book as much as I did, I’m confident most readers and lovers of fantasy, especially fun magic systems, will get something out of this book.

I was provided an advanced copy by NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own.

This was my introduction to the author and since finishing it, I have gone out and got his previous trilogy.

Cool magic system, with a strong female lead, and Interesting city based world building. This one tells a pretty stand alone story with a couple of hooks there to drag you into the next volume.

Sancia is a thief and the heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, her new target, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle. Sancia’s been sent to steal a powerful artifact that could totally revolutionize magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic which uses coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience and the ability to break the laws of physics and nature--have already used it to transform the city of Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. If the Houses get their hands on this artifact, they will be able to rewrite the entire world. Now someone wants Sancia dead and to keep the artifact for themselves - and no one in the city stands a chance against them. If Sancia has any hope at all of surviving what's coming she'll have to marshal unlikely allies and figure out how to handle the artifact's power for herself.

Foundryside is my first novel by Robert Jackson Bennett, but it certainly won't be my last. I've fallen hard for his unique style, awesome characters, world-building, and magic system. I've read a lot of great books this year, but I think this book has just shot to the top of my list of favorite 2018 releases. Although it's 512 pages long, it's compulsively readable - I read it over the course of three days, but I probably knocked the most of it out in one day. I literally didn't want to put it down - I just had to know what was going to happen. The best way I can describe it is probably an epic fantasy take on The Matrix with a dash of Ocean's Eleven. I don't know about you, but I'd pick it up for just that comparison alone.

This story has so much going for it from the cast and world, to the unique industrial magic. Each element comes together seamlessly to make for a wonderful reading experience. Now that I've met Sancia, I can officially say that she's easily one of my new favorite characters in fantasy. Let's just say she get's a really cool, and moving arc and that the development her character takes from the first moment we meet her to our last is awe inspiring. There are so many other characters to love here, but I just want to mention how great, and unexpectedly funny, Clef is. I'd say more, but I'd rather not spoil anything for you. As for the world of Tevanne, it's so highly detailed it feels like a real place. The setting is practically a character in it's own right. There's so much to learn about the location in this novel, but we've only just scratched the surface of the city and the wider world. Finally, I just want to mention how unique and intricately complex the idea of scrivings are. There's so much that can be done with it - and we get to see them in action some of the coolest ways you could think of in this story.

Foundryside (Founders #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett is easily one of the most impressive fantasy novels I've read all year long. I know my review doesn't do it justice (there's so much I want to discuss regardless of the spoilers), but this series opener comes highly recommended from me. If you like dense, yet high-octane fantasy that makes you think, Ocean's Eleven, and The Matrix, you need absolutely need this novel in your life. I can't wait to see where this series goes from here. I will certainly need to look into Bennett's previous novels and keep an eye on his future projects.

Hands down my favorite fantasy novel of 2018 so far. In large part because it <i>isn't</i> a fantasy novel or, as I described it to Bookclub chat, is really a meaty sci-fi novel in a delicious fantasy shell. It's smart and witty and heartfelt, and I laughed and cried and gasped in sheer astonishment in turn. It is a <i>terrific</i> book, easily one of the best fantasy novels of all time (and if the sequels are just as good -- or even better -- whoo boy, are we in for a treat!)

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't too enamored when I first started reading it: street urchin is a skilled thief by virtue of having special spooky secret powers, who gets sent to steal something so super secret, she's not supposed to look in the box to see what it is she's stolen. We know how that always goes, and I was just flipping pages, nodding along, when Clef enters the scene and all of a sudden, I realized that this was not the book I thought it was. Clef is hilarious, and has been described by the author as a fantasy version of the hacker on overwatch talking in the hero's ear as she navigates an unknown and probably deadly area. There are, as a matter of fact, a lot of decidedly tech-based story angles given their fantasy analogues here, set in a city-state where capitalism has evolved into its worst possible structure, where people are seen as commodities and justice is a privilege extended only to the rich. Foundryside tackles tough political and social topics with the kind of verve you usually find in sci-fi a/o thriller novels. The last time a fantasy novel moved me with its philosophy and ethics was Vic James' terrific <a href="http://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/02/11/gilded-cage-dark-gifts-1-by-vic-james/">Gilded Cage</a> but even that is a pale shadow to the yummy intellectual and ethical goodness that is Foundryside.

To start, nearly everyone is a person of color. The romances are handled deftly and there is terrific non-heterosexual representation. Old people aren't relegated to thin supporting roles with no or inactive personal lives. The bad guys, while still being obviously evil, are complicated and interesting. Friendship is important. And that ending is so enormously satisfying while still making me want the next book right now. Barring the first bit, this is an almost distressingly perfect novel.

I've now added Robert Jackson Bennett to my list of must-read authors, and just bought a Kindle omnibus edition of his other fantasy series for $3! Speaking of Kindle, his notes on Foundryside on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/notes/37173847-foundryside/7322065-robert-bennett?ref=bsfknh">Goodreads</a> are a delight. I have a crush, for sure.

Epic adventure, with amazing world building, magic, political intrigue and mysteries.I'm not going to spoil this story by telling you about the events just a few sneak peeks. I went into it blind, I hadn't even read this author's work before and it was in my opinion the best way.
It's not often that I read a book where the stars of the book are a key and a girl. A tough female character with a a talent for thief, and an ability that brings her talent up another level. She is fantastic, not a fabled beauty, or sleek trim bodied model type but a full bodied realistic character. The key, Clef had a hold on me, I couldn't put the book down till I found out more about him. This story I think is equally character and world driven making it captivating. I will not soon forget this world.
The world was so complex, each little step detailed and explained, yet it never dulled the story. The magical system was so unique with so many variations each built on top of the previous one and then twisted into something more. Brilliant !

Foundryside is the latest book from Robert Jackson Bennett, who previously wrote the “Divine Cities” trilogy. I mostly knew him from the shenanigans he, Sam Sykes, Chuck Wendig and others get up to on Twitter. Checking out new authors that way hasn’t steered me wrong yet.

Sancia is a thief, who operates out of Foundryside, a slum that exists in the gutters and buffer zones between four merchant houses. Like most heist books, she’s damn good at her job, but powerful forces are at work, and she gets swept along. Good thing she makes friends with a strange cast of characters along the way!

The merchant houses run the entire city, existing in a state of cold war. Sancia is one of the independent operators, taking jobs for anyone. Unfortunately her latest job has her stealing an object of incredible power. The magic of this world is called ‘scriving’. It works by convincing objects that the natural laws don’t apply to them, or do apply but in a different way. Imagine if you could make a cart roll by itself, by scriving runes to tell the wheels that they are on a hill. A sword can be made to think that, when swung, it’s three times heavier. But before all that, beings existed that couldn’t just tweak, but rewrite reality as they saw fit. And their artifacts are being found.

If you like the Gentlemen Bastards series and are looking for another heist book with a strange cast of characters, Foundryside would be a great option. Check it out!

Tevanne is a city run by four Merchant Houses who each control the art of scriving—a magical code that can imbue objects with a kind of sentience.

Those who don’t work for one of the houses survive by whatever means possible. For Sancia Grado that means thieving. For this particular job, Sancia has been tasked with stealing a great artifact. An artifact, unbeknownst to her, that could change the magic of scriving forever, in fact it’s an artifact with the potential to change reality itself.

Once Sancia realizes not only her life, but the lives of everyone in Tevanne is at stake, she, along with a ragtag group of rebels, will have to figure out what kind of power Sancia holds and how to use it to prevent the apocalypse.

Foundryside is one of those cleverly built fantasies that just really hit all the right buttons for me as a reader. Robert Jackson Bennett balanced everything out very nicely between the action, history, characterization, and the complexity of the magic that is scriving and its perceived divine conception. Instead of feeling inundated each time the concept of scriving and its various uses and capabilities would be broken down, I appreciated that we were given so many angles in which to take it all in. Understanding how the right formula written upon a piece of wood could make that wood act like stone with the same strength and durability. Now imagine if said formulas were written on a human?

From this idea, Robert Jackson Bennett cleverly inserts a think piece about who we perceive ourselves to be from both internal and external forces and what it takes to finally be free of the constraints put on us by ourselves and those around us. Also, what we do with the power that we obtain, how do we use it? These are very interesting and unassuming ideas that I look forward to seeing expanded upon in the next books.

I loved the way the story built upon itself, and how through this building we get the assemblage of our cast of characters: Sancia, the aforementioned thief, Gregor Dandolo, son of a Merchant House “Founder,” Orso Ignacio, a Merchant House hypatus—aka head researcher—and Berenice, Orso’s aide. They’re all tied up with the stolen artifact in some way, and as they come together they each bring some different, but essential, piece of the puzzle to the table in order to survive what’s to come.

I started out believing Foundryside would be another fantasy heist novel—which I love, don’t get me wrong’but I was extremely surprised, in the best way possible, in the direction the story ended up taking. If you’re looking for an interesting, complex, and fresh type of magic in your fantasy that also offers some thought-provoking ideas on what it means to have power, look no further than Foundryside.

I have never read this author before. I generally put this in my review for authors I’ve never read before to show I don’t go into a book with any expectations. What I found was a novel that had great world building and fascinating characters. This author had a great way with words, and I really didn’t want to put this book down to adult. I’m not usually an epic fantasy fan, and to be fair, this isn’t exactly just an epic fantasy, but this one started out so action-packed I didn’t have any choice but to be immediately drawn into the book. While some aspects of the genre of this book didn’t appeal to me and I found some plot twists predictable, I was able to look past those for the most part and keep my attention focused on the plot, and found a great deal of enjoyment in reading. Fans of this author will be sure to enjoy this, and if you like epic fantasy/steampunk/sci-fi type books, you should give it a try! Highly recommend! I was provided the e-book which I voluntarily reviewed.

Foundryside takes place in the city of Tevanne, a fantasy world with a unique twist: the magic is a kind of industrial magic, in the form of carvings on objects (called scrivings) that tell them to behave in unnatural ways. They're like spells that tell arrows to fly at impossible speeds, or locks to stay shut unless there is another properly scrived object present. The way they work, and the implications of bending reality in this way are revealed by degrees.

The story begins with a talented young thief named Sancia working on a difficult, big job. Much bigger than she could have imagined, as the small object she was sent to steal turns out to be of central importance to the balance of power in the place, maybe even the whole world. Things snowball relentlessly, involving Sancia with a major merchant house--effectively the royalty in a system in which Sancia and the other common people are no better than slaves.

It's a real page turner, especially the climactic chapters towards the end. And it is a satisfying story, despite being the opening volume of a new series. Only the final scenes suggest ways in which the series might continue.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance e-book copy.

I was really looking forward to this one. Technology-based magic? A thieving lady protagonist? Thieving underworld? I had my hopes so high here. And yet, there were a few structural issues in this book that soured the experience for me. It's a damn shame because there was a lot to like.

I'll start with that. My favorite character was Clef. The sentient key had so much personality. Those of you who have seen Kill La Kill will know what I mean when I say he reminded me so much of Senketsu. The way his magic worked was so intriguing and his establishment was a character was great. I also enjoyed the female heads of the Founding houses. So much power both in political intimidation and physical force. The world itself had defined rules, which honestly is so important to constructing a secondary world fantasy.

But because of the world construction, I felt the story took its time getting started. We had our inciting incident and then a lull of over one hundred pages before the story picked back up again. Part of me feels like there could have been a better way to introduce Tevanne and its world. When Foundryside found its stride, it was fantastic. If only it didn't take 250 pages to get to that point.

My other itch was Sancia as a character. She could have had a bit more agency. It ebbed and flowed, with some of the supporting characters taking a bigger role. Once the book committed to being multi-POV, it made sense, but, as with most things here, it took a long time to get there. (view spoiler)

Overall, if you're looking for a fantasy with a truly unique magic system, give this one a shot. If you're looking for nonstop action and character-driven narratives, this might not be the pick.

https://royalbookreview.wordpress.com/2018/08/20/foundryside-robert-jackson-bennett/

Holy forking shirt balls, this book is fantastic! In Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett has created an epic urban fantasy full to bursting with a completely inventive magical system, mind bending scientific details, creative world building, vibrant characters and an impossible heist plot. It was completely addicting and I abandoned all of my nightly responsibilities until I finished it.

The city of Tevanne is ruled over by merchant houses, each vying against the other for power and money by selling magic. Through a magical technology known as ‘scriving’, inanimate objects are given coded commands which allow them to defy reality. (Here, Bennett spares no details, and describes in great detail how this technology works. It is absolutely enchanting and one of my favorite aspects of the book.) In order to scrive within the city, you must belong to one of the merchant houses, and gifted scrivers work to produce house designs in exchange for the comfort and safety of living within the house walls. Those that do not belong to a house live in extreme poverty and must fight daily to survive. Because of that, the city is also home to an active underworld of independent scrivers who create knock off designs for profit.

It is in this underworld where we meet Sancia, a talented thief with a very dark past, who survives life in Tevanne by taking risky jobs. After successfully pulling off a particularly difficult robbery, she breaks one of her rules, and opens the box she has stolen. It is the discovery of what the box contains that sets off a chain of reactions that cannot be undone. Suddenly, she finds that her business partner is dead and she is being hunted by a powerful group of assassins who are wielding a kind of power previously unseen in Tevanne. While hiding out on a rooftop, she sees one of the men chasing her turn off all of the scrived devices in the city at the touch of a single button, causing panic and devastation (imagine the scene in Revolution when all the power goes out all over the world).

Sancia barely escapes with her life, and in order to stop the men pursuing her, she partners with some very unlikely people. Together they discover a truly horrifying plot that will forever alter their world. Racing against a very tight timeline, they plan a crazy scheme to break into the most guarded place in the city and pull off the heist to end all others. The action does not let up until the very end, and the last few pages will leave you very impatiently waiting for more.

This book was so much fun to read! The plot moved quickly, and all the while Bennett built a vivid and realistic world, full of political intrigue, unforgettable characters and fascinating technical explanations about scriving. This is definitely not your typical fantasy novel. It gave me the same sort of vibes I got while reading the Broken Earth series, and if you enjoyed that crazy ride, I think this one is for you. Foundryside comes out tomorrow, so do yourself a favor and pick it up! A huge thank you to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm giving Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett a solid 4/5 stars. This was such an interesting read, and I honestly don't think I've read anything like it. This book mainly follows Sancia, a girl with almost nothing to her name and a highly trained thief who takes dangerous jobs to get by. One job in particular lands her in some particularly hot water, and the story takes off from there. I seriously loved this book. It manages to mix industrialization with magic in a way that keeps you reading. It was so interesting to figure out how so many things in this world work. The story of Sancia and her companions was like a rollercoaster, and the ending has me so excited for the sequel. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a less conventional fantasy novel.

Sancia is a master thief. She lives in Foundryside, a slum outside the four ruling merchant houses in the town of Tevanne. In Foundryside, scribing is used to make objects do the will of the scribner.

When we first meet Sancia, she is using a complicated plan to break into a safe at the well-guarded Tevanne waterfront. She has a special skill of feeling the emotions and particularly the flaws of inanimate and animate objects simply by touching them. This is a great gift for a thief as walls can tell her where their handholds are and safes can tell her their combinations. However, it is a problem in real life. Sancia has to keep her entire body covered so she isn’t receiving the emanations constantly. The more she uses her gift, the more her head aches. When she returns triumphantly with her booty, she is curious what is in the box she has stolen. What she finds is Clef, a key with a big personality.

Foundryside has fantastic worldbuilding. No one would want to live in Foundryside, but a quick visit is fun. The mood is playful. The setting is imaginative. Sancia is a great character who readers will love. I love a good genre mash-up and this combines a fantasy world with a thief’s tale. It seems like a combination of Ocean’s Eleven with Les Miserables (if you can picture that!) The fact that the rich are fat and evil while the poor are struggling with just survival seems fitting for our times. Overall, if you liked Artemis by Andy Weir, you will probably enjoy this book too. 4 stars!

Thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Magic! A lovely new fantasy filled with magic.

Foundry side introduces us to a spunky heroine, thief extraordinaire, in a world where there are only two classes. The lower level barely subsisting in the outer regions of the walled cities. The cities themselves are pristine and well kept. Major houses rule and compete for dominance with their primary weapon being a magical form of writing. Scriving convinces inanimate objects of alternate realities so that they behave against natural laws of nature.

The plot develops slowly but consistently. There aren't any places where I felt lost or confused. It's truly a magical new world between the pages of this book.

Published by Crown on August 21, 2018

I read a fair amount of science fiction but not much fantasy. At the first whiff of dragons or magic, I usually find something else to read, but some writers (J.K. Rowling, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, J.R.R. Tolkien) wield their own kind of magic by turning fantasy into a reality that the reader readily accepts. Robert Jackson Bennett is one of those writers. Bennett is a master of building worlds that defy our current understanding of physics, while operating in a realm of perfectly ordered rules that seem entirely plausible, even if they aren’t the rules that govern our own universe. His careful world-building makes Bennett one of the best of the current fantasists — that, and his ability to create sympathetic and principled characters who wage epic battles against the kinds of evil that are recognizable in our own universe.

Foundryside shares some similarities with Bennett’s excellent Divine Cities trilogy — primarily in a setting that seems to be drawn from the Middle Ages — but the element of magic in Divine Cities was based on divinities (entities with godlike powers), while Foundryside (the first installment of the Founders trilogy) makes use of industrial magic, or magic that has been harnessed for industrial purposes, to the profit of the four merchant houses that control it.

Bennett sets Foundryside on an Earth-like world in which sigils do the work of technology. The scriving (drawing or inscribing) of sigils onto an object convinces the object to accept a different reality: wood believes it is stone, wheels turn because they believe they are on a downhill slope. Sigils were apparently created by hierophants of the Occidentals, a long-dead civilization thought by some to be equivalent of angels. The merchant houses manufacture the scrived devices, which pretty much belong to the affluent and powerful. The Tevanni empire is based on the power of scriving, which might be the equivalent of machine code in the world of technology.

It is against that background that we meet Sancio Grado, a thief whose particular talent is the ability to touch inanimate objects and to know them — where they’ve been, how they are structured. She can pick a lock or open a safe because locks speak to her. She can touch a hand to the floor and picture the entire building. The power comes with a heavy price, and her goal is to gain enough money to rid herself of the talent, which comes from sigils on a plate that is implanted in her skull.

The story begins with Sancio stealing a small box for a client. Succumbing to her curiosity, she opens the box and finds a key. They key has a consciousness, a snarky personality that it reveals by speaking to her telepathically. The key’s name is Clef.

The man in charge of security, who should have been protecting the stolen key, is Gregor Dandolo. Sancio is the novel’s protagonist, but Gregor is the novel’s selfless hero. Other important character are Gregor’s power-driver mother, a scriving genius for the Dandolo house named Orso Ignacio, his less self-centered assistant Berenice, a few freelance scrivers, and a true force of evil (whose identity the reader must discover). The plot is too complex to summarize, but it essentially involves the reader in Sancio’s perilous adventures as she tries to prevent something really bad from happening while coming to terms with her true nature.

Foundryside might be seen as a cautionary tale of the risks associated with artificial intelligence and transhuman existence. When people build a god (in the sense of a self-aware superior being), and then look for ways to make themselves in their god’s image, they might become as capricious as gods are reputed to be.

Or Foundryside might be seen as taking on the enduring themes that are common in Bennett’s work: the misuse of wealth and power; the importance of freedom and of freeing the subjugated; the internal battles that people wage to find and maintain their better selves. His main theme in Foundryside is: “Any given innovation that empowers the individual will inevitably come to empower the powerful much, much more.” Bennett always stuffs a good mixture of action and contemplation into his novels, and the good news is that there are two more to come. I didn’t love Foundryside quite as much as the Divine Cities trilogy, but I enjoyed every page.

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