A phenomenal end to this wonderful trilogy. Robert Jackson Bennett has had me hooked on this series since early in the first book, and I'm so thankful NetGalley has been able to allow me to experience the end and provide a review. Honestly, this whole trilogy is fire and I definitely recommend.

A powerful and satisfying conclusion to this refreshing and inventive trilogy.

Locklands is a magic-infused techno-thriller with elements of cyberpunk and an epic fantasy chaser. The cover is telling: you, the reader, are peering through the cover’s keyhole into another realm, and opening the book will unlock its many secrets. This theme becomes especially relevant to the plot, as the stakes of the story involve rewriting the rules of reality itself. Good luck trying to guess what happens next. This is a blockbuster story, split into five parts, with each part presenting one long action sequence. It is tightly written and fast-paced, wasting no time putting you amidst against-all-odds battles. Ever since the opening pages of Foundryside, Sancia and her crew have been pulling off heists in one form or another. Locklands brings the story full circle by upping the heists to a level where the stakes could not be greater. It’s breathless, mind-bending fun.

Some plot spoilers for books one and two ahead.

Book three picks up several years after the end of Shorefall. Tevanne, an amalgamation of former ally Gregor and Valeria, is using its advanced scriving techniques to conquer the known world. All humans who fall under Tevanne’s path become part of its host army, to be used as sentries, warriors, or even worse: batteries. Sancia, Berenice, Clef, and some of the remaining Founders crew are part of a resistance group that are doing whatever they can to stop Tevanne from acquiring the means to re-write reality in its own horrifying vision. For years, Sancia and Berenice have been innovating to survive their fight against this unstoppable force and have built a new society along the way. Their own scriving method that allows for the “twinning” of minds has given this resistance society the means to have multiple bodies share one consciousness and work in harmony towards common goals. Contrary to how Tevanne occupies all its human hosts as one collective being, the resistance voluntarily shares their identities and souls with each other, linking to a chain of like-minded individuals who are dedicated toward their given societal roles. When two humans link, they share all thoughts and feelings, are able to see through each other’s eyes, and no longer have the need to speak aloud. Link more caretaking beings to this chain and suddenly you have a high-functioning medical unit who knows exactly how to run at full operational capacity and efficiency, with each person working perfectly in tandem, knowing the needs of everyone else at any given moment. It’s a huge sacrifice of privacy for the gain of unprecedented intimacy. Is this a choice the reader would be willing to make with their loved ones? There is a dichotomy that Bennett presents, showing the best and worst of this identity-sharing theme, and made me question what I would do if given certain choices that these characters had to make.

Although we spend a lot of time with our usual main cast, Clef was the primary focus for character development this go-around. His history was integral to the story; we couldn’t move forward without moving backward, and many of the questions raised in the earlier parts of the trilogy were finally answered. Testing the limits of Sancia and Berenice’s relationship was another major theme to this story, and you should prepare yourself with some Kleenex by the time the epilogue rolls around.

Boy, that epilogue. A heart-stomping piece of work that ties off this series beautifully. For as much of the story is an epic war of wit and machinery, there were a few emotional scenes at the end that are going to stick with me the longest. I’ll replay the awesome and creative battle scenes in my head, but I’ll feel the emotional avalanche of the epilogue for much longer.

Bennett has crafted a fitting finish to the Founders trilogy: one full of devastation, hope, torrid action, mystery, and brilliance. His scriving system of re-writing the rules to reality is one of the most creative, rewarding magic systems in any fantasy series I’ve read. Like The Divine Cities, the Founders trilogy smashes many genres into something wholly unique, fresh, and fascinating. I can’t recommend this author, or series, enough.

Thank you for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. This review is published on Goodreads on 3/15/22.

Locklands is the epic ending to Sancia’s saga that began with the enrapturing world within Foundryside. This book begins 8 years after Shorefall night in which Old Tevanne was utterly destroyed. Sancia, Bernice, Clef, and the other beloved characters reprise in the new nation of Giva. Giva has been created over the years in opposition to Tevanne, who is comprised of the twinned of the minds of Gregor Dandolo and Valeria. Tevanne has waged war against humanity for the entirety of those intersecting years, committing numerous horrors that range from deleting entire chunks of reality to creating “hosts” that can only serve Tevanne. Through this bleak, hopeless world, Giva’s constituents fight back using tools both old and new to oppose total annihilation.

Throughout The Founders Trilogy, the theme of what it means to be human has been explored extensively. In Shorefall, the idea of twinning minds is first introduced. This means that two people basically become one. They share all thoughts, feelings, and emotions, which creates a new understanding of empathy in the twinned people. It’s interesting to think about if this makes one more or less human. In one sense, having more experiences to draw upon creates a deeper understanding of what it is to be human, however, it detracts from the human experience of having to make mistakes to learn. Another facet of this is how much memory influences actions. If you cannot remember the mistakes you’ve made, you can be doomed to make them again. But if you can remember the mistakes of an entire community, or of an entire civilization then choices can be made to benefit all.

I’ve always felt an easy immersion into the world of The Founders Trilogy. How easy would it be to change the permissions of the world by scriving? How tempting to argue with a scrumming lock until it opens when you’ve forgotten your key? How comforting would it be to twin yourself with the person you love most in the world to create a deeper understanding between you both? If it weren’t for the horrors those tools have been used for, it would be a paradise.

I’ve also seen myself in the characters of Sancia, Bernice, and even Clef. This book also introduces new characters who have unknowable depths to them. These characters are well-rounded. They have fears, hopes, dreams, and they even make mistakes. There is real chemistry between Sancia and Bernice, and the depth of their love in this story made me tear up on numerous occasions. These characters have grown throughout the trilogy as well. They are not the same people who stole Clef, nor are they the same people who released Valeria. They are older, wiser, and more resolute in trying to defeat Tevanne. Not only have the protagonists changed, but the antagonists have as well. Crasedes is not the same hierophant that he was throughout thousands of years previously, but I’ll let readers discover that on their own.

My only critique of this book stems from the pacing of the plot. There were times when I actually struggled to pick it back up because the pacing was fairly slow, especially in the beginning. Even though there was supposed to be urgency due to Tevanne’s actions, it wasn’t always fast paced. The ultimate confrontation, however, was absolutely wonderfully paced. It was quick, but slow enough to allow deep feeling to settle in when actions ended up having huge consequences. And what an ending it was. Both sorrowful and sweet, I think that it could not have ended a better way. Hats off to Mr. Jackson Bennett for ending this trilogy as wonderfully as he started it.

In this novel, the world is at war. Set eight years after the end of the previous book, Robert Jackson Bennett introduces Berenice (now a general), Sancia (whose rapid aging means she is increasingly playing a support role on missions) and their team in their efforts to save a city. Bennett pushes the idea of twinning (a scriving introduced in the first book) even further where a team of diplomats/warriors are all twinned. The fight is to protect the free world against Tevanne - an amalgamation of hierophantic power which turns people into zombie-like "hosts." This opening battle is a microcosm for the rest of the book. Who will win? The people of Giva who is made up of refugees and use twinning to cooperate and gain empathy for one another? Or Tevanne who is legion?

There was a lot to like about this book. First, I love a good heist story. Second, I love a great magic system. Lastly, I love opening locked doors. Let me tackle these in order.

Heists:

I know it's a form of story-telling which doesn't work for everyone but I always find myself engrossed. Each book in this trilogy has played off the heist trope in it's own distinct manner, raising the stakes each time. Locklands has several heists, some of which exist on multiple layers simultaneously. It's a tight, fast-paced, and gripping read. There are just enough pauses for you to catch your breath before rushing off onto the next sequence. I think Bennett also does a good amount of characterization in those pauses - setting up for an emotional climax, which while predictable, delivered a punch.

Magic:

The idea of changing simple rules to great effect is really elegant, in my opinion. I think the idea of scriving (which functions basically like coding) was really fun and had cool applications. Bennett pushed his ideas further and further with increasingly novel applications. His application of twinning in the previous novel was really cool. Bennett pushes that idea even further in the final installment. The applications move on past fighting or technological innovation and onto what it means to be human and the idea of utopia. This final push was hard for me. There is a sub-plot which revolves around post-humanism which left me slightly disturbed on first encounter and increasingly so with further acquaintance. It doesn't take away from the plot of the book, but left me disquieted.

Opening Locked Doors:

This is always a fun trope to play with - from Door in Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere to Alohamora in Harry Potter. Clef was always a cool idea. He's a key to open any lock or rewrite any scriving. In this book, Clef is faced with his past more than in any other. His journey into his past and interior mind is well laid out. Again, slightly predictable but played out with pathos. Clef's role as a key, while crucial to the plot and the climax, was not prominent in this book. I don't feel cheated though - it was cool seeing Clef wrestle with his past.

While I enjoyed reading this book, I felt the conclusion was bleak. There was a lot of foreshadowing about the character's fates. But in the end, it felt like Bennett dwelt on repercussions (positive and negative) a little too strongly. And again, some of the ways he answers the question of what it means to be human and what comes after human was troubling to me. Overall, I still enjoyed the series and would recommend it. The ending (and the juvenile cursing and endearments) are what keeps it from being five stars.

This is the third book in the Foundry trilogy. I loved the way these books were hard steampunk but set in an older fantasy type setting. I have truly enjoyed the first two books & complexity of them as well as the fact they have been spread apart as the author has spent a great deal of time & energy into putting them together I do not have hard or e copy to go back to & brush up on anything in the first two. This happens to me & all in film series also where it is good to maybe watch the last episode you had watched over a year ago to slide into next. Because there was a lot of things & undercurrents & nuances in thoughts & action I regret that as my mind is not a steel trap with pristine retention In the first two other than how the second was going in a slightly different angle than the first. It is the absolute worse friends to enemies theme with Gregor that had been turned revenant before Sancia met him & fought for good but didn't have much choice when he thought swallowing a scrived plate would change Valeria's manical plans only to be swallowed by all he hated. Now he is the evil. Sancia also is suffering fast aging from the scriving plates in her head. The shriving & twinning has gotten much more complex as they have gone on & now Clef the key has mega control & ability to become much much more complex in what all he can inhabit. They have been able to twin minds together & in groups which can be really fair or foul. It is a joy to hear some thoughts of those you care for but the whole borg thing is kinda too much imo, With a like minded group that already has their strong boundaries one thing but 24/7 another & too intrusive. Sancia & her motley crew of foundry idealists have freed whole areas of slaves & built their own nation of many from multiple cultures & peoples on their floating islands of ships attached to their base island. Tevanne has captured Crasedes & they need to invade his stronghold to kill the old evil Crasedes before T gets the information of how to get to the room beyond the door to reset all existence [or not, just creating a void] but still Clef is the key to it all. Highly recommend getting all three books at once or tabbing them where you can flow from first to next. This was a great finale to it all.

(4.5 stars rounded up)
10 seconds review: The culmination of the Foundryside trilogy. The world is at stake with Sancia, Berenice, and Clef at the center. Completely new level of scriving that pushes imagination. Buckle up, it’s quite the ride.

Longer review: It have been 8 years since the fall of Old Tevanne, forcing humanity to adapt to the new world with Tevanne and Crasedes Magus threatening everything in their way. We meet Sancia, Berenice, and Clef again fighting to help mankind with the people of Giva behind them. As always this is where Bennett’s strength shine - making the world building feel believable while it was 8 years for our characters and a mere 100 pages of exposition for the readers. Pushing scriving to new realm of possibilities to survive, to fight, and to coexist.

For a novel that takes place in a war, Bennett made sure to add moments to show how far Sanica, Berenice, and Clef came since the first chapter of Foundryside and their longings of returning to peacetime. Supported by characters like Diela, Greeter, and more they have no choice but to move forward no matter how hopeless things seem at times. Thus, Locklands is slightly different from the first two novels. While the first two were akin to an ever escalating mad rush, Locklands gives its characters an inch to breathe.

With Bennett’s experience of writing Divine Cities and the Founders trilogy, the finale landed perfectly. Everyone gets a satisfying conclusion, from Clef to Tevanne and most of all Sancia and Berenice. I look forward to where Bennett’s ideas will lead him next.

Robert Jackson Bennett finishes the trilogy with Locklands and it’s a fitting conclusion of plot lines and characters . He does, as always, a great job at drawing the reader into his constructed and highly believable world.. Looking forward to more from a gifted author.

This was action-packed conclusion to The Founders Trilogy. I would not recommend jumping into the series with this last book because there is so much you'll have missed. I found it to be an enjoyable read although I would have appreciated a few more breaks from the action. It's well written and I'll continue to seek out and read everything written by Robert Jackson Bennett.

Fantastic sequel to an amazing first story. Great characters and amazing plot. A must read!!! I would give this 10 stars if I could

Locklands picks up eight years after Shorefall Night, and drops us immediately in the thick of our favorite rag-tag group of rebels, fighting for their lives and the rest of humanity against Tevanne. The pacing keeps the action high, even in the quieter moments. I especially loved the development of Clef's and Crasesedes's histories through flashback scenes that were actually effective.

What is most impressive about this thrilling conclusion is that each book builds and expands the world-building and develops the characters in unexpected ways. I was happy with this ending, even if I did feel like the time jump between Shorefall and Locklands left me a bit unmoored as a reader. We also see less of Sancia in this one, which is okay, but I felt like her presence was missing a little. The scriving system also gets turned up quite a bit, which again is okay, but it felt almost akin to the last season of Game of Thrones when the characters could travel huge distances way quicker than previous seasons (if that makes sense).

When I requested this ARC, I realized that I had never read Shorefall, though it was on my to-read list since finishing Foundryside. Oops! And because my memories of Foundryside were fuzzy, I went and reread it, then read Shorefall, and then dove into Locklands. Which...whoa. I'm still kind of reeling from the intensity.

Locklands picks up 8 years after Shorefall, and so very very much has changed in the Founders' universe. There is a great deal of war, an incredible number of women combatants, and a societal arrangement that I did not see coming and is too good to risk spoiling.

It has been a long time since I read anything that encompassed as massive a change from the beginning of book 1 to the end of book 3 as this series does. People are going to call it "epic," but that's still too small. And I can't describe why without spoilers.

I do have some quibbles. There are some things, esp toward the end, that I don't really get. This is a problem with worlds where magic, technology, and magical technology all intermingle, and the narrator tries to describe something that doesn't really translate. There are also some relationship things that maybe ought to have gone deeper (in flashback, probably, since there was little time between racing plot points).

Anyway, I enjoyed this a lot, though I admit it was a lot of war to read on top of reading Ukraine War news. I would love to see this as a TV series. It could be like a wild mix of BSG 2004 and Game of Thrones, except a million percent less rapey and vastly more equitable in race and gender.

8 years have passed since Shorefall Night. The world has changed in horrific ways, but it has changed in tremendous ones as well. Tevanne has enslaved much of humanity by conquering cities and taking over the minds of countless victims. However humanity still lives. Sancia, Berenice, and Clef have saved many people and become the founders of the nation Giva. Crasedes Magnus also resists Tevanne's advances through the strength of his permissions over the world. The time has come that running and hiding are no longer options. Tevanne intends to reset existence entirely and appears to have the means to do so. Sancia, Berenice, and Clef must venture into the heart of Tevanne's territory to save their nation and humanity itself.

Locklands is a fascinating tragedy. I wasn't sure how the book would go after the vastly different first and second books. Foundryside felt tangible with a touch of incredible magic with scrivings, while Shorefall felt as though scrivings had the power to do anything at all. Locklands merges the two styles for a heart wrenching conclusion.

I really appreciated the character work done in the book. The power Valeria granted Sancia has been slowly stealing her life away, but she won't quit. She's strong and capable even in the face of insanity. Berenice is much the same while having to watch her wife waste away. Clef and Crasedes however stole the show. It was clear there was more to the talking key and his monstrous son, but I never imagined how much more there could be.

I was glad to see scriving continue to evolve even though the descriptions of scrivings in action grew tedious. Watching Giva's growth with scrivings made Crasedes and Tevanne feel more grounded. It wasn't as hard to imagine how the two beings could gain such strength. I wish we could have witnessed more of that in Shorefall because at the time Crasedes and Valeria felt completely unbelievable.

Locklands was a solid conclusion to the trilogy and I'm glad to have read it.

3.5 out of 5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

(4.5 stars rounded up)
I was a huge fan of the first two books in this trilogy, Foundryside and Shorefall, so my expectations were extremely high going into this one. Luckily, I had a great time reading it!

This book starts eight years after the end of Shorefall, so there's a lot to catch up on at the beginning, but basically, they are in the middle of a giant war against even bigger threats and dangers than the first two books. You get to see much more of the world in this one, and there's more detail about the history and previous civilizations. I thought that was a huge strength!

Compared to the first two, this one has fewer traditional heists, but it still has that feeling of sneaking around and outsmarting the enemy. And because of the time jump, the characters are a lot more skilled at scriving, so there's less emphasis on the tiny details of the magic than in the other books. I missed that element a little bit during this book since it was fun to see how they would solve each puzzle using logic. However, the change helped this book feel different from the others and not repetitive.

The pacing and plot development were really strong— I never felt like there was wasted time or unnecessary tangents. It built up nicely to a finale that wrapped up the series in a satisfying way.

If you like this series, I definitely recommend this one so you can see how the world changes over time and how the different plots conclude!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for this ARC to read and review.

Locklands is the final entry in the Founders trilogy, which brings the story that started with Sancia’s breathtaking heist and its subsequent consequences in Bennett’s excellent series opener Foundryside to a close. Things have only gotten more difficult for Sancia, Berenice, Clef, and their allies after the events depicted in Shorefall saw a new threat known as Tevanne rise to power and (during a time skip) swiftly demolish and take control of most of the world. Dangerous and more extreme experiments with scriving have led to devastating weapons of war and incredible breakthroughs that are changing what it even means to be a human for the survivors of Tevanne’s aggression, but with the enemy making moves towards their endgame, the most high-stakes heist in history and an all-or-nothing sprint to the finish is all that stands between a bright tomorrow or the end of everything.

I liked many parts of this book, and I loved this series overall. Foundryside was one of the most entertaining and interesting fantasy stories I’d read since, well… Robert Jackson Bennett’s other series the Divine Cities. Catching up with Sancia and Berenice in Shorefall was great, and Locklands doesn’t skimp on surprising character development and the kind of big swings in scale and scope that I’ve come to love from this series. Action sequences are tense, desperate affairs with horrible consequences if our heroes falter, and the imagination on display here really shines through.

But not everything lands the same as it did in the previous books. An eight-year time skip has transformed the world into something almost completely unrecognizable from where we last visited it, and getting comfortable with the changes on display here took me some time. Be prepared for some seriously off-the wall kind of events and concepts being introduced early on in the book and it should make your own reading experience a lot smoother. I was happy with the conclusion of the book and the series as a whole (though I had to sit with it for awhile) and would definitely recommend it to fans of the series. Reading the past two books is mandatory to understand anything that is going on.

Woof. Okay. I finished this book over the weekend while trying to get my teething 10 month old to sleep. Sadly, I wasn’t a huge fan of Locklands. If you read my reviews of the previous two books, you’ll know how much I enjoyed them. Needless to say, I am vastly disappointed in how this series ended. Those three stars I gave this book is me being generous.

Locklands is a hot mess compared to Foundryside and Shorefall. The prior two books felt like a natural progression. Shorefall raised the stakes the appropriate amount compared to the first book. The villain got scarier, the world got bigger and more dangerous. The characters developed and generally, it made sense that Shorefall followed Foundryside. Locklands problem is that it jumps ahead eight years after Shorefall. I generally do not like time jumps in books. They rarely do what the author thinks they do, and instead just make a series feel jumbled up and messy. We see little of those eight years, and as a result, you feel as if you’ve been dropped into the middle of something. You’re left confused and unsure for a while until things feel slightly more familiar.

There is a huge concept in this book that was extremely confusing to me when they first introduced it — the twinning of minds. It technically was introduced in Shorefall, but Sancia and Berenice pushed this even further in those eight years that we don’t see. The whole conversation/explanation in the text is only made more confusing by the diagram that’s included.

I’m really not a fan when authors introduce a phrase/saying/concept in the last book of a series, and then act like it was a huge part of the series from the beginning. Sancia and Berenice use the saying, ‘There’s no dancing through a monsoon,” over and over in this book. I think the author was trying to reiterate it enough to have some emotional impact on the reader. It didn’t really work on me, though it probably would have if this saying had been introduced in the prior two books.

That’s not to say there weren’t parts of this book that I enjoyed — I really, really liked learning more about Clef, who he was, and what he did that brought about literally everything. What a character. He’s deeply flawed, and at first you feel sorry for him, but by the end of the book everything you know about him changes. Crasedes Magnus, and Valeria/Trevanne get some serious character development, too.

In the acknowledgements at the end of this book, Robert Jackson Bennett shares that he wrote this book during the pandemic. I think that’s why this book is the mess that it is. I’m really disappointed in Locklands, and I hate to say that overall, I didn’t enjoy it.

I received a copy through NetGalley for review. Special thanks to the publisher for granting me early access to this one.

I loved City of Stairs series so much, and this is a second solid series I could rave about for the rest of time. Robert Jackson Bennett delivered another slam dunk, its still some of the most refreshing new fantasy I've come across. The Founders Trilogy is another masterpiece.

Well, get ready folks because this one is going to make you scrumming ugly cry.
The finale was so well done, all the loose ends are wrapped up.
More insights into Clef and how he came to be, and the events that happened to spurn him into opening the door of creation. To who he was and what happened to his family.

Locklands takes place 8 years after the end of Shorefall Night, Valeria merged with Gregor Dandolo and they've become a hybrid being called Tevanne, a new Hierophant.
Tevanne has taken over what remains of humanity, twining human flesh with scrivings using their lives as batteries for his creations.

Bernice, Sancia, Clef, Claudia and all the people they could save and gather up after Shorefall Night are hiding out on various islands, known as Giva. And although the world is bleak what they have been able to create in these desperate times has made people better. More empathetic, sharing emotions, memories and ideas freely though their scrivings, joining their minds together. They've become their own nation protecting those that will join them.

But they're running out of time, humanity is running out of time. Tevanne has to be stopped, and San, Bernice, Clef and the team are going to have to face them before they destroy the fabric of reality and end the world as they know it by opening the door to creation once again.

This was so scrumming good, and I almost can't believe it's over. This one was definitely an emotional journey.

Please, if you haven't picked up this series, please do!
And if you've been waiting for the conclusion, it is everything you want and more.

Locklands is a riveting end the Founders trilogy and another successful conclusion from Robert Jackson Bennett. Longtime fans of RJB and his unique brand of fantasy will undoubtedly love this final chapter in the lives of Sancia, Berenice and Clef.

When we last left our beloved characters things were looking pretty dire and war was looming against not just one godlike enemy but two. This book starts after a bit of time jump and finds our characters continuing the scriving work of the previous two books but on a hitherto unimaginable scale. However, they soon find themselves faced with the reality of their enemy's plans to open the room in which reality itself was scrived millenia earlier. This forces them to plan one last attempt at saving the world, possibly from being uncreated completely.

This book continued the great characterization of this trilogy's characters. Sancia and Berenice remain awesome as always and continue to be so in this book. During the aformentioned time jump their relationship had evolved and this book finds them trying to navigate what their relationship looks like when the very end of the world is a likely outcome. Clef is also back after spending most of the second book sleeping (Tsk tsk Clef being lazy) and plays a great and constantly surprising role in the events of this book. The book also introduces some new characters and ideas that I think fans of the previous books will both find enjoyable and surprising.

Overall I'd say this book is a triumphant end to this trilogy. While this reviewer may have thought City of Miracles was a stronger finale to its' trilogy than Locklands to it's own, overall this book was completely successful and I find myself eagerly awaiting whatever is coming next from the mind of RJB.

I want to thank Netgalley for the arc of this book and the entire trilogy.
It's been eight years since Shorefall and it's been war. Part of humanity is hiding and fighting Trevanne but Trevanne is winning and humanity is getting desperate.
The first part is probably the most thrilling until the finale. I can't describe the Founders world that Robert Jackson Bennett has invented and do it any justice. But it has the two things that I will always come back to Mr. Bennetts novels for: an amazing complex world and even more complex and unique characters.
I'm not really doing this justice, I'm not very good at this obviously. I loved this book. I loved this trilogy. And if you're here at he the third book you probably agree with me

This is a solid, well plotted, well written, conclusion to an equally solid trilogy, and I enjoyed reading it, so it gets five stars from me. I find myself a little disappointed, but only because this trilogy didn't have the awe factor for me that Bennett's Divine Cities trilogy did, but I would give those books ten out of five stars. This trilogy doesn't appear to be marketed or targeted as YA, but somehow I found the characters less deep, conflicted, and interesting as Shara, Mulagesh, and Sigrud. But not that Berenice, Clef, and Sancia aren't well developed, relatable, likable characters. The magic system is certainly interesting, and in this final book in the trilogy, the scope becomes enormous, with the protagonists literally required to save the whole world. So, yeah, read them. And if you somehow have managed to miss City of Stairs/Blades/Miracles, go get those too!

You need to read Foundryside and Shorefall to get the most out of Locklands the final book in the Founders trilogy. All are worth reading.