This is certainly a finale to end all finales, and Robert Jackson Bennett took care to make sure that we didn't end up with any unanswered questions. But with that came more than a few slow bits that made it arduous to read at times. However I love that we get to see more of Berenice, Clef, and even Crasedes throughout as Sancia takes more of a backseat. The fallout from the events of Shorefall is QUITE intense and not anywhere near simple to overcome. But the technical innovation in scriving that we see in Locklands is beyond what we've seen before, just amazing! While it's the weakest of the three books, it's still absolutely worth the read.

*Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett- A hard-hitting dark saga unfolds in this third and final installment of Robert Jackson Bennett's Founders Trilogy. The main characters all return, but a bit overwhelmed by the onslaught of a God, who uses scriving to control minds as well as objects. Not as much fun as the first two books, for me, but bold and ambitious fantasy. A little grim, sure, but rewarding. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

You can’t dance through a monsoon
Magical epic fantasy without the expected bits, of witches, wizards, religion, or potions. This fantasy is non stop action, based on the mind, reality and changes everything. The characters so unusual, well developed and fascinating have become important to me through the series, Clef is still my favorite. Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses that are played upon perfectly, even with their death. Yes there is death, and it is heart breaking, twisting and revealing.
Man, this was intense, non stop intense. I had to read it in small chunks. So much was happening, changing, life is at its end or not, plans are made/unmade, an unstoppable all powerful dangerous villain is coming. Memories are revealed, to all, we finally find out how this all began, how they each began. (Get out the tissues) The conclusion was perfect for the story, it wrapped up all the loose ends.
I really enjoyed it, not as much as the first two. It’s hard to watch all the characters you’ve watched grow, get smacked around and downed. What an epic ride this has been.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an eARC of Locklands in exchange for an honest review!

I think my reviews of the previous two books have amounted to me yelling incoherently, but I understand that for NetGalley review purposes I need to have coherent thoughts about the book.

Locklands wraps up the Founders trilogy quite nicely, I think, even though there were points wherein the stakes were ratcheted up to the point where I wanted to ask, "how much worse can it get for Sancia, Berenice, and Clef oh my GOD?" but the conclusion was very emotionally satisfying and the epilogue was a nice little study in grief, and it felt very deeply human. Bennett did a very good job at growing his characters throughout the series, and I think that while part of me wishes that certain characters were expanded upon (Gregor, hello), the choices Bennett makes are the right ones for the story and while there are parts of his writing—mostly the dialogue and the overall messaging—that I found to be a bit clunky or awkward or heavy handed, he's pulled off a remarkably cohesive and consistent narrative, and I was delighted at seeing how all the threads came together. I also really appreciated how he handled the consequences of everyone's choices, and I do not remember the last time I read a conclusion to a series that was so hopeful and devastating at the same time.

There is also a movie-like quality to this book, I think, and even though the characters are clearly living in a complete and utter hell world, I could still see it so clearly, and Bennett clearly put a lot of care into the world outside of Tevanne. Foundryside remains my favorite book in the series, but I think Locklands does the series justice and is an excellent conclusion, and following this series has been so, so worth it.

Series Info/Source: This is the third (and final) book in The Founders Trilogy. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: This book starts us off a number of years in the future. Sancia and Berenice have worked to start a new and peaceful community. They are also trying to rescue and protect other parts of the world from Tevanne (a gigantic entity that is taking over human minds).

I am not going to try to explain the plot any more than the above, it is complicated. Needless to say a lot of the plot ends up involving Clef, his son, and his history in general. I continue to enjoy the idea behind scriving but some of the concepts around editing realities gets a bit abstract in this story. The concept of many humans joining into one entity mind is also explored a lot here; mainly from the angle of how much more peaceful this makes society. It is an interesting concept.

I did have some issues with this book though. It is long and it feels really long. I kept falling asleep while reading it and really struggled to read and stay engaged with the story. The characters don’t really grow or change much and aren’t very relatable. There are a lot of characters here and we do engage with Berenice and Sancia quite a bit. Clef continues to be one of my favorite characters but he felt strangely distanced in this book and there was a lot less of his humor to lighten things up. The story also starts to feel repetitive; they hunt down a part of Tevanne, have a lot of trouble, retreat, make a new plan, and do it all over again with various variations to their actions.

I also had an issue with how much page space was given to describing the scrivings. At this point we understand the concept of scriving and we don’t need to read how they are made and used in gritty detail over and over. This drew out an already long story and could have been edited some to make this story tighter and more exciting to read.

I know I am complaining a lot but that’s because the main feeling I felt when I finished reading this was relief to be done with it. It is decently written, there is a cool world here, some neat concepts and I enjoy the action scenes. However, most of these aspects were introduced and described in the first two books. As a result, this book just feels more like a “playing out” of what had to happen to tie up the story. There weren’t any huge surprises and I didn’t really enjoy reading this but I did want to know how everything was going to wrap up. My favorite part of this whole book was the afterward where Bennett talks about writing this book during the pandemic.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this book was disappointing to me. It was decently written and did tie the story up nicely (even if things get a bit abstract and strange at the end). It just felt really long. The characters are somewhat distanced, the plot gets repetitive, and the amount of page space given to covering (and re-covering) scriving techniques was excessive. Was it worth the 8 hours it took me to read? Eh…not really, but if you are engaged in this series you probably want to finish it up. At the beginning of this series I was eager to read Bennett’s other series, after this book…not so much.

While I greatly enjoyed the first two entries in this series, the conclusion to the trilogy fell a little flat for me. It's not that the story was poorly conceived or executed, it just felt like too great a departure from where it started. Understandably so, in-story, as the stakes rose to astronomical heights in the cliffhanger ending of the second book, but all the same, this just didn't feel like it was part of the same series. We lost the familiar setting of Tevanne, which was one of the big draws to the series for me in the first place. We lost the warring, mafia-esque campos, we lost a great deal of the original cast, and we lost everything about the original plot except for the high-stakes endgame stuff.
Again, I want to reiterate that I understand why the story went there, I just didn't enjoy it because it felt like I was reading something else. The series lost its sense of identity with this entry, which was disappointing. So much time passes between the end of the second book and this one and so much about the story and world and characters changes that it almost feels like the first two books were a duology and this one a standalone. I still enjoyed the book, for the most part, and I loved the characters and the themes. But in addition to the identity crisis the book suffered, I also did not like the direction the author took with the ending. I think he was going for an ending that resonated with the theme “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit," but it just felt a little hollow to me, especially considering how... alien the culture felt by the end. This no longer felt like a society of humans when they went full telepathy in the epilogue and went to... space, or something. It didn't feel fair to either Sancia or Berenice, where their stories ended. I just felt sad for them, not satisfied. It was bitter, without any sweet to mitigate it. And I also didn't like the shoehorned-in ending for Gregor. He felt like a tacked-on afterthought in the epilogue, too.
I don't know. I enjoyed reading the book, and I can't say I'm completely dissatisfied with the ending to this series, the first two volumes of which I enjoyed immensely. But I do feel that the author made a handful of very weird choices, and that the book suffered for it.

I really love this series. Bennett's world-building is just outstanding, and each of his characters is unique and interesting. The book was a real page-turner as I wanted to know how it was all going to turn out-- and who was going to survive!

A special shout out to the same-sex relationship at the core of the book. It is wonderful to see mainstream authors highlighting LGBTQ+ characters and relationships.

A great conclusion to the trilogy that is definitely one I will reread from time to time. I love the magic system and how Robert Jackson Bennett built this world. I feel that this was a good wrap up to the series and did answer any questions that I did have reading the first two. Definitely will be reading more by this author and can’t wait to imerse myself in this world again.

The third and final installment in the Founders Trilogy does not disappoint.

Ok, maybe just a little. For starters, if you have not read the first two novels, you will be lost. I did, and at times I was still a bit at sea with all the invented words and descriptions.

Next, the first two installments are focused on Sancia and her friends/allies. Sancia is the character who drew me in to the first two books. Sancia feels like a second fiddle in this final story and Berenice takes center stage. Minor quibble on my part, but I really wanted this finale to be all about Sancia and only Sancia.

Last, this doesn't not have the nonstop action of the first two books. Oh, there IS action, but there is also a lot a pondering the meaning of life among long passages of self-reflection. But the ending is satisfactory, even though again, it was all about Berenice instead of Sancia.

Not a bad book at all, oh no no. Just the teensiest bit not as good as the first two.

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett, a nice conclusion to a great trilogy. If you are a fan of this series, you won't want to miss this book!

My Overall Thoughts - 4/5
Locklands wraps up the Founders Trilogy. It sees the heroes and villains from Shorefall eight years after Shorefall Night, the exciting conclusion to book two, in a world that is utterly unlike the world the series started in. Sancia, Berenice, and all their allies have an array of obstacles to overcome to bring peace to their world once again.
As the conclusion to a series that I loved, this book did a beautiful job at wrapping up loose ends and giving me all the piercing bittersweet moments that I want at the end of such a dark fantasy. The first two books constantly kept me on my toes trying to figure out who was actually the “bad guy” and this book is no different. It turns out, in the world of the Founders Trilogy, there are no “bad guys,” just flawed people trying to do their imperfect best for the world and the people they love most. That’s what I love about this series.
~~*Mild Spoilers to follow*~~
Character Development - 4.5/5
The heroes of Locklands have a lot to go through in order to reach the end of their story, and even within the last third of their arcs, we see a lot of growth and change. Clef and Crasaedes see the biggest growth as, over the course of the book, memories resurface and dire choices are forced upon them. Berenice comes in next with more page time in this book than ever before and a lot of learning to do in order to face her inevitable future. Sancia having to face her premature aging and fear of loss was great, though I am a little uncertain if I love the end of her arc. The only disappointment I have is Gregor’s conclusion. I wish we’d had more time in his head.
Story Structure/Pacing - 3/5
This was the weakest part of the book, I think. The pacing felt a bit scattered. The whole first third of the book dragged a bit for me (perhaps it started as the fault of the CHONK of a Chapter One, the longest chapter in the book by a huge amount). The middle portion of the book had tons going on and while I loved the interspersed character-focused moments, I longed for more of them.
Tone/Style - 3/5
There are a few things Bennett does that really drive me crazy. One, a predilection for interrupting his characters’ dialogue mid-word. Second, ending his dramatic scenes with everything breaking, everything change, or someone screaming. To be entirely fair, a lot of breaking and screaming occurs in this book because of, as I mentioned before, the world-shattering drama. But it is a bit overdone…definitely not enough to hinder my enjoyment of his books, though. I’ll just twitch my eyes every once in a while. Other than that, his dialogue and turns of phrase are often very funny and he manages to keep the tone light even among very dark and depressing situations.
World Building - 4.5/5
The magic of the Founders Trilogy has been among my favorites since reading book one. The complexity and intricacy of the system has always been interesting and fun. I was a tad disappointed that we didn’t get much Sancia/Clef arguing with scrivings, like we did in previous books…though it made sense in the story for there to be far less of it. We did, however, get all kinds of new systems that had grown from the simpler scriving magic of the earlier books. The coolest new aspect was the cadences. And then the epilogue of the book…!? Consider my mind blown. What an awesome direction to take this magic system in. Loved it.
Content
There is innumerable instances of foul language. If you don’t like flavorful words, probably just steer clear of Bennett’s works. Other than that, a lot of violence and frightening images.
My Final Thoughts
I look forward to rereading this whole series at some point because it was really just so much fun from beginning to end. I loved these characters and this magic system has inspired me. Anyone who loves fun characters, exciting plots, and complex magic systems should definitely give this series a shot.

I received an advance copy via Netgalley.

<i>Locklands</i> completes an ambitious fantasy trilogy set in a unique world where magic essentially means editing the programming of items and reality itself. I started reading and realized I'd forgotten a lot of the little details of the past books--I read the second one over two years ago now. The book keeps up a breathless pace from the very start and I only wish the beginning took a moment to rehash some things. That said, even though I felt a bit lost for a while, I was still engaged. This thing is intense, and the ending...! The stakes were so high, it would have been easy to blow it, but this feels emotionally resonant and satisfying.

I am so jealous of the people who get to read this trilogy all at once. I read Foundryside back in 2018, so each time I read another book in the trilogy, I'm super confused for the first 50-100 pages. I can remember names and the basics of scriving, but I usually need a refresher to bring my brain up to speed. (I totally forget Sanica and Berenice got married!) This was the only thing that kept this from being a slam dunk for me.

While I was less jazzed about Shorefall, I was more jazzed about this final book, (like a 4.5 for me). For one, the cast of characters is very tight, so even if you can't remember who's who, you'll get the gist quickly.

Secondly, the action starts in the opening pages and never lets up as the crew goes on a number of action-packed EPIC quests. These adventures are complex and intense. If this book were a movie, you'd need some IMAX action to be able to conceptualize it all (SPOILER ALERT: like multiple floating cities vs a 1,000 foot tidal wave, kind of big.) I appreciated that I always had a good sense of what it looked like even though the scope being described on the page was so broad. (That's a sign of some damn good writing.)

The stakes are incredibly high in this book. In some ways that can be a bummer, (the future of humanity is at stake, the violence is brutal, and the odds are heavily stacked against our heroes.) But all of that felt appropriate considering that this is the final book in the trilogy. For me, this trilogy wrapped up nicely and left me satisfied.

If you couldn't understand scriving from the first two books, don't read this one. It's like a scriving masterclass. People are scrived and twinned and used as hosts to power evil deadlamps that edit reality. It's A LOT, but I dug it. The world building is delightfully rich.

Lastly shout out for Clef who finally gets to walk around and do stuff. Man, do I love me some Clef scenes. Centering the narrative on his story felt like a gift to readers who've invested in the whole series.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

As enthralled with the unique magic in the first 2 books that I was, this one fell flat for me. I struggled to finish this last book in the series. Clef and Sancia had a different feel in this book, and it felt more horror driven. I'm sorry it wasn't like the first 2. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC from Netgalley.

When I first picked up a copy of FOUNDRYSIDE in April 2020, I had no idea how much I would come to love this trilogy. Within these pages, Robert Jackson Bennett has created something remarkable, an imaginative and clever world unlike any other I've encountered so far. So, of course, I was thrilled to receive an advanced reading copy of LOCKLANDS, the final book in the Founders trilogy.

At the end of SHOREFALL, Sancia & Co. have found themselves beset by fear and grief. Having just fought the first of all hierophants, Crasedes Magnus, and witnessed two dear friends (Orso and Gregor) sacrifice themselves for the safety of the others, they can't possibly imagine how it could get worse. But it gets a lot worse. The entity they call Tevanne (as opposed to Old Tevanne, where they lived) is hellbent on destroying the world, and LOCKLANDS picks up eight years into the war against Tevanne. I was a little lost at first trying to pick up the details of what had happened the previous eight years, but liked how some important and special details (like Sancia and Berenice's wedding) were held until later.

From here, we follow Sancia, Berenice, Clef, Claudia, and Diela as they try to understand Tevanne's endgame and prevent the end of the world. The Givans have come up with a new application for mind-twinning, putting everyone in intimate, constant contact with each other, which is an interesting concept and makes the war a lot less difficult. There are also two new "characters"—Greeter and Design—who are essentially like two separate Borg collectives but a lot less sinister. Each individual retains their own memories and feelings but is connected to a higher consciousness with very specific tasks. All together, we revisit battered, ruined campos, witness Clef's recovered human memories (many including Crasedes), free and form an alliance with Crasedes, and ultimately arrive at the door that leads to a place behind the world. In a last-ditch attempt to save the ones she loves and destroy Tevanne, Sancia walks through the door and closes it from the inside, effectively removing her from reality.

Sancia was the main reason I fell in love with these books to begin with. Her perspective was so unique and multilayered, and it made me want to keep reading just to spend more time with her, learn more about her, and learn more about her world through her eyes. In LOCKLANDS, Sancia, to me, felt as though she'd been demoted to a background character. We still spend time in a close third on her, but she feels distant. We learn that this war, the scrivings, have aged her significantly, and she spends a lot of time in pain. But we don't really get the chance to dive into it because we're spending much more time in a close third on Berenice. Berenice is also an interesting character, and I love her romance with Sancia, but I didn't find her to be as engaging a narrator/main character. Especially toward the end with the sacrifice looming, I wanted to have spent more time with Sancia. For this reason, I've deducted a star from my rating.

Ultimately, the world is saved, Gregor is recovered, and the mind-twinning extends further and further to the point of utopia. Everyone working together. (I loved the chapter where Cresades tells Sancia that she's done something incredible with the scriving technology, something pure and truly powerful, something he could've never accomplished with his megalomania.) I should mention that Berenice had severed her connection—permanently—to the other Givans in order to sabotage Tevanne. After a while, she is left totally alone, as the mind-twinned Givans create a new door to the place behind the world and pass through to become enlightened. Eventually, a tired and desperate Berenice takes a boat crafted by the Givans to the old Foundryside, and she and Sancia are reunited. I do think the ending would've been even sweeter had we spent a balanced amount of time between Sancia and Berenice, but I felt emotional regardless.

When it's all said and done, I'm really pleased with how LOCKLANDS concludes the Founders trilogy. I worried at the outset that I'd be disappointed, but thankfully I wasn't. While I'm sad this is it, I'm so grateful to the editors at Del Rey & the author for bringing this wonderfully one-of-a-kind world to life. And I will absolutely be returning to Foundryside again.

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC.

I enjoyed the early stories so much but this one just didn't have the same feel at all. I struggled to get through it because I wanted to see how it all ended, but if it had been a stand alone I would have given up. Read the series in order. I think without the real time lag between books, I may have enjoyed it more.

I sipped at this book all month, and it was such a great time.

It gave the flying by the seat of our pants but we planned as best we can for all scenarios kind of time, and if that isn't the most relateable thing, then I don't know what is. In the author's note, RJB mentions that this is his pandemic book, and definitely gave the best sense of the turmoil we all went through. Not that this will give you flashbacks to then, but the general dispair of dealing with something so much larger than yourself is definitely there.

It was really nice to get another glimpse into the heads of Berenice, Sancia, as well as a reveal as to the big story that put them in the big mess they were in at the beginning of the book. I appreciated all storylines wrapped up and all questions answered. (Which lets be honest, not all series do, and I appreciate that they were so well tucked to bed).

I have been looking forward to this release for quite some time, and I was not disappointed, and a little sad that this is where it ends. Chef's kiss to RJB, thank you for such a lovely series and I can't wait to see what we get next from him.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. And thank you to Robert Jackson Bennet for bringing this innovative series to life.

I devoured the first two books in this series-- I read each in one sitting--and was so excited to recieve this e-ARC from netgalley and to dive back into this fascinating world. Unfortunately, this third book, which has a much larger scale than the impossible heist shenanigans of the first two, could not keep my attention. It took me about two months to slog through this novel, which has an *extremely* slow-build, though it did somewhat pay off in the end.

Locklands has the same exceptional writing as the first two books and remains one of the most wildly imaginative science-based magic systems I have encountered within the speculative genre. Where the third book lost me was in tedious descriptions of the now 8 years more advanced complex scriving technology. I think some readers will love this more complicated and descriptive scriving technology (what an amazing mind RJB has), but I found it distracting and boring to read. I also felt that the book, or perhaps its characters, lost a little personality in the choice to have most of the communication occur through twinning, and particularly mass twinning. Ultimately it concluded the series well, but was not as satisfying or enjoyable to read as I had hoped.

Lockland
I’ve looked forward to this third and final book of Bennett’s Founders Trilogy. Thank you to NetGalley for this opportunity to review Lockland.

The story reintroduces us to Sancia, Berenice, Clef and their team pursuing the gods Crasedes and Trevenne, who are at war with one another and have overrun the land, turning people into ‘hosts’ without agency to conquer and ruin city after city.

Sancia and co have established the floating country of Givia, a safe haven bordering on a utopia, taking in refugees while they try to untangle, and stop, the ongoing destruction.

Much of the book is an explanation of Bennett’s fascinating system of magic. Practitioners use symbols ‘scrivener’ into objects, convincing materials that their basic physical principles have changed. Throughout the battles to stop the war the team must rethink ways to use these principles to their advantage. This leads to many descriptions of ongoing problem solving. I found these ideas interesting and unique- no waving a wand or chanting a spell and ‘boom’ magic has occurred. Instead there is an intellectual decision to work through logically. The author takes this idea and even extends it to changing the way people communicate and understand each other. And while I liked this aspect of the book the explanations, mostly through dialogue, felt like it bogged down the story.

This war has aged and exhausted Sancia, whose comments are mostly weary complaints, but she soldiers on, partnered with Clef who serves lighter commentary. There are twists in the story- particularly Clef’s, that add an understanding/ insight into his history.

Those readers, like me, with a fondness for Clef and Sancia in the previous books will want to keep turning the pages toward the resolution of the story. Lockland is satisfying enough story to rate a solid 3 stars. (For me 3 star is a good read if not outstanding) I particularly liked the final story of Givia- the logical and happy ultimate end point of a city of scriveners.

4.5/5

CW: War, Death, Mass Killings, Violence, Gore (all extensive); Strained Family Relations, PTSD, slavery (moderate)

Includes: Found family, heist, sapphic main couple, diverse cast, villain redemption arc, grey morality

This book was much darker than its predecessors, and if you already read book 2, then you know that’s saying a lot. It was really interesting seeing how things all tied together, what moral conclusions were made, and what plot twists were left to be revealed. There were a lot of complicated things going on in this book, but I think I’ll start with the author’s note at the end. This was Bennet’s “pandemic book,” as he dubbed it, and it really showed in the tone of the book. While there were moments of humor in book one and even sometimes in book two, this book lacked any hint of levity and ended on a note that was supposed to ring as hopeful, but fell a little flat. Perhaps this is why I didn’t give it the full five stars, for while I think this book did a lot of terrific things, reader enjoyment should factor in a tiny bit.

While this book was extremely tense and at times very depressing, it also contained some great things. The stakes are high, the heists are exciting, but the most excitement was in unpacking Clef and Cresede’s back story and unraveling the truth of what really happened all those years ago. I loved the subtle hints at Clef and Cresede’s relationship and how flawed it was. Book two showed us that Cresede’s clearly treasured Clef, but only at the end was it revealed that Clef was in fact Cresede’s father. This provided such a contradictory view of Cresede’s that catapulted his “redemption” arc, something that Bennet handled like a pro. We sympathize with his plight and and that he wants to save the world in his own way, that he’s a monster not of his own creation, but we also are never allowed to forget the horrors he wrought upon countless innocents. We are teased throughout the whole book, and wow I wanted more.

Next, I loved how it was all resolved. The theme of slavery has been woven throughout all three books and it was the problem that even Cresedes Magnus couldn’t find a good solution to, and I thought Bennet’s solution was interesting. It gave a strangely satisfying closure to Cresedes’ own arc that felt like justice. And after reading his author’s note, I can see how it mirrored what has been going on in our own world, and this is probably why the book felt so heavy. If people could understand each other as individuals with feelings, desires, hopes and dreams, then maybe the human issue of slavery and a desire to oppress would simply disappear. Too bad we don’t have something like Scriving to help us do that.