“The exciting beginning of a promising new epic fantasy series. Prepare for ancient mysteries, innovative magic, and heart-pounding heists.”—Brandon Sanderson“Complex characters, magic that is tech and vice versa, a world bound by warring trade dynasties: Bennett will leave you in awe once you remember to breathe!”—Tamora PierceIn a city that runs on industrialized magic, a secret war will be … industrialized magic, a secret war will be fought to overwrite reality itself—the first in a dazzling new series from City of Stairs author Robert Jackson Bennett.
Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle.
But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic—the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience—have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.
Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.
To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.
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Great caper fantasy with a clever magic system, reminiscent of Brandon Sanderson.
As a big fan of Bennett’s “The Divine Cities Trilogy ” series, I was really looking forward to this new book and a a new concept — and Foundryside did not disappoint. I was immersed in this landscape of “scrivings,” a kind of medieval rendering of contemporary computer code in a world wonderfully inflected by Italian city-states. Bennett’s heroine, Sancia, is very compelling, a former slave who, unbeknownst to her, is one of the few successful examples of a scrived human. She makes her living as a thief in the lawless slums around the wealthy merchant compounds. When she steals a rare artifact that is much more than it seems, the action goes into high gear. Bennett has a real-talent building believable, intricate worlds that combine a bit of magic with the gritty, complex, and sometimes gentle behavior of real humans. Highly recommend.
I was intrigued by the description of this book- and by the quotes from Brandon Sanderson and Tamora Pierce on the cover (two of my favorite authors). Foundryside follows Sancia, a mysterious thief on a job to steal a box. Of course, she looks inside, and ends up on the run for her life while carrying the item. I was a little slow getting into this book. It starts out just as another heist job. But the plot (and the action) soon speed up, and once I was about 15% in, I couldn’t put it down. It is slowly revealed that Sancia is located in a city ruled and run by four preeminent manufacturing companies called Tevanne. Tevanne has no laws outside the boundaries of each of the manufacturing compounds, which operate as fiefdoms within the city. These manufacturing companies produce items that are infused with magic- but not the wand-waving kind. I was very heavily reminded of the system of sygaldry created by Patrick Rothfuss in The Name of the Wind. It relies heavily on physics and logic, not so much unseen, unknown, mystical forces.
The “magic” system, called scrivings, quickly became my favorite part of the book. You see, Sancia, it is slowly revealed, has some unique abilities. And one of them allows her, and the reader, to “hear” the scrivings. I thought those parts of the story were particularly well done and entertaining. What would you say to your front door if it could talk? What would it say to you?
I also appreciated how we slowly learn more about the initially-mysterious Sancia. The peeks into her history come in dribbles and drabs, but I quite liked her as a character. I also enjoyed meeting the rest of the band (this is a caper after all, and no one can do it all alone). The slight possibility of a romance came as a wonderful surprise, and all of the characters had real personality.
The story ends quite abruptly, but leaves plenty of room for a sequel. I would recommend Foundryside to fans of Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora and to those who appreciated the careful crafting and logic of the magic systems in books by Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss.
“Reality doesn’t matter. If you can change something’s mind enough, it’ll believe whatever reality you choose.”
I was thoroughly captivated at this fantasy world of mechanized magic and rival merchant houses striving to create new spells (scrivings) to maintain the status quo. Sancia Grado is a thief with unique abilities who inadvertently steals a valuable item of immense power, and finds herself a target of an unknown adversary. She forms unlikely alliances to combat forces that threaten to alter reality as they know it.
There were plenty of plot twists that kept my attention, and a balance between the action and the necessary exposition, without giving too much away. Even though the story is set in a fantasy world (a variant on the Steampunk model), there were parallels (commentary?) on real world issues such as slavery, capitalism and gender equality. The characters were well rounded, real people with their strengths and flaws with their own agendas and desires.
I look forward to reading more about this series (which I feel should be adapted into a feature film sometime in the future).
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett is Founders Book #1. As we are introduced to this world we begin with Sancia Grado a thief in a world that is squeezing out her kind. Her talents and magical abilities make her idea to steal a particular magical artifact for a large amount of money. Little does she know that it will set her on a path to something different than she ever imagined.
In Foundryside, Mr. Bennett creates a well developed world with its own unique and functionally believable magic system. Adding to that are characters who are easy to connect with and make the story one that pulls you in on many levels. Sancia was a character who I felt worked well with the world and gave us a good introduction to the magic around her, in a conversational and easy way.
Overall I very much enjoyed Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett and the world and characters he created. I can’t wait for more.
(I voluntarily reviewed an advance review copy of this book I received for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.)
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.
Wow. Where do I start? With the detailed, satisfying world building? With the complex, flawed characters? The magic? The politics? The society? All of it was brilliantly approached in this book. You start with a thief, a girl who knows she’s truly, profoundly messed up. What does she want? Why does she do what she does? HOW does she do what she does? The answers to these questions lead us down the path to more questions, lots of action and loads of intrigue.
I really wasn’t dissatisfied with anything in this book. Other than I have to wait HOW LONG for the next one?? I found myself invested in the characters, including a talking key. Especially the smart talking, supportive, mysterious key that pretty much took the lead in my list of what I liked most about this book. With no false steps, this is a fabulous read and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Brava.
Read a review copy and found the book lives up to Bennett’s usual high quality. This is a stand alone, not related to his City of … series