“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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Inventive, immersive, and thrilling, Foundryside is a fascinating look at how our best intentions can be corrupted — and how wickedly awesome and terrifying gravity belts can be. Do yourself a favor and pick this up.
Bennett spins a marvelous tale reminiscent of Sanderson. Foundryside is a gripping story with clever characters, intriguing plot, and spectacular worldbuilding.
Fast-paced, intelligent, and fun with a fantastically cool magic system. I can’t wait to read the next one.
In Foundryside, scriving magic is the cheat code to reality, and Bennett is a master gamer. A refreshing look at magic — featuring a heroine every reader will root for — from one of the smartest writers I know.
The best epic fantasy of the year is also the best cyberpunk of the year. How often do you get to say that?
I received a free promotional copy of this book from Crown Publishing and Penguin Random House at BookCon2019.
As a general rule, I don’t usually start a trilogy or a series that has not been completed. I prefer to be able to immerse myself in the world and read the whole story – however many books it is – and have it be done. That said, I clearly made an exception here. I received a copy of this book from the Book Wizard at NYC’s BookCon2019 back in June. It has been sitting on my stack of books, whispering to me and pulling me in and about a week and 1/2 ago, I finally said “Okay, you win. Let’s do this.”
I LOVE THIS BOOK!
There are so many amazing elements: magic that is a weird/awesome hybrid of scientific theory and straight up magic, a strong, scrappy female lead, a whole cast of misfits and eccentric characters, mystical artificial intelligence, and an ancient mystery all set in a beautifully crafted world. Major props to Robert Jackson Bennett on his world-building! (Though some pieces stuck out in a bad way for me, like the concept of God – very specific when written this way – and the use of feet as a unit of measure. Those didn’t seem to gel with the rest of the world but it’s a minor complaint.)
The pieces of the story fit really well together, too. I never once felt like I had everything figured out but I also didn’t feel lost or confused. I was right in that mostly-informed-but-can-still-be-surprised sweet spot the whole time. And while I’m dying to know more RIGHT NOW, the second book seems to be scheduled to come out Spring of 2020, so that’s not too much of a wait.
I appreciate that the characters all have such rich backstories. Berenice, Orso and Clef are easily my favorites, but everyone is intriguing in their own way. I’m mostly drawn to the scriving and the magic and the reality-warping here. It’s fascinating to think about and figure out the mechanics of it all.
Finally, I was so happy to see diversity in this story. There are gay characters, straight characters, characters of all skin colors, rich characters, poor characters, characters with all kinds of abilities. It was incredibly refreshing to realise and I may have enjoyed the book more for it.
I loved every moment of this and I cannot wait for the second book to come out!
I would recommend this to anyone who:
– is intrigued by magical theory and the different ways magic could manifest
– loves high fantasy
– wants to see more diversity in fiction
– doesn’t mind waiting for a series to be completed
I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
I was just about two chapters into this book when I thought, “Hmm, this is going to be one of my favorite books for the year, isn’t it?” Foundryside fully lived up to the promise of its early pages. This is a darn good book, and one I have already added to my awards nomination list for next year.
The world-building stands out foremost. There are a lot of political machinations going on between different city founders, but the magic was what gripped me right away. Sancia is a young thief with unusual magical skills; she can meddle with objects and make them do things. But this skill isn’t natural–she’s essentially a hacked human being, raised in slavery then subject to a cruel experiment to attempt to “scrive” human beings, i.e. grant them magical abilities like the sort once used by god-like entities called hierophants. Sancia takes on a difficult job to steal a box from a safe, and that safe holds a talking key that just might be connected to the hierophants of old. (Clef, the talking key, is one of the stand-outs of the book and a major reason to continue reading this series.) Of course, a lot of really nasty people want that key, deaths ensue, and Sancia creates a band of reluctant, quirky allies to try to survive. The action is near-constant but this is no fluff action book–there is genuine heart and soul here, and these are characters I want to stick with for the long haul.
An irresistible, fast-paced adventure that welcomes even non-fantasy fans into its pages, unveiling a remarkable world of magic and intrigue. With non-stop twists, a compelling cast of characters, and an innovative magic system, Foundryside is an altogether terrific read.
Intricate worldbuilding, fascinating magic, and engaging characters. More please!
Amazing, couldn’t put it down….WoW
To start I enjoy reading a thief’s perspective. The characters and plot flow well. Sequel is great too!!
Why did it take so long for me to read this book? This book was super interesting. I really enjoyed the really unique magic system. I enjoyed the character and that they were all morally ambiguous. At first, it was hard to tell whose side I should be on and I enjoyed figuring that out. I had so much fun reading this one and I can’t wait to read the next one!
This series is one of the best heist-fantasy stories out there. I couldn’t stop reading it all the way through. I loved the magic system, the world-building and the characters. Couldn’t recommend it more highly!
This is my favorite book series of all time. Love the character development and awesome world built in Tevanne.
Interesting society and interactions in a magical world
Enjoyed this one a lot
I’m always glad to pick up a book with a system of magic new to me. “Scriving” in this steampunk-like world fits the bill. The author has also invested his story with interesting people, tasked with uniquely finding ways to do things normally considered impossible. Multiple cliffhangers – in one case, literally so!
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 !
I’ve ready exactly one Robert Jackson Bennett book before—City of Stairs—and never got around to reading its sequels due to a combination of time mismanagement and too many books on my TBR list. But everyone was raving about this first book in his new trilogy last fall, so I impulsively decided to grab it and give it a read. And I sure am glad I did.
Foundryside is one of the most original fantasy novels I’ve read in years. The magic system is very fresh, and the way it’s applied throughout the book is fun, interesting, and exciting. To the point where “listening” to the characters describe how the system works in great detail didn’t feel remotely boring or bland.
The culture of the fictional city-state of Tevanne riffs of an intriguing blend of real-world cultures. This adds a subtle layer of real-world sociopolitical context to the world-building, on top of the major themes of classism, elitism, and sexism that exist within the fictional society. Though these topics are explored in numerous ways throughout the book, they never come off in a heavy-handed way, and the struggles of the characters are relatable and believable.
Speaking of the characters, the main cast of the book is excellent. Sancia is a strong-willed protagonist with realistic vulnerabilities. Her skills are unique and well defined, and they perfectly play into the narrative from beginning to end. War veteran Gregor, on a quest to bring a sense of justice to the corrupt society of Tevanne, plays a good foil to Sancia, and by the end of the story, an interesting twist to his character puts him in a position to develop into something truly exceptional in the sequels.
The other “good guys,” like Orso and Berenice, are also well drawn despite their somewhat smaller roles in the story, and I hope to see a great deal more of them in the sequels. Conversely, the antagonists aren’t quite as well fleshed out as the protagonists in this book—though they are perfectly serviceable, and their personalities are distinct and believable—but it’s clear from the setup at the conclusion of this book that the antagonists to come will be a very different story.
Plot wise, the book is very nearly perfect. There’s a great mix of intense action, suspenseful lead-ups to major plot twists, quiet character moments chock-full of important development, and the list goes on. I don’t think there’s a single significant flaw in the overall narrative.
In addition to the plot, the characters, and the world-building, I also enjoyed some smaller aspects of the story, like Sancia being a nonwhite female protagonist and the inclusion of more than one prominent LGBT character—two things that are still somewhat uncommon in mainstream fantasy. Those aspects are integrated into the plot in a way that doesn’t overtly call attention to them, but rather makes them feel perfectly natural to the story structure, as though that is simply the way things are. Which, quite frankly, is how such things should be written.
All in all, I thought Foundryside was a very strong showing from Robert Jackson Bennett, with excellent characters, well-executed world-building, a compelling plot, and a grand promise for the subsequent books in the trilogy.
I am very much looking forward to reading the sequel, Shorefall, which just so happens to come out on my birthday. (Happy birthday to me!)
A fun book with wonderful world-building, and a magic system that interposes magic scribings for technology. The uniqueness of the magical-tech had me hooked as I kept thinking how the characters in the story could create a new item, or use some bit of “tech” in a different way. The world-building, with a deep history that is revealed throughout the novel, building the suspense and revealing new details was very well done. I anticipated the outcomes of a few items of the plot, but there are a few twists and reveals that did surprised me. The characters are well-developed with complex histories that get in the way of their trying to survive, but also allow them to grow throughout the story.