Foundryside

"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 Pierce

“An absolutely riveting secondary world fantasy…I felt fully, utterly engaged by the ideas, actually in love with the core characters for their differences and the immensely generative friction between them, and in awe of Bennett’s craft. I went to bed late reading it and woke up early to finish it. A magnificent, mind-blowing start to a series I’m hungry for.”— Amal El-Mohtar, New York Times Book Review-In a city that runs on 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.

I haven’t heard of Robert Jackson Bennett before this book but you’ll definitely start hearing about him from me. Bennett’s style of fantasy is exactly what I needed after experiencing a bit of a slump with SFF books lately. He crafts a world that’s so rich and vivid you could feel it forming before you. It was easy to love and get lost in, and I like that he throws you into it without the info dump and it still clicks. You know when a place feels like its own character? Yeah, it was like that and I loved it. 

Then we get to the characters and it gets even better. The story starts off with Sancia, a thief hired to steal a mysterious artifact that lands her in trouble with people who want her dead. Sancia reminds me of characters like Brandon Sanderson’s Vin from the Mistborn trilogy or even Disney’s Aladdin. She’s had a rough life and has been scarred by it, but she does what she can to survive. Sancia also has a unique ability that I loved seeing at work in the story, and it hints at a past that continues to haunt her. I found it so easy to relate and root for her, and I loved watching her interact and grow with the other characters. What won me over was what Bennett did with his character Clef. I won’t say much about this character but he definitely played a key role to my enjoyment and was my absolute favourite.

And THEN there’s my other favourite thing: the magic system, Scriving.

That’s what Scriving is. Reality doesn’t matter. If you can change something’s mind enough, it’ll believe whatever reality you choose.

Imagine being able to persuade an object to act or move differently, a way to reprogram its reality… I mean come on that’s brilliant! Think of convincing a lock or a door to open and Scriving becomes the perfect blend of magic and whimsy that calls to me. 

If it isn’t obvious yet, I absolutely loved this book. Foundryside is an entertaining mix of heists, clever magic, and snarky characters in a world you’ll fall in love with. It’s a strong start to a trilogy I can see myself reading and loving for a very long time, with Bennett’s name mentioned among the likes of Scott Lynch and Brandon Sanderson.