Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett — ARC Review

Summary:

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.

Review: 5 Stars

I’ve had a review copy of Foundryside forever now and jut never picked it up until now. I remember hearing great things about it after it came out, but mack then I was intimidated by longer fantasy novels. As I’ve grown as a reader I’ve really come to love epic fantasies, so I was able to appreciate this book much more than I probably would have back when it first came out. Since I waited several years to pick this one up the sequel had come out, so I was able to pick that up right after finishing this one.

Foundryside has so many elements that I love to see in a fantasy. The main character Sancia is a thief, there is a found family and there are lots of heist like adventures. The characters are all really well developed and I really loved Sancia. The group of characters that become friends over the course of this novel are all well fleshed out and each have their own personality. There was a romance between Sancia and Bernice, but it was a slow burn romance and took a backseat to the plot. Through the course of the novel the group got really close and I loved the found family they became.

I can’t talk about Foundryside without mentioning the world building. Foundryside has a magic system that is really fascinating. There were scrived objects that had magical like properties, but scriving had clear rules and endless possibilities. A lot of the plot involved scriving as a group used scrived objects in many of their schemes, so the reader learns how it all works. The concept is so unique and the whole world revolves around scriving and it is really interesting to see all of its implications. What I love most about this magic system is that it is so logical that it almost feels scientific.

The plot was really cool. There was a lot of scheming and heist like adventures. There is a lot of action and a lot happens throughout the course of the novel. The group each have different strengths which compliment each other which really solidifies them as a team. I loved that there was thieving and scheming throughout the whole book as it just made the story fun and exciting.

I can’t believe that I waited to read this incredible book for so long. I loved the found family and the adventure packed plot, but most of all I loved the intricate magic system. If you enjoy heisty fantasies or unique magic systems I highly recommend you check out Foundryside.