Robert Jackson Bennett’s latest fantasy, Foundryside quickly became one of the best books that I read last year. As you likely already know, I am a huge fan of epic fantasy novels. What you may not know is that one of my favorite tropes is the heist plotline. Bennett created a really unusual magic system combined with some pretty epic schemes, heists, and plot twists. I’m excited to see how Bennett grows the world in the remaining books of The Founders Trilogy.
Typically, there are two ways authors introduce magic systems: (1) the character already knows how to use the magic and the reader has to orient themselves in this world or (2) the reader gets to learn alongside the main character. Bennett took a middle of the road approach which I really appreciated. The main character, Sancia, already uses the magic system, but she doesn’t truly understand it. I love this way of handling the magic introduction because you are thrown right into the action, making the book hard to put down, but at the same time, you aren’t disoriented, which can be confusing and sometimes makes it hard for me to fall into the world.
From the synopsis on the inside Jacket, I thought that Orso was going to be the big bad. I was wildly off the mark and I think it is important to note that. Orso ended up being one of my favorite characters in the story. He is brilliant, sarcastic, and a total curmudgeon. I also absolutely adored Clif. Clif becomes this really fantastic teacher to Sancia and one of the heroes of the tale. Clif’s relationship with Sancia is one of my favorite parts of this story. Even as things get more and more dangerous for Clif, he works to protect Sancia and help her as she discovers how to use the magic she was accidentally given.
I hope in the coming books we get to interact significantly more with Berenice. She is brilliant, hilarious, and I am so happy that Bennett was able to inject some LGBT+ characters in the books. I love seeing diverse characters in books but I will note that often it feels like an afterthought and that is so frustrating to me. To me, true inclusion means that the diversity is engrained in the story and the character, not just a box to check. Bennett does just that.
Foundryside is a dark fantasy. However, at no time did any of the violence or gore feel unnecessary or gratuitous. Any and all violence furthered the story and felt necessary to understand the whole picture. Additionally, it helped build the hard world that Sancia was living in. Tevanne is a harsh place with very intense socio-economic disparity. There is slavery in other territories and the slums where Sancia lives are dangerous. Tevanne felt like a real place that may exist in an alternate world.
We got a sneak peak of some of the mythos and grand world that Bennett is building in Foundryside. I cannot wait to see what Shorefall does to build this world. I anticipate the we will learn so much about the world of the heirophants and I for one am excited to see these gods of reality.
