Early Review – Foundaryside (The Founders Trilogy) by Robert Jackson Bennett (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 512 pages
Publisher: Crown
Release Date: August 21, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1524760366
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in The Founders Trilogy
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

“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.”

This is the first book in The Founders trilogy and I absolutely loved it. This was an amazing fantasy read. I loved the detailed world-building, the amazing characters, and the creative plot. I really really enjoyed this a ton and am so happy I got a copy to review.

Sancia is a thief and she has been sent to steal a particular and unique artifact from the docks of the city of Tevanne. Sancia has a very unique ability to help her on this mission; she’s been physically altered to enable her to sense scrivings (magical technology that convinces objects to do certain things and act certain ways). When Sancia opens the box she’s supposed to steal she ends up embroiled in a bigger political and magical battle than she ever could have foreseen.

I loved all the characters in this book (even the side characters) and really enjoyed the unique world and fast-paced plot as well. The idea of scriving items, and even people, to give them special abilities and makes them do certain things was really unique and interesting. The story has a blend of traditional fantasy and steampunk in it (the idea of scriving items is very steampunkish and there is a lot of blending mechanical/magical with biology).

Bennett’s writing style reminded me a lot of Brandon Sanderson’s writing style. I enjoyed the well balanced characters as well (there are interesting female and male characters). This book ends at a good place and had me excited to read more without ending on a cliffhanger.

Overall I really enjoyed this book a lot. I would highly recommend to fantasy fans and especially to those who enjoy a steampunk feel to their fantasy novels. I am very excited to read the next book in the trilogy when it releases. Fans of Brandon Sanderson should definitely check this series out!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– New Release Reading Challenge
– Goodreads Reading Challenge