Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett was provided to me for review by Crown Publishing via Netgalley. Foundryside is the first book in a new fantasy series. Bennett does an amazing job using real world language to tell a compelling story. His use of hard science and a light touch of magic is the right blend to tell a gripping story. The world of Foundryside is vibrant and very much mimics a living world. At times, the book suffers from exposition slow down as most first books in a series do. That does keep it from an instant classic though. Foundryside like any good scifi will have you laugh, be on edge, and be sad. Foundryside is a solid four star read that left me wanting more. I would whole heatedly recommend this novel as a strong SciFi entry.

This is a FANTASTIC book. There's literally nothing about it I didn't like. I stayed up late to read it and woke up early to read it some more - I really couldn't put it down. Not only was the plot completely and delightfully original, I loved the characters. Sancia was brilliant; I love that she was a queer character without that aspect being contrived or forced, I loved the interactions between each of the characters, I loved the whole system of scriving... I cannot wait until further books in this series.

I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I really have mixed feelings here. This book took me two months to read, but it wasn't the fault of the writing. Initially I had a tough time getting hooked, but then I was definitely all-in for awhile. Personal events kept me from staying on track though, and by the end I was having difficulty focusing on the fine details.

That said, the worldbuilding here is phenomenal. There were some early action scenes where I could vividly picture the events through the author's prose, and it really came to life in those moments.

The last 20% or so I found hard to visualize and focus, but as I mentioned before that may be in part at least to personal distractions keeping me off track. I do think this is an author to watch, as it was my second novel to read from him.

Foundryside is everything that I want in a book. It includes a magic system that is new and different. The characters are flawed and damaged. They make mistakes and they learn from them. A lot of them have a survivors story and their backgrounds are filled with heartbreak and triumph. I especially love that so many of the objects in the world almost have an identity. I highly recommend this book and give it a 5/5 stars.

I had to set this aside due to a death in the family, but once I picked it back up, I zipped right on through. This is a fun take on a fantasy (sort of an immersive fantasy meshed with steampunk sensibilities), and I particularly enjoyed the characters. There is a definite pacing issue midway through, but it picks back up at the end. I would recommend this for anyone who is looking for a more original take on high fantasy and who likes their fantasy with cool magic systems & compelling characters

Trigger Warning: Slavery, Graphic Violence, References to sexual assault

I am struggling to write this review. My first draft was "aodkij;lqskdjfpo;isadjuf;laksdnf;alsidjhuf;'oalsihjfpioaew;uhrf[3ijhwrgf[oQIRHGJF".

So, I'm kicking it old school and doing a gif review.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/2yKXIJyTDdsTm/giphy.gif" width="400" height="300" alt="I have no words gif"/>


Sancia:
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/VoeLBpdbNAPN6/giphy.gif" width="200" height="300" alt="Jessica Jones saying she's resourceful gif"/>


Gregor:
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/12Gyz2J1b9SjD2/giphy.gif" width="200" height="300" alt="Obi Wan Kenobi stroking facial hair gif"/>


Magical:
Seriously LOVE the intricate workings of magic here!!!
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/iL5fk5g4D4vSw/giphy.gif" width="400" height="300" alt="full metal alchemist magic demonstration gif"/>

Romance!!

<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/AdcFcd1KMAEes/giphy.gif" width="400" height="300" alt="Willow and girl from Buffy kissing"/>

This was so good. I legit did not think it was written by a straight white dude.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/3ofT5yZjAZGiir0KCA/giphy.gif" width="400" height="300" alt="It's a compliment of the highest order gif"/>


The sequels?!?
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/RO9VDe4SULS7K/giphy.gif" width="400" height="300" alt="I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED GIF"/>

The story of Foundry Side might sound fairly familiar to the avid YA fantasy reader. Outlaw protagonist has spent her live in the shadows, who finds a hidden power and takes on a corrupt institution to save humankind. Does that sound familiar?

What sets this book aside is the interesting way “magic” is applied. The people in the book have found a secret language which can convince objects to behave contrary to their normal behaviour. So let’s say you have a wheel which in its normal state would stand still. But scribble It with the secret language and you can make it believe that it is standing on an incline and that it should spin downhill forever. I haven’t encountered any other book that relies on a similar concept.

All in all the book was really enjoyable. The main protagonist suffers through all the struggles you’d expect from a book of this genre.
Personally, I feel like I spent three quarters of the time reading the first half of the book. The story does take a bit to really set off, but when it does, you won’t be able to put it down again.

The book is a safe bet if you are looking for a light and enjoyable read and maybe it will open up your eyes to how objects are feeling around you.

This was not my cup of tea, sad to say. It took me over a month to get through it which speaks volumes. I found the magic to be an intriguing concept but I also found it's explanation to be overwhelmingly repetitive. The book could easily be 200 pages shorter if it eliminates the number of times it explains what scriving means. I was also disappointed in the character development. That said, please do take this review with a grain of salt as it was a netgalley advanced copy and the final print likely has improvements. If you like action scenes and an interesting world build, you'll likely enjoy this book.

a Good start to a thrilling g new fantasy series . Action packed and filled with industrial magive this writer is terrific at world building .it stars out with our heroine Sancia tasked with a seemingly simple job to steal a small box. The job takes an unexpected turn ad we are thrust into this magical fantasy world . . Exciting and engaging this book is fabulous

3.5

I will admit that this is not my go to genre. But when I was offered the opportunity to read this, the overview was so interesting, I could not pass it up.


Right from the start I fell in love with the main character Sancia. As a burgaler, she gets caught up in some interesting adventures and her current job is the main theme of this book. She lives on her own and is very street smart. She often has to think fast and move even quicker.


I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story. I'm glad I took the gamble on reading it and look forward to the next book in the trilogy.

My thanks to Crown Publishing and Netgally for allowing me to read this.

The fiendish, seemingly inexhaustible imagination of Bennett is on full display in his latest fantasy, which features one of the most endearing characters in recent memory, an inanimate object. Bennett continues to struggle with endings, and that is a problem even in this first book of a new series, but the fun of getting there more than makes up for a failure to fully stick the landing.

First the pluses. Foundryside is extremely well written. No careless grammar, misspellings, or other editing problems to slow you down. The world building is phenomenal. You will feel like you've been dropped right into the world Bennett created. Buut... the characters are hard to connect to. They don't relate all that well to each other and they aren't all that likable. For me, a great book is ultimately about the characters so this was just okay.

World building: 5 stars
Editing: 5 stars
Character development: 2.5 stars

*ARC via netgalley*

Really and truly brilliant. The start was maybe a tad slow for me, but once you start going, you can't stop. Everything just picks up until it's done. The beginning doesn't really tell you of what's to come. I can't wait to read the next book.

Other reviewers thought the magic system was too technical, it seems, but I loved it.

What a great fun new book. It is full of great twists and adventure. Though it was a little slow in the middle it is well worth the read. Love it!

"The second the lash had touched her, all her pride and fury and hope had been dashed away. It was surprising, how fragile your idea of yourself was."

The new series of Robert Jackson Bennett (author of The Divine Cities trilogy) new series follows Sancia Grado, a thief who is good at her job, thanks to a set of unique abilities provided for her thanks to the metal plate in her head. When her latest goes awry, she finds herself in the middle of a battle brewing just beneath the surface – for Tevanne is about to undergo a transformation that has the power to change this magical society to its very core. Not only must she struggle for her life, but she must struggle to figure out who she is and what she has the power to become.

Although the premise of this story is right up my alley, I’m on the fence about how I feel about Foundryside.

On the one hand: I did like it. It was a fresh new adult fantasy with a rather interesting magical system that I enjoyed. It was this odd blend of an ancient-feeling setting and innovative technology and complex magic, but somehow it worked. I really liked Sancia and how she grew and developed as a character; she was broken and abused but found a way to rise from the ashes stronger than she had been before. She struggled and lost so much, but the strength and determination she wrought was so powerful. I also really liked Clef; he provided some much-needed comic relief as well as a balance to Sancia’s personality.

On the other hand, though: there were aspects of this book that I didn’t really like. Even though the story was interesting, I felt the execution was somewhat lacking. My main problem stemmed from the author’s need to endlessly explain every element of scriving ad nauseum, which was often done in the form of unnatural and forced conversations. Clef provided a good deal of frustration; while I thought he was an interesting character, the fact that he felt the need to define every little thing to Sancia – and Sancia to him; there was a scene where she described the origin of the word “scrumming” to Clef – got old quickly. While world-building of a new fantasy series is difficult, it has to be done subtly and without so much info-dumping, which was not the case in Foundryside. Another problem is that I felt a lot of the underlying messages were forced. Although some were subtly done, there were moments where the author felt more preachy than anything. As a side note, let’s also not forget to mention the author’s seemingly-random replacement of “vulgar” words (e.g. “scrumming” replaced a word starting with the letter “f” and “candle” replaced a certain male body part…) was unnecessary and a little jarring. Together, these elements made this feel a little clunky, which unfortunately detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story itself. I considered quitting half-way through (and, admittedly, did put it aside for about a month), and was only able to finish the second half by listening to the audiobook…

However, I do think, overall, that the author had provided a unique and complex commentary of today’s society under the guise of this magical and industrial city in another world. It was a story about how the wealthy enslave and control the poor; how women can be oppressed in society, and how they can rise above; how advancing the knowledge of society can be beneficial but can also corrupt those who seek it.

I do think I will continue this series because I really want to learn more, and hopefully it will be a slightly more fluid read since most of the world-building was done in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for a copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review!

https://allisonsadventuresintowonderlands.wordpress.com/2018/10/22/robert-jackson-bennetts-foundryside-founders-1/

I really enjoyed Robert Jackson Bennett's other books, and this was another solid fantasy. I am looking forward to the continuation of the series.

This is my first book by Robert Bennett and let me tell you, I am IMPRESSED.

Foundryside is set in a very imaginative world where scriving is like putting spell into things and make them magical by bended their reality. It is a complicated and confusing process but the way it was explained through the book made it easier to understand.

What I liked the most is how skilled the author is at world-building and how he describes certain things. I find the author to be hugely creative and loved reading his descriptions but at times I did feel like they were long and tiring. Our main character Sancia Grado is such a good one because of her strength and resilience – what I loved most about her character is her intelligence. Oh I have to mention Clef! Oh how much I adored Clef (Mr. Clef :D)! He was so funny and I loved the bond that Sancia and he made because it added more depth to the story. I loved the whole magic system that Bennett has created and its complexity. There are also many other characters in this book who are smart, brave, crafty, some who are pure evil! who will enrich your reading experience. The beginning of the book grabbed me because it started off with a heist and it was so action packed that you couldn’t look away.

Amazing, original and I needed the second book yesterday.

Initial thoughts: "Robert Jackson Bennett became an author to watch with his stunning City of Stairs trilogy. With his newest series, he entered my automatic read list. Mr. Bennett’s world-building is superb, and his stories are intense and complicated and exciting in all the best ways. However, it is with his characters where he truly shines, and Sanchia is one of the best heroines I have read in a while. She is feisty, fierce, more than a little capable, and intensely vulnerable. You cannot help but fall a little in love with her, even though she would probably punch you in the throat for doing so. Her supporting cast is equally impressive, and I am excited to see where their stories take them. Mr. Bennett’s stories are not the types for quick reading. Instead, I savored every sentence and will now wait patiently for the rest of the series."

Now: My initial assessment still stands. Foundryside is a fantastic story. There is magic. There are legends. There is science. There are the human interactions which fuel the drama. There are the socio-economic strata that will always cause strife.  There is a larger-than-life cast of characters which not just support but enhance Sanchia's role as the hero. Nothing is black and white. The myriad shades of gray not only add action and drama, but they also serve as cautionary lessons that define and develop Sanchia as a character. The story is creative and intense, with the stakes being much higher than they initially appear to be. With a classic style of storytelling that takes its time, Foundryside solidifies Mr. Bennett's place among my all-time favorite authors, and I eagerly anticipate the next book in the Founders series.

Two reviews of Foundryside appeared on our blog, one by Sirius, which was posted on August 21st, 2018, and which can be found here:

https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/overall-b-reviews/b-plus-reviews/review-foundryside-the-founders-trilogy-1-by-robert-jackson-bennett/

And one by me, which was posted on October 17, 2018, and which can be found here:

https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/overall-b-reviews/b-plus-reviews/what-janine-is-reading-and-seeing-in-the-theater-fall-2018/

I also plan to post my review at Goodreads in a couple of days.

Great! A bit lighter in tone than the Divine City books but some dark stuff happens too. A cool magic system and an interesting setting, only a few viewpoint characters.