Synopsis:

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:

What a fun book! I haven’t read any of Bennett’s writing before and I honestly don’t know why! I know his Divine Cities trilogy is well-loved, but I chose to start my journey with Foundryside, book 1 in The Founders Trilogy because it fit the final spot I needed for r/Fantasy Book Bingo 2024.

We follow Sanica, a thief who is tasked with stealing an artefact in exchange for a huge amount of money. Right away we are dropped into this action and I found myself immediately rooting for Sanica. I love her character voice a lot, and it quickly becomes clear that though she is young, she is not stupid. You can tell that she is street-smart and extremely good at her job. We do love a competent FMC around here.

Other characters we meet are just as well-developed as Sanica. I particularly enjoyed Clef, for though he is a mystery he still has depth, and when we eventually start to tease out where he’s come from it adds layers into the plot and the larger world and you truly get invested in him.

Bennett is fantastic at building up the world around Sanica as we move through the job and the city. We discover a dystopian-like capitalist setting where there is a clear divide between the rich and the poor. The wealthy families hide behind their towering walls and the common people scrape by in between them. What are the families doing in these complexes? Magic.

The magic in Foundryside is so excellent. Called Scriving, it’s basically magical programming, where objects are inscribed with commands that allow them to behave beyond what their normal function is. The use of Scriving is essential to the functioning of a lot of the city, and I loved how structural it was to the plot without being the main focus.

All in all, this was a fantastic start to a trilogy I am very eager to continue. If you enjoy a heist, some interesting technological magic and some ancient mysteries then this is definitely one to read.