Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - Foundryside

I came across this book thanks to its mention in an essay about creative commentary through sci-fi/fantasy systems, in which it was lauded in the same breath as N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season. I am happy to report that it lives up to this comparison. The “magic” system of this book is incredibly unique and inspired, and Robert Jackson Bennett skillfully increases how complexly it is applied in a very rewarding way. His style is similar to Brandon Sanderson, with a nice balance of humor, despair, and optimism. And the best part is this book is basically a series of heists with ever increasing stakes and reality-warping magic! This would be a 5 star review if not for some politics regarding policing that feel outdated from a 2023 perspective and the handling of a certain characters’ trauma. I think that element could’ve been handled more tactfully. Ultimately, though, this book was quite the enjoyable read, and I’m excited to read the next installment!

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kell_xavi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

2.5

There were a few things I liked about this book, but it’s a case where a combination of length and unpleasant tropes brought it down in my esteem the further along the plot went. There’s a kind of fantasy novel that is concerned with magic that is often mechanic, often acts on the human body, is often a curse of gothic body horror, and almost always has someone sadistic and mad with jealous power at its heart. I’ve read a few of these books, and I can feel the dread creep in as I figure out that they’re going in this direction.

Bennett’s basic world-building is kind of cool, though (and this may also be an element of the kind of book I’ve just described) perhaps not to the well-trained, in-depth fantasy reader. The idea that codes can train objects to act like other objects, essentially as though their reality is different and specific to another thing, is intriguing. The scrivers and fabricators, lexicons and Sancia’s powers are all fascinating. The problem is that a lot of the mythology is really complex, the advanced scrived designs get a bit out of hand, and Bennett ends up juggling a lot of stuff that, despite sometimes lengthy explanations, is often a mix of suspension of disbelief and deus ex machina. Which would be a good joke, considering how much of the story deals with gods, machines, advanced beings, magic cyborgs, and the like, except that the piling up of all these pieces sort of cracks the foundations that the story is built on. I was never sure, when the characters refer to god (as in, “god help me” etc.), which god they speak of, since there’s no religion mentioned and the distant past is legend. They also swear way too much, all said, so that it became a distraction and the characters blended together at times; and this alternate universe looks a lot like steampunk 19th century Italy.

Some of the reveals about the key, about Sancia, are moving, but there’s a way to write trauma without putting that trauma in the reader, and Bennett was not interested in doing so. There’s an abundance of scenes of torture, war, enslavement, of misogyny, of medical trials, of starvation and mutilation, a lot of which I didn’t feel served it’s purpose. It’s a terrible world that’s terrible to live in. Sancia is a scrappy thief with a weird curse, and one of the few people worth rooting for. Mostly, these circumstances made me less likely to read the rest of the trilogy.

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randiriel's review against another edition

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Why, in a fictional world with fictional locations, is a slur etymologically based on a real world location used? He could have said travelers. He could have said nomads. He could have said anything. Instead he chose a slur. I would have DNFed and returned it at that point if it wasn't a library book. Instead, I pressed on, and found lazy and mediocre writing. Phrases are repeated within sentences, worldbuilding is dumped through clumsy character dialogue, the editing is poor, the characters are shallow and not consistent (one claims to be vehemently opposed to killing, but proceeds to have no problems with it minutes later), the worldbuilding and magic system are the only things worth reading this book for. Even the contrived swearing is lazy; swears roll off the tongue, these don't. Not the worst book I've read this year. Not remotely the best. Compared to the other titles I've read this year, I'd call this firmly below average.

I wrote that much partway through reading. I've come to amend.

Spoiler

If you can use anything but rape, DON'T USE RAPE.

This has now passed into bad book territory. 75% through and I'm officially DNFing it. An extremely rare occurrence, which should say something.

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kassidyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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imkex's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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planetesastraea's review

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I am fond of steampunk universes and this one is no exception: the way technology and magic are intricated builds a fascinating mystery.
The mythology of this world is thought through, clever and refreshing.

The characters are diverse and complex, carrying the weight of their past trauma and current conditions of existence.
Each of them has a pivoting role into the unfolding of events and seeing them work together to achieve something much bigger than themselves is extremely satisfying.

The representation of various ethnic origins, gender and romantic orientations among the main characters made the story even more valuable.

I'll definitely be reading the second installment shortly!

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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Foundryside was my first five-star read this year because it was such a fun and amazing experience. First, I was not sure if I would enjoy the novel or not. The beginning felt so typical for a high fantasy with a young female protagonist – this doesn’t make it a YA book! – and I wondered if I became tired of the genre. But just a few chapters later, I was highly invested into the story and the characters.

I don’t want to say too much about the plot because it was so full of surprises, twists and made me feel so many different emotions. It begins with the main character Sancia following an order to steal a little box. Instead of returning it to her client, she opens it and finds Cleff, the talking key able to open every keylock. This sets off some unexpecting events spiralling into our protagonists being caught between different fronts of a bigger conflict then they would’ve expected. It should be mentioned that it's quite brutal at some point and has some body horror in it, so please keep this in mind if you want to read it.

The best thing about this novel was the world building and here especially the magic system and the setting. The magic system is one of the greatest I’ve read in a while. In the world of Foundryside, objects are alive and can be commanded through inscribing instructions and properties onto them. It’s furthermore heavily based on physical principles and there are some references to artificial learning. I’m bad at explaining it but Bennett makes it look and work really natural. At many points, it’s integrated so cleverly into the story. I also loved the setting of the story with the different merchant families in an early capitalist era. This is honestly so much better than a fantasy world inspired by the Middle Ages because I’m definitely tired of those. Luckily, this capitalistic world was viewed critically and showed the uneven distribution of wealth vividly – I wonder where the author got the inspiration for this lmao.

As it is usual for high fantasy, we have a main squad made up of different characters and I loved all of them. It was easy to bound with them, especially Sancia, but surprisingly also with characters like Cleff, the key, as well. They all have a great backstories and diverse backgrounds which is nice to see in high fantasy.

All in all, Foundryside was one of my favorite fantasy experiences in a while and I hope that this will continue with its sequels.

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rockemodrums's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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