Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Foundryside

Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

142 reviews

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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sloogkat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

This book is a good time! It's got a lot of good lore/world building/a tangible magic system. I do wish the magic system was a little more crunchy and logical, but I also enjoy that it's kind of mutable and subject to argument. It's definitely a unique system that I haven't seen before.

I like the characters quite a bit, especially the fact that the main character is kind of a grubby dirty asshole most of the time, which is rare to see in a female protagonist. The pacing is also good, and the setting is vibrant and makes me want to learn more about all the little nooks and crannies of this world. I do think they characters could be slightly more fleshed out, but overall it's a small nitpick.

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sydapel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful slow-paced

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

4.25

Maybe one of the most intriguing magic systems I've read ever - highly complex and unique and perfectly suited to the world Bennet creates. Though the mechanics are interesting, where this book really shines is through the electic group of characters who are shoved together by circumstance and choose to stick together even when said circumstances go to shit. All that being said, the last 10% was so chaotically confusing I don't think would enjoy the direction the next one seems to be headed for so it's not exactly high up on my TBR.

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glass_carousel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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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adragoninspace's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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stick2theplan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this book and will probably read the sequel, but it’s not without its flaws. Foundryside required me to actively suspend my disbelief and hold it at bay. My foes in this task included an

ancient, sentient key

, whose anachronistic manner of speaking most closely resembled the “hello, fellow kids” meme, and a magic system that made less sense the more it was explained. And it was explained a lot.

Once I forced myself not to think too hard about it, I did enjoy Foundryside for what it is: a heist novel. The plot itself was solid and the pacing was good, though the ending felt a little abrupt. The book was laden with twists and reveals, some of which were very well executed. I also found the lore interesting. Because none of the POV characters understood the lore, it didn’t suffer from the over-explaining that hindered the magic/technology of the present.

As for the characters, they were mostly likable but satisfyingly complex. There was appreciable, earned growth from all the secondary characters. I think I was most underwhelmed with the main character’s arc. I’d like to have seen more of her development manifest throughout the novel; it was sort of spelled out for her by a literal deus ex machina. So much telling, not enough showing in this book. Still, the characters did feel fleshed out. The tropey stock characters were few and far between. That said, Bennet uses the antagonist-to-ally bait and switch one time too many for the eventual antagonist reveal to have much shock value.

At the end of the day, this is still a novel I’ll recommend to my friends.

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esknight89's review against another edition

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I loved the author's most recent novel "The Tainted Cup" so I picked this up. I craved the compelling writing I found in that book, but I didn't find it here. The way that all the characters talk is very juvenile, even the centuries old "key" and the old scriver. Lots of describing things as "insane" and "crazy".
One thing I couldn't get out of my head was the concept of the formerly enslaved heroine knowing how to read. Did someone teach her how to read inbetween a mad-scientist's experimentation and doing contractual theiving?

I tried to give it a chance, but it started to feel like a slog at 58%.

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