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.
"Move thoughtfully, give freedom to others, and you'll rarely do wrong". Robert Jackson Bennett's Foundryside is the incredible first book in a trilogy that delves deep into matters of free will, that asks the question: what makes something or someone conscious? It explores the damages of capitalism in a setting that is reminiscent of Venice at the heights of its commercial power, governed by merchant houses that have no care for the poor and the afflicted. In fact, there's abuse of power and terrifying experiments that threaten to break the very fabric of reality.
The book starts like many other fantasy novels, with a heist, but it quickly becomes so much more. The magic system is complex: inscriptions can contain a number of instructions, to make objects do pretty much anything. The limit depends on one's morals, as we discover as the novel goes on. Scriving on human beings is apparently banned, but unfortunately not everyone follows the rules. There's a slight horror vibe to this book when it explores the lengths some people go to in order to obtain power. There's a cautionary tale in the past of this world, a veritable mystery about an ancient war, but the warnings aren't heeded. Mysteries abound and our incredible band of main characters will have to unveil them quickly.
The true protagonist of the novel, Sancia, is a twenty-something thief with a terrible past that allows her to be the best at her profession. A painful past bothers also the cop that reluctantly begins helping her, a man with powerful connections and an agenda of justice; to complete the cast, there's a caustic scriver and his assistant, a quick-witted woman who'll start a romance with Sancia. And then there's the sentient key, who is a sheer delight of a character. Nothing is as it seems, though, and as the characters unveil a conspiracy, they find out that they might have bitten off more than they can chew.
The writing is phenomenal, sharp and cutting and, also, funny in some places, especially with Sancia's remarks and some of her conversations with the key.
Foundryside is a frantic heist book with great depth.
✨ 4.5 stars
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