Review: Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
I received an ARC from Netgalley in return for my honest thought on the novel. The book won’t be released until August 21st and is still in production.
Sancia Gadro is Foundryside’s finest thief, but being the best comes at a cost. Sancia has magic powers, powers that elevate her above her rivals. She has a form of magic, both a blessing and a curse, that enables her to understand her surroundings, such as finding the weaknesses in walls. On the other hand, contact with anything gives her a wave of sensations that can drive her insane. As such, she must remain covered, avoiding unnecessary contact with, well, anything, leading her to a lonely life.
Sanica has few friends, all people who help her with her tools of the trade, but are sympathetic to her plight nonetheless. When Sark, her fence and closest <i>confidante</i> sends her on a job that could free her from the poverty and constant fear of living in Foundryside, Sanica jumps at the chance, despite her good sense telling her not to. One daring waterside heist later, and Sancia is in possession of the item in question. She then breaks one of her primary rules – she opens the box, finding a key inside. Not just any key, but a key that opens any lock and can communicate with Sancia. Our erstwhile thief knows she has stumbled onto (more) dangerous ground, and her sheltered existence is suddenly torn asunder.
Right, that covers about the first twenty pages of this 500 or so page book. The world the author has created is fascinating – think of a steampunk version of The Matix – and you’re still not close. The system of magic is somewhat like an Industrial Revolution type of computer, where “coders” (scrivers) have discovered an ancient language that can cause objects to subvert their reality, thus creating the likes of doors that require a special key to unlock, carriages that run without horses and weapons that increase power and speed and so forth. Finding ways to change reality is the job of said scrivers, who are constantly trying to one-up each other.
The city of Trevanne, of which Foundryside is the slum, is run by four merchant houses (think corporations), who employ these scrivers with the intention of increasing their own power. They have some rules about scriving, but rules are made to be broken. The merchant houses endeavour to unlock another language, that of their ancestors, the Hierophants, who had become gods, at least according to legend. They seek artifacts, of which Sancia’s key (Clef, geddit?) is one such, which can help them unlock these godlike powers. Sancia’s theft of the key drops her right into the middle of a cold war that has ruled Trevanne for years.
The characters are great. Sancia is as rough and tumble as they come, but not only do we feel sympathy for her plight, but we root for her throughout, and she is charming in her own “fresh” way. Gregor is a former war hero who keeps the rest of the group on the level, and tries to maintain the moral high ground, despite being next in line to one of the merchant houses’ thrones. The scrivers Orso and Bernice, who work for Gregor’s family, are out of their league when it comes to action, but they provide some fun toys (<i>a la</i> Q from James Bond). All four are eminently likeable, and we want them all to succeed. Even the bad guys are fun, and even the Big Baddie (perhaps) posts a sympathetic figure.
So far, I’ve scratched the tip of the iceberg that is Foundryside. Despite being lengthy, the plot rattles along at a fast pace, with very little wasteful exposition or McGuffins. The action is plentiful and fun, and the dialogue is fast and peppered with wit. What more can I say about this novel? The talking objects are hilarious, and how they achieve their purpose is often bonkers. There is a lot going on here, lots of backstory and issues being tinkered with that makes the sum of Foundryside’s parts a very complete whole. Read, and enjoy.
