Foundryside is a heist novel with cool and complex world building, along with lovable characters and a fascinating plot.
Sancia Grado has the mysterious ability to hear scrived (magical) objects, which comes in handy in her line of work—of thieving. But quickly she finds herself in over her head when an item she’s asked to steal ends up being far more than she expected.
Foundryside is the first book of The Founders Trilogy, and it is my favorite of the three. I love Foundryside’s twisting plot, exciting heist, and lovable characters. There are big stakes, but the plot still feels well contained. In the later books, everything gets bigger and grander and more far reaching. For Brandon Sanderson fans, compare Alloy of Law to The Last Metal. Alloy of Law was my favorite book of that series, and Foundryside is my favorite of this one. Sometimes I like the more personal stakes.
The main qualm I have with the later books in Foundryside are that they are too metaphysical, and I disagree with many of the author’s conclusions (or, at least, what the book puts forth as conclusions). The exploration of complex themes is some readers’ favorite aspect of The Founders Trilogy, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. (I’m being vague here to avoid spoilers.) If this paragraph made you extra eager to devour the series, I hope you enjoy it! But if you, like me, think that sounds strange—still read Foundryside! Foundryside is great as a standalone.
Now, for the magic system: Scriving is writing new definitions for an object and therefore convincing that object it has different properties than it actually does. For all you nerds out there, it reminds me a lot of a programming language. You write out certain scripts and then give them a shortcut symbol (like calling a function) so you can string together complicated logic and engrave it all on an arrow or wheel or pen. But instead of just getting a computer to do some maths for you, you’re changing the very nature of reality. It might possibly be my favorite magic system ever.
Learn more here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37173847-foundryside
Content:
Language: PG-13. Many fantasy swear words.
Sexual: R. A brief sex scene, not descriptive, that depicts sexual violence and rape.
Violence: PG-13. Quite a bit of fantasy violence and action.