The city of Tevanne runs on scrivings, industrialised magical inscriptions that make inanimate objects sentient; they power everything, from walls to wheels and weapons. Scrivings have brought enormous progress and enormous wealth – but only to the four merchant Houses who control them. Everyone else is a servant or a slave, or they eke out a precarious living in the hellhole known as the Commons.
There’s not much in the way of work for an escaped slave like Sancia Grado, but she has an unnatural talent that makes her one of the best thieves in the city. When she’s offered a lucrative job to steal an ancient artefact from a heavily guarded warehouse, Sancia agrees, dreaming of leaving the Commons – but instead, she finds herself the target of a murderous conspiracy. Someone powerful in Tevanne wants the artefact and wants Sancia dead – and whoever it is already wields power beyond imagining.
Sancia will need every ally, and every ounce of wits at her disposal, if she is to survive – because if her enemy gets the artefact and unlocks its secrets, thousands will die, and, even worse, it will allow ancient evils back into the world and turn their city into a devastated battleground.
When we first meet Sancia Grado, she is lying face down in a puddle of mud. Her career as a thief is far less glamorous than she ever hoped it might be. Constantly on the run and always looking over her shoulder, Sancia is used to being alone. She has a unique condition that makes it difficult for her to fit in with the rest of society, but ideally suited to a career in crime. It’s easy to empathise with our young heroine’s predicament. Sancia is painfully lonely and all she really craves is some compassion and a little peace. The problem is she is too good at her chosen profession. Being a good thief is always going to attract attention.
Hot on Sancia’s trail is Captain Gregor Dandolo, the only honest watchman in all of Tevanne. He is one of those horribly stoic, determined types that won’t ever stop until a criminal is caught. Unfortunately for Sancia, she is the criminal in question. Events take an unexpected turn however and the phrase “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” suddenly becomes hugely appropriate.
The other standout character is Clef. After much pondering, I’ve made a conscious decision that I am not going to discuss him in any great depth. To do so would be a major spoiler. Suffice to say, Clef’s relationship with Sancia is integral to the plot and contains someone brilliant back and forth banter between the two. Their interactions form one of the novel’s many highlights.
Elsewhere there are a whole host of mildly insane scriveners, violent criminals, homicidal politicos and pushy bureaucrats who make Sancia’s story come to life. All these characters manage to feel familiar but never clichéd. I love it when a writer manages to pull that particular feat off.
The merchant Houses control the city with an iron fist. Little happens without their direct say so. There is a truce between the Houses but in reality, this is more like a cold war. For someone like Sancia all this economic uncertainty fits neatly with her skill set. An accomplished thief is always going to be able to find work when big businesses are at one another’s throats. The political machinations that drive the city provide the ideal backdrop to the main plot. Fantasy heist novels have become more and more popular over the last couple of years, I’ve certainly read a fair few. Turns out fantasy and crime make ideal bedfellows. What sets Foundryside apart from the majority of others is how flawlessly it is executed.
I really liked the premise of the magic system in this novel. Scriving is part art form and part alchemy. There are some wonderfully inventive applications to this pseudo-science. Not only that, there is a huge potential to explore further uses for scriving in future novels. The possibilities seem endless. All manner of objects and artefacts could be repurposed when you are able to rewrite the rules on how they behave. The results of scriving lead to many glorious moments in the plot. Scrivend doors, for example, appear to be a particularly chatty bunch
Bennett has a keen eye when it comes to his world building. The Commons, and the rest of Tevanne, are so well realised. The streets are evocative, they pulse with the ebb and flow of life. Visually I found myself imagining Tevanne as something akin to Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic vision of London in Steamboy.
As a counterpoint to all the action and adventure, there are some brilliant little gems of Pratchett-esque humour dotted through the narrative. They caught me unaware more than once. As an aside, there is little better than a loud guffaw while travelling on public transport. Any novel that causes me to disturb fellow passengers is a winner as far as I am concerned.
Every so often I read a novel that I’d love to see make the jump from page to screen, Foundryside is exactly that. Everything from the characters and the locations to the smallest details would work on screen. Even something as simple as how horseless carriages have developed could look great. I shall start my dream cast list immediately.
I have an admission to make, I’ve not read any of Robert Jackson Bennett’s other novels so Foundryside completely blindsided me. It is delightful steampunky goodness that is hugely entertaining from beginning to end. If, like me, you enjoy your escapism in the purest, most undiluted form then you need to give Foundryside a try. The best thing is that it feels like we are just getting started. I have no doubt that there are more stories about Tevanne and its inhabitants still left to tell. In the meantime, I think I’ll investigate Mr Bennett’s back catalogue. That should keep me going while I wait for the second book in The Founders series.
My musical recommendation to accompany Foundryside is a game soundtrack by one of my favourite composers, Chris Tilton. Divide (Deluxe Edition) feels like a perfect fit with the novel. The music captures the sense of urgency, tension and danger that follow Sancia everywhere. Blending together elements of classical and contemporary music it screams Foundryside to me.
Foundryside is published by Jo Fletcher Books and is available now. Highly recommended.
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