Foundryside

Trigger warning for this book at the end of the review

I really enjoyed this book. The world and character building were first-class, and I completely loved the way that the author integrated themes of class struggle and capitalist exploitation of the working/poor.

Having said that, there were a few things that lowered this book from my list of "best reads of the year" to the slightly larger pile of "meh, it was pretty good".

First, there were so many times that I found myself finishing a chapter muttering "oh goddammit" because of some unexpected plot twist. These are great if they're interspersed throughout a story at strategically important turning points, but it felt like Bennett was a little too generous with these unexpected narrative surprises. It felt like a constant struggle where the vast majority of the chapter would build the narrative one step forward for the characters, and then the last few paragraphs would be two giant leaps backwards in their quest. Like I said, I get that this is important for building the story; after a while though, it can feel exhausting as hell for the reader.

Second drawback of the book from my perspective (and why I think it might be potentially triggering for some) - there were a handful of scenes where the main characters were enslaved and/or lost control of their bodily autonomy to the villain(s). Now, these scenes fit in really well with the overarching theme that capitalism steals our very minds and bodies to work against our own best interests, but they were very unpleasant to read. I understand that not every book is supposed to be sunshine and rainbows, and I believe that these scenes did a good job of accomplishing what the author intended them to do. However, I think that these scenes could be triggering for readers who have experienced abuse in their past.

Trigger warning: this book contains themes and scenes including slavery, physical abuse, torture, and loss of both physical and mental autonomy to the villains

Great story, but it was not without some flaws.

Foundryside tells the story of Sancia, a thief with some special abilities. The story takes place in the city of Tevanne, which consists of 4 merchant houses in their sealed off compounds and endless slums. Sancia takes on a high-stakes job of stealing an item from within one of the guarded compounds. She knows she should have said no, but she needs the money to make her normal again.

This world employs magic on an industrial scale. The lore behind the magic is interesting, but it requires a lot of explanation on how it works–or does not work if that's the case. This sometimes interrupts the flow of the story. There is quite an extensive action scene in the first half of the book, where people employ magic that shouldn't be possible. This prompts an elaborate explanation on the origins and evolution of this particular type of magic. Interesting, I'll admit, but I could have done with less. As the book progresses, this becomes less of an issue, though.

The second thing I had issues with, is the dialogue. Most, if not all, characters do not talk their age. One character in particular, who by all accounts is ancient, talks like a 12-year old street kid. The dialogue in general is not very 'adult', while all characters are above 20.

Third, I have to mention the romance, what there is of a romance. The plotting of the book sadly leaves no room to explore the feelings between Sancia and Berenice. There are blushes, surreptitious glances, the tiniest hint of flirting, and yes, a kiss, but I doubt the author dedicated more than 20 sentences to the romance. I do hope the next book has some more of Sancia and Berenice.

That said, the story is interesting with some twists and turns, and I really enjoyed it.

I was drawn to this book by the description of the magic system. It sounded interesting and flexible and something I hadn't really seen much of, almost like combining magic with science and computer logic/language. But the further the book progressed the more layers were added until it became overly complicated and turned into a lingo salad whenever anything needed explaining (which happened frequently).

I also didn't really connect with any of the characters. The main character is flawed and dramatic, the side characters are sort of flat and one dimensional. I didn't see much development of either the main character or the side characters honestly, and was a little let down. The dialogue between characters also felt a little stale, and the author switches frequently between using common English swear words and made up or repurposed swear words seemingly at whim.

Overall I was a little let down by this book, I completed the book but likely will not continue with the series.