Shorefall: A Novel

This type of book is the reason I love speculative fiction. Characters live and act in a believable world beset by huge thorny ideas like use of power, freedom, interdependence, creativity and duty. One of the best books I've read with traumatized people trying and learning how to care for each other in a broken world. Great action sequences amidst thoughtful explorations on human nature. Surprisingly, the weighty topics aren't depressing and I am rooting for this series and the characters in it!

I absolutely adored the first entry into the Founders Trilogy, Foundryside. It is a immensely satisfying read, with an enormously unique magic system and world. Well, Robert Jackson Bennett takes all of those components from the first book and puts them to work in Shorefall.While not as tightly plotted as the first book, Shorefall is still a wonderwork of fantasy writing. The stakes are upped just the right amount in comparison to the first book. The main villain of the series so far, the first of the heirophants, is bone-chillingly terrifying in the best ways. You really are scared of him while you read — there’s no second guessing, no well-maybe-he’s-right in this book. He’s just flat out terrifying, and you hope-hope-hope that our heroes save the day. The author did an amazing job of showing just enough to prove that this villain is not someone to underestimate.The reason I docked a star is something that happens towards the middle-end of the book. Hover to read bc it’s a spoiler but it’s regarding Sancia and Berenice and something they do together.I’m still not sure how I feel about the twinned-mind thing. It was supposed to be temporary but it seems fairly permanent by the end of the novel. Then again, it isn’t all that clear on how much time actually passes between them twinning and the end of the book. First read through of this book, it didn’t bother me. Second read through, it’s sort of…hm. It feels convenient? Like I get what the author is going for, and where it will probably end up, but. IDK. Let me know if you feel the same way!The best part of Shorefall, though, is the reveal of who the villain actually is. I will not spoil this because it is so chef’s-kiss perfect that I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. But you really don’t see it coming until it’s right on top of you, and then everything sort of clicks into place.

Shorefall is the second book the Founders series. This is a series that builds on the prior books and so you need to read them in order to have any idea what is going on. I actually re-read Foundryside right before jumping into Shorefall since it was one of my favorite books of 2018 and there are a lot of details, I wanted a quick refresher.Shorefall did not disappoint; Robert Jackson Bennett isn’t afraid to put his characters through some really tough times and hard decisions. You are genuinely scared for them because he isn’t afraid to kill people off or have them make terrible sacrifices.One of the best things about this series is the world and how it works. It is built on scrivings, which are little rules written into materials that make them do a specific thing or think they are something else. Like wood scrived to think it is as hard as stone, locks that are smart and will only accept specific keys. The entire city has thousands of these all around, forcing reality to believe it is something different.Now a God-like creature, a Heirophant, who once destroyed most of the world has returned and wants to remake the city into what he thinks mankind should be. Once you find out how a Heirophant was made, it is hard to think anything they want will be good. If this one gets his way, it will not go well for mankind.***“Ofelia…” said his voice. “You wish to make a moral world, do you not? A just, equitable, sane world?”“Yes,” she whispered.“Yes. Of course you do. And sometimes I find it takes a lot of treachery and death to make a moral world. That is simply the way of things.” ***Our cast of characters from Foundryside will be there working together with a powerful tool at their side trying to stop the returning Heirophant. Sancia can hear and see scrivings; she can even sometimes convince them to change, a trick she learned from a very special key. Sancia made 'friends' with Valeria, a tool once used by the Heirphant to change the world, until the tool became as powerful as the man who made her and went to war with him thousands of years ago. But, should you trust the powerful tool that seems to have an agenda of her own?I loved the characters in this. None of them are great fighters, well except the former soldier Gregor, but all of them bring something smart and unique to the table. They were a small band trying to break the main houses who controlled the city. They never expected to have to fight an almost god and his most powerful tool.***“I remember the plan,” said Sancia. “I just also remember there’s a lot of spots in the plan that say, ‘Sancia improvises a bunch of crap.’ Which is not, you know, comforting.” ***Founders is a series I’m both desperate and terrified to finish. I’ve read other series by RJB and I know that nothing is off the table for him. The conclusions to his stories can be bittersweet for some characters and just down right sad for others. But I never guess what the endings will be and for that I’m always grateful and in the past I have left his series feeling satisfied with the endings.Another wonderful smart fantasy told by Robert Jackson Bennet and I was really happy that a certain key wasn’t left out of the story since he was one of my favorite things from Foundryside.

Loved the plot. Just have to ignore that the scriving system violates all the known laws of physics. But assuming that this is taking place in a different universe with different laws allows me to enjoy the books.Hubert

Note: this is a trilogy‘s middle part and obviously not a good place to start reading. I recommend to start at the beginning and keep the reading order.ReviewThe world of the „Founders“ fantasy series is just plain amazing, a marvel. I knocked my out of my socks in the prequel and got even better here. The idea that scrivers can manipulate the world by technically convincing inanimate things that they have to follow the scrived commands and through that bend reality. Fabulous.The plot starts three years after the events of „Foundryside“. Orso, Berenice, Sancia and Gregor have their own (albeit small) company, but they actually are again working some heist to liberate scriving, so to speak. But their attempts at democratizing the power is baldly thrown off path when Gregor’s emotionally imbalanced mother brings back the first hierophant. And he is not a emotionally balanced character either. More like a power crazed dictator who thinks he knows what is best. For, like, everyone. Yep. Not good. That leaves the four heroes to the nearly unsolvable task to prevent bad guy to take over.Things are made even more complicated by the lack of trustworthiness of their only ally able to go against the uber-villain.So this whole plot is a frantic search for a plan to fight back and win against all odds. The four Foundryside founders have literally no chance and as far as their dubious ally is concerned, they find themselves between a rock and a hard place. I couldn’t lay the book down, I just had to know what would come next. I was breathless and constantly worried (and mostly rightly so) and the turns the story took in the end were unexpected and ingenious. I wish the characters wouldn’t have to suffer so much, but I have to admit that it kept me invested. And how I liked the characters and rooted for them... yes, this is a very well done sequel.

Shortfall is book two in the founders series, don’t start here the series needs to be read in order and the back ground and magic system is complex.In a city that’s ruled by four merchant houses for centuries based on there command of scriving basically the ability to convince reality to do what you want, revolution has come on the back of the first book, the lamp lands has been created a host of independent scriveners following in the foot steps of Orso, Sancia, Gregor and Berenice who set up there own house known as Foundryside. Fresh off pulling a con job agaisnt one of the merchant houses things get hectic when a sometime ally warns of a ancient enemy’s resurrection after that things soon spiral out of control with Foundryside having to bring all there combined experience, abilities and ingenuity to the forefront just to survive.This is a stronger book by far then the first one, and that was pretty great. However the stakes are much higher, the Antagonist is much better fleshed out then in book one and while undoubtedly not a good guy you nevertheless have to see his point to at least a degree. In fact this is a much more complex book then the first book, there are no clear right or wrongs and the crew lurch from one necessary evil to another, things get much more bleak as, in some ways , human nature itself becomes the enemy.It’s the tight bonds between the four that keep things from becoming too dark even as Foundryside and the City of trevane seem to be forced into a no win situation. Exciting, well paced and excellently written this is another great book by Robert Jackson bennet, well worth your time and money,the worst part will be the wait for book three.

Which was the mixture of magic and capitalism. I was looking forward to corporate wars fought with magic, instead a run of the mill world saving boredom piece. Very disappointing!

So I thouroughly enjoyed this second episode in the founders series. It has morphed a bit but it still has the same pleasures and irritations as the first episode. I will be reading the next one. So last episode was basically a D&D level lots thief and faithful side kicks steal lots of magic items destabilise the unequal society tbey live it and do 'lots of clever stuff'. The society they live in is unworkable mostly a city of four merchant houses that monopolise magic item production. New episode is all about an ancient god like being awakening and taking over the city. Another synthetic ancient being it already there in much reduced form and is seeking her own resurection. OK yes it is a magic AI. The magic system is absolutely splendid I have not seen its like before and is largely based on computery pokery concepts, from UNIX if I had to guess. Stuff happens AI and god escape the city so does our plucky heroine. So what is not to like? Heroine has a bad vase of little Mr Potter. Too plot driven even for me, the characters that were drawn well in the last episode face into the background. There is far far too much effluvia and odure in the city. It is waste (bad pun geddit) canals and ditches full of sewerage. The head sidekick spends rather a lot of her time immersed in it. I don't know if the author has a fetish in this direction but it made me positively queasy. Wait a minute you say, isnt this a city of magical devices, how hard is it to make a magic water wheel or pump to get this crap moving down a sewer and into the bay? The Romans did it with slaves, Bazzlegette did it with steam engines how hard can it be?