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Once, Sancia Grado was just a thief with a grudge and a rare talent. Then she learned how to use that talent, and beat the great merchant houses of Tevanne at their own game. With Clef and Berenice, she even saw off an immortal hierophant – but the war they’re fighting now is one they know they can’t win.
‘Absolutely riveting . . . A magnificent, mind-blowing start to a series I’m hungry for’ – Amal El-Mohtar, co-author of This is How You Lose the Time War, in the New York Times on Foundryside
This time, they’re not facing robber-baron elites or an immortal hierophant, but an entity whose intelligence is spread over half the globe: a ghost in the machine using the magic of scriving to possess and control not just objects, but human minds.
Despite all their efforts their enemy marches on, implacable, unstoppable – and it’s closing in on its true prize: an ancient doorway that leads to the centre of creation itself.
‘One of the best fantasy writers on the scene today’ says Kirkus Reviews
Sancia and her friends glimpse a last desperate opportunity to stop this unbeatable foe – but to do so, they’ll have to unlock the centuries-old mystery of scriving’s origins and pull off the most daring heist they’ve ever attempted.
And as if that weren’t enough, their adversary might just have a spy in their ranks – and a last trick up its sleeve . . .
‘Absolutely riveting . . . A magnificent, mind-blowing start to a series I’m hungry for’ – Amal El-Mohtar, co-author of This is How You Lose the Time War, in the New York Times on Foundryside
This time, they’re not facing robber-baron elites or an immortal hierophant, but an entity whose intelligence is spread over half the globe: a ghost in the machine using the magic of scriving to possess and control not just objects, but human minds.
Despite all their efforts their enemy marches on, implacable, unstoppable – and it’s closing in on its true prize: an ancient doorway that leads to the centre of creation itself.
‘One of the best fantasy writers on the scene today’ says Kirkus Reviews
Sancia and her friends glimpse a last desperate opportunity to stop this unbeatable foe – but to do so, they’ll have to unlock the centuries-old mystery of scriving’s origins and pull off the most daring heist they’ve ever attempted.
And as if that weren’t enough, their adversary might just have a spy in their ranks – and a last trick up its sleeve . . .
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Reviews
The large-scale conflicts, new characters and climactic ending set the stage for more exciting action and adventure to come in the complex, ever-expanding world of the series
Foundryside blew me away, and this is a perfect sequel . . . the book I've most thoroughly and uncomplicatedly enjoyed this year so far. It shocked and delighted and upset me from page to page, managing to thread humour and pathos and intrigue together with the speed and precision of a loom. I'm so excited to see what happens next
The exciting beginning of a promising new epic fantasy series. Prepare for ancient mysteries, innovative magic, and heart-pounding heists
Inventive, immersive and thrilling. Do yourself a favour and pick this up
Full of devastation, hope, torrid action, mystery and brilliance. His scriving system of re-writing the rules to reality is one of the most creative, rewarding magic systems in any fantasy series I've read. I can't recommend this author, or series, enough. A powerful and satisfying conclusion to this refreshing and inventive trilogy
Gods collide in the high-octane finale to Bennett's epic fantasy Founders Trilogy . . . Bennett advances the plot precipitously and raises his characters' power levels to the "nigh-incomprehensible", but the grounding themes of family and love as Sancia and Berenice risk their happiness to save the world, are what readers will take away
Unique and original
Compelling, full of action, and has characters to care about . . . Locklands completes another excellent trilogy from an author producing some of the most original and compelling fantasy in the genre
Bennett provides a poignant but uplifting conclusion to his spellbinding, fast-paced Founders Trilogy, expanding the complex world with more innovative concepts and new characters
A thrills-and-spills conclusion to the adventures of Sancia Grado. Bennett concludes his Founders trilogy . . . with characteristically high-spirited mayhem. Bennett is a master of worldbuilding. Great fun, with nonstop action
One of the best series in decades. if the biggest complaint is wanting more, that's a pretty good affirmation of just how excellent this book is, and really the series as a whole
An excellent balance of big ideas, clever technological extrapolation (even if it's actually magical), and compelling characters you really care about. Who could ask for more?
Robert Jackson Bennett can expertly marry big concepts with great characterisation - complex worlds with stories filled with human emotion. Both the Divine Cities and Founders books are deep, impressive works that give the reader something to chew over time and time again. Just when you think you understand what the novels are about, another layer is revealed and you have to shift your expectations. Robert Jackson Bennett novels are exceptional and I can't wait to see where he'll take us next
RJB has produced some of the best and certainly the most original fantasy novels of the twenty-first century, and he's at the top of my must-read list
This is the best conclusion to a series that I have ever read - there's amazing battles and satisfying conclusion to foreshadowed clues
There's only a few books that I feel I am completely engrossed in the characters and can visually see them as real people and know what choices they'd make. This is one of them, very well written