Locklands, Robert Jackson Bennett

 

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett is the third book in The Founder's Trilogy.

Started: 9/25/2022
Completed: 10/2/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Again, this is a cool story and it takes you into characters that had not received adequate treatment.  There is a gap between this book and the one before, but it is a reasonable gap.  It also allows for some flashbacks to update what has happened in between.  The cosmic fight is, of course, more complicated than that.  I truly love that the access to magic is through study and finding the fundamental ways in which things work (even if those details are left to the imagination through the use of the term "sigil").  I also like that there is a sense of security to the world, that permissions are needed (even if they can be coopted).  Throughout the trilogy there is a theme of the redemptive quality of love and that carries on this last book.  I also like that things are very messy, there are no easy answers and the right answer for some is not necessarily the right answer for all.  This is a really creative world and I'm sorry to see it go, but sure enjoyed the trip.

Shorefall, Robert Jackson Bennett

 

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett is the next book in The Founder's Trilogy.

Started: 9/23/2021
Completed: 9/28/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I really like the underlying concepts explored in this book.  I disliked that near the end the concept of twinning seems to not apply like it should, but it is truly a remarkable concept.  I really  like that the focus of a lesbian relationship is love and not sex.  It would be easy for Bennett to slip into some sort of voyeurism that the story line does not need and, instead, let the story focus on a loving, supportive relationship.  This book felt like the trilogy writ small as there is an early climax about midway through that sets up the rest of the book and leaves the reader breathless through the end.  I have a feeling that the trilogy will do the same with this book as the early climax. 

Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett

 

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett is the first book in the Founders Trilogy and I cannot remember how I stumbled upon it.

Started: 5/2/2021
Completed: 5/5/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is a real shot at world building and it is pretty awesome.  I really enjoyed the approach to magic and I think that this book was realistic about how such a thing would dramatically change the world.  Of course, this isn't "our" world and so it isn't how magic changed our world, but how magic played such a pivotal role in Bennett's world.  I also like it when magic has limits and this world has those kind of limits.

The reality of feudal poverty and the truly ugliness of cities without real methods to handle sewage, close living quarters, and lack of clothing is pretty well done.  There are limits because this is fiction (it is hard to believe that anybody would wear all black in a society that moves between "hot and humid" and "very hot and very humid."  It also seems like mud would not be prevalent in that environment--whereas dust would seem to be ubiquitous.  Those few things, however, are all that kept me from feeling fully immersed.