Shorefall

The Founders, Book 2

By: Robert Jackson Bennett

Narrated by: Tara Sands

The upstart firm Foundryside is struggling to make it. Orso Igancio and his star employee, former thief Sancia Grado, are accomplishing brilliant things with scriving, the magical art of encoding sentience into everyday objects, but it's not enough. The massive merchant houses of Tevanne won't tolerate competition, and they're willing to do anything to crush Foundryside.

But even the merchant houses of Tevanne might have met their match. An immensely powerful and deadly entity has been resurrected in the shadows of Tevanne, one that's not interested in wealth or trade routes: a hierophant, one of the ancient practitioners of scriving. And he has a great fascination for Foundryside and its employees - especially Sancia.

Now Sancia and the rest of Foundryside must race to combat this new menace, which means understanding the origins of scriving itself - before the hierophant burns Tevanne to the ground.

©2020 Robert Jackson Bennett (P)2020 Penguin Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A refreshing look at magic - featuring a heroine every reader will root for - from one of the smartest writers I know." (Peter V. Brett, New York Times best-selling author of The Demon Cycle)

Meh

I wouldn't have been able to complete this story without the audiobook, which is unfortunate. I might pick up the third book just to finish the story but I'm underwhelmed. Considering we lost two prominent characters I felt nothing throughout. The reveals surrounding the "big bad," the construct and the key did nothing to add intrigue, and I was bored reading the final scene which is a bad sign. The characters felt flat, none of the stakes felt high and just the overall experience was lackluster.