The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett

Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle.

But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic–the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience–have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.

Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.

To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.

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For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #24: Uneven number of chapters – in Book 1)

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The Reason

I’d read the first couple of books a few years ago but never finished the series. I remember enjoying it though and I’m rereading all of them to refresh my memory and finally finish it!

The Quotes

“They said I was one thing. But I have changed my mind.”

“Traditional,” she echoed. “What a curious word that is. So bland, and yet often so poisonous.”

“Gregor Dandolo did his utmost to follow the laws: both the laws of the city, and his own moral laws of the universe. But more and more these days, one seemed to disagree with the other.”

“Reality doesn’t matter. If you can change something’s mind enough, it’ll believe whatever reality you choose.”

The Narrator(s)

Tara Sands. She was wonderful! I love all her voices and characterizations.

My Thoughts

Book 1 – Foundryside
I don’t usually remember very many details of books I’ve read, especially ones I read years ago, but for some reason I remembered more than usual about this book. Sancia’s abilities, Clef’s personality, the way they connected with each other, and then how they joined forces with Gregor, Orso, Berenice, and everyone else. It was all very exciting for me, and I loved how the characters’ personalities worked and clashed with each other in such organic ways. My favorite thing about this book was how everyone had their own agendas and how messy they all were in each of their own ways, and how reluctant they were to work with each other but became allies out of necessity. I got very invested in all of the characters and I wanted to know what happened next for them.

Book 2 – Shorefall
Although this is also a reread, I didn’t remember as much about it as the first book in the series. I did check my notes from my first read and apparently I was a little disappointed because it didn’t give me what I wanted out of it.

Rereading it now, I feel the same way, but I went in trying to be more open-minded about what we actually got and I was able to get behind what actually went down. The story this time was still very exciting, and much bigger than previously. There are a lot more magical constructs and inventions that I thought was incredibly imaginative and a little complicated for me, but it works for the story.

I stopped here the first time I read this series, but at this point I’m still in it and I’m excited to finally read the last book!

Book 3 – Locklands
I just finished the book and I am very sorry to say I am very disappointed with it. In fact, I was already disappointed with the second book but trying to give the series the benefit of the doubt. I hoped this book would bring the story home but I felt like it really lost focus and meaning and I didn’t even know what we’re reading anymore. I kept hoping it would finish strong, but at about 80% of the book it got so difficult for me to get through that I seriously considered a DNF. I didn’t because it’s hard to let go of the last 20% of the last book after I’ve read everything before it so I pushed through.

I’m glad I finished so that I can know for sure that I don’t like it, but I am really disappointed it turned out this way. Also, I promise I’m not doing this out of pettiness but I’d like to talk about the editing of the book. The overuse of “rather” and the manner of speaking; “It wasn’t like this, rather, it was like that” happens A LOT. Another one was the use of “wasn’t it?”, “aren’t I?”, “can’t you?” etc., as in; “I can do this, can’t I?”, “The worst is going to happen, isn’t it?”. Obviously these are normal ways of speaking, but it happened a lot and at weird places in the conversation/narration, and with different characters.

It’s possible that these happened in the first two books as well but I didn’t notice as much because it’s a gradual buildup and I only noticed after being exposed for three books and/or I was more immersed in the stories in the first two books and bored with the third so I notice its flaws more. Either way, it’s still a disappointment. I loved the concept, the world-building, and the magical system in this series, but the story now seems so trivial and meaningless to me.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. An overall rating for the series.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?