SFF180 🐉 ‘Foundryside’ by Robert Jackson Bennett ★★★★

[@Nerdamania]

More reviews and this channel will go trough the roof in popularity

[@JamesChatham33]

"the most science fictional approach to a magic system I've ever seen" okay I am here for this. Bennett is an author that's been on my radar for a while but I've yet to read anything of his, and this sounds like a great place to start. Great review, as per usual!

[@lisagarrity5836]

Thank you for this review. This book is now at the top of the my TBR.

[@Ramseyreadsandreviews]

Great Review. I found the magic system a little confusing but excited to see it explained more. Not the simple scriving but the big Heirophant scriving.

[@Majesticon]

This sounds really good

[@BrandysBooks61316]

Foundryside sounds amazing! This review is so well done too, great job.

[@ReadandFindOut]

This magic is so intriguing, I need to pick this up! I'm pretty sure that this would be right up my alley. Creating their own gods? A magical sentient item? Yes please.

[@RachelRae]

So nice meeting you last weekend Thomas! Amazing review as usual, always refreshing when the science/methods behind the sci-fi is so thought out.

[@SFF180]

It was great meeting you too, Rachel! See you again next year, I hope 🤞🏻

[@derella]

This sounds so good! Definitely gonna have to pick this up.

[@brainfromarous9015]

So would a young magician here be an ascriving sorcerer? I’ll see myself out.

[@zachmoring284]

(SPOILER EXAMPLE BELOW THE FOLD) One thing that really blew me away about the scriving in this book is how gosh dang considered it all was. At first I was a little surprised that scriving is supposed to have been around for only about 80 years or so, but as I read along I was more and more sold on it. As the series continues we'll get to see the development of this new technology from it's infancy into a more mature state, like physics and computers through the 20th century. Very cool book! SPOILER: At first I thought it was incredulous that supposedly one person was able to "solve" the impossible problem of gravity scriving acting alone. But I completely changed my tune when we learned that it was because they alone had developed a theory of gravity: objects pull on each other, not just down. Of course if only one person in the setting had that theory, and they followed it in their designs, only they would be able to "solve" the problem! I'm excited to see if and how Bennett pulls in more 20th century theory to make cool, revolutionary technologies. Very excited about this series.

[@SFF180]

That’s what I meant about an SFnal approach to the magic system. Solving the problem meant understanding exactly what gravity is, and that all objects exert a gravitational attraction.

[@jamesholder13]

Very interesting. I'm definitely going to check it out!

[@adambrickley9088]

Wait, the magic-users are called Scriveners?! That has to be the most meta joke about writing I've ever heard (Scrivener being the word-processing/chapter-compiling/research storage program that is either beloved or roundly hated by everyone in the writing community...or anyone working on say a doctoral thesis.)

[@DontHaveaDegreeinReading]

Such a great review. I definitely have Foundryside on my radar now.

[@ulissesbrandao196]

Hoping for your reviews of Jerusalem and 1Q84.

[@Amanda-dn4ld]

Sounds awesome! Side question: what happened to the SFF Awards?

[@SFF180]

You mean, the BooktubeSFF Awards? Still gonna do them, as far as I know.

[@Amanda-dn4ld]

Thought I somehow missed them!