wp-1586460742287.jpgToday I’m thrilled to share a review of Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett. A big thank you to Del Rey Books and Random House for the gifted copy and the invitation to read it.

My Thoughts:

One of the very first books I reviewed on my blog was Foundryside, first in the Founders Trilogy. I’ll never forget the experience of reading it. You can find my review here. I was invited to read the book then as well, and I’m grateful for that because I was unlikely to pick up a fantasy book on my own. I would have been missing out. Robert Jackson Bennett has legions of fans, and once you get lost in one of his stories, it’s easy to see why.

It’s also challenging to write about Shorefall and this series because I don’t want to give anything away, but I shall do my best.

Shorefall is Sancia’s story. She and her friends have saved the bustling city of Tevanne when it was on the brink of disaster, and she has been assigned a new task, that of starting a magical-industrial revolution. What is the magic? As with Foundryside, the magic is “scriving,” where every day objects are given the ability to feel (i.e., sentience). For years, robber-barrons have kept this knowledge unto themselves, but now it will be available to everyone in Tevanne.

Sancia has an enemy, however. He is using scriving to become something like a god, so he can take over the world. Sancia has to stop him, and in order to do so, she may have to create another god.

Be prepared, dear readers, Shorefall is an exceedingly dark book. It’s also a thrill ride, entertaining, and compulsively readable. The ending is so shocking, I am literally still in shock about it, and it’s going to be a long wait for book three. Well-done, Robert Jackson Bennett!

I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own. 

About the Book:

As a magical revolution remakes a city, an ancient evil is awakened in a brilliant new novel from the Hugo-nominated author of Foundryside and the Divine Cities trilogy

Having narrowly saved the metropolis of Tevanne from destruction, Sancia Grado and her allies have turned to their next task: sowing the seeds of a full-on magical-industrial revolution. If they succeed, the secrets behind scriving—the art of imbuing everyday objects with sentience—will be accessible to all of Tevanne’s citizens, much to the displeasure of the robber-barons who’ve hoarded this knowledge for themselves.

But one of Sancia’s enemies has embarked on a desperate gambit, an attempt to resurrect a figure straight out of legend—an immortal being known as a heirophant. Long ago, the heirophant was an ordinary man, but he’s used scriving to transform himself into something closer to a god. Once awakened, he’ll stop at nothing to remake the world in his horrifying image.

And if Sancia can’t stop this ancient power from returning? Well, the only way to fight a god…is with another god

Have you read Shorefall or Foundryside, or are they on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR