Bumpy Oak Books

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

5 stars

Robert Jackson Bennett brings a beautifully wrought and intricate magic system to his fantasy series, the Founders trilogy. This book, Shorefall, is the second in the series and I will do my very best to keep things as spoiler free as possible. I will certainly not spoil this book, but there may be some accidental spoilers for the first book in the series, Foundryside.

It is important to know that Shorefall picks up three years after the end of Foundryside, and if you attempt to read these books out of order, you will be doing yourself a disservice. The events of Foundryside utterly shape the setting and climate of Shorefall. You will miss all of the introduction to the magic of scriving and will also miss all of the character introductions. Shorefall truly just throws you back into the mix of the newly formed Lamplands in the Commons.

Our main characters are arguably Sancia, Berenice, Gregor, and Orso, though there are other individuals who play key roles in the story. Berenice and Orso are both scrivers, Sancia is a (former) thief, and Gregor is a soldier turned head of security. Shorefall follows the company of Foundryside Limited as they compete with the Founders’ Houses. All progress is interrupted, however, when additional Occidental technology has found its way into the city. The team has to take on this new threat in an attempt to preserve the order of all things as they know them.

Robert Jackson Bennett is incredibly talented at world-building and the magic system in this series is truly one of the keys to it being successful. Every character is also well thought out with developed histories and motivations. If you enjoy ethical dilemmas and the morally grey, this will be a great series for you character-wise. Somehow, with all of this infrastructure, information, and development, this book is not at all bogged down and it still reads very fast.

Overall, I am thrilled with what this author has produced in the first two books of the series and I cannot wait for the conclusion.