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WesternSFA


Shorefall
Founders Trilogy #2
by Robert Jackson Bennett
Del Rey, $28.00, 512pp
Published: April 2020

This is a highly entertaining fantasy epic.  In this world, resources and self-determination rests primarily with the large merchant houses; think: clans.  If you aren't part of a House, then you live in the Commons where there is nothing.  No resources, no laws; people just exist…

Technology is driven by the art of scriving.  This is the art of rewriting what is real to convince an object to behave differently that it should.  For example, a sword could be convinced that gravity is greater than normal and the direction of the gravitic mass is not necessarily down.  Which means, that scrived sword would cut through someone with unnatural speed and force as the sword obeys the law of gravity.  This is done by using a special language and engraving "instructions" onto the object; and only by specialists called hypatus.  The secret language originated with a race of people called hierophants who, supposedly, created the magical technology of scriving.  All that anyone understands of scriving is the small amount of information that has been translated or decoded; and it isn't anywhere near all of the information.  Any artifact from the hierophants is worth a great deal to a House and they will war on each other for possession.

Sancia and Orso and their friends have created something amazing - another House; this one called Foundryside.  And unlike the big Houses, they give away their inventions.  The idea is that if everyone has the same advantages then no one really has the advantage.  Maybe, just maybe, the little people living in the Commons might have a chance; and maybe, just maybe, the big Houses would have less reason to war against each other.  So the story starts with Sancia, Berenice and Orso marketing a new invention to one of the big Houses.  And the product is real and does what they promise; they just didn't share that the real reason for them entering the compound was for something else.  They effectively planted a bug inside the House’s lexicon which would give them information about any new tech the House developed.  Which they would then share, with everyone.

Sadly, her friend Clef the scrived key, had to reset himself and has remained silent ever since.  Sancia despairs of ever being able to rescue the man imprinted onto the key.  But the question she should have been asking is: who had the power to have made the key in the first place?  The answer will drive her mad.

Her friend Gregor is also a mess; knowing what his mother did to him is causing a great deal of pain but Sancia can't see a way to rescue him, either.  But it will be Gregor's relationship with his mother that enables the little group of friends to be forewarned about what is coming.  But what is coming is worse than anyone could possibly imagine and there seems to be little they can actually do to prepare.

What concerns them most is if the scrived box known as Valeria is everything she/it claims to be or if Valeria is actually a destroyer.  If Valeria is to be believed, she/it is the only thing to stand in the way of the destroyer that Gregor's mother called.  Or, if the destroyer, Crasedes, is to be believed, then it is Valeria that will destroy mankind.  What makes the decision so hard is the trail of bodies Crasedes, is leaving behind; although his defense is that some have to die to prevent a greater tragedy.  Crasedes has been in existence for thousands of years and in those years he saw countless empires rise and fall and the only thing that they had in common was that they acquired some sort of advantage, better food, better weapons, better shoes…something that gave their society an advantage which they immediately turned to conquest.  Crasedes maintains that all mankind will always turn to conquest and slavery without controls.  He wants to provide that control. 

Valeria, on the other hand, maintains she is the only thing that can stop him…without any assurance that she won't try to enslave mankind, as well.  Her solution is to simply take away mankind's ability to innovate.  The clincher is that Crasedes created Valeria to prevent mankind from destroying itself but she might the only thing to defeat him; the only question for Sancia is whether Valeria will conform to her original programming or if she can break out of it.  A free Valeria would have enormous consequence.  There is no good choice, no third alternative; either Crasedes will destroy or remake Valeria, or Valeria will destroy Crasedes and remake mankind.

Most of the story narrative gives us enormously detailed information about how scrivings work and why; which is intellectually interesting but not very dynamic.  So the author counters that with lots of stuff blowing up.  The main plot line is developing into the question of whether mankind deserves to manage their own existence or if they need a benevolent overseer to protect them.  And the surprising end of this story does end up creating that third choice; and whether it will prove to be mankind's savior or its demise will, apparently, be the focus of the last book of this trilogy.

I enjoyed the characters' continued development and back story.  The exposition that describes scrivings was very interesting and the plot development was very good.  I am very interested in seeing where the author takes this next; I'll be diving into the last book just as quickly as possible.  Stay tuned… ~~  Catherine Book

For more titles by Robert Jackson Bennett, click here

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