BooktubeSFF Awards discussion

Hi guys! Here's the thread for the readalong of Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett, one of our Fantasy nominees.

I'm starting the book as soon as I can get a copy of it from the library :-) I'm farther down on the holds list than I thought I would be, oops. But I'm excited to get to this one.

So let's dive in -- and don't forget to put specifics in spoiler tags, so people reading at different times aren't spoiled.

This is a book I was curious about before but would probably not have picked up if not for these awards, unlike the other nominees I have read/will read which I would have read anyway. So it will be fun to start reading once I’m done with my current book.

I loved this one! I reviewed it here. :D I still need to see what I think of Grey Sister, but I loved Foundryside and Circe - it's a great shortlist!

I actually ended up DNFing this one! I read 50 pages and couldn't get into it at all. I knew my copy was due back at the library soon, and that I wouldn't be able to force myself into the story in time given that I wasn't hooked. I may try it again at a later date.

It took me a while to get into this, but once I hit 20% or so I couldn't put it down. I loved the characters, and thought the world was fascinating, and gave it 4.5 stars.

read most of this on Thursday, due to being sick, then felt super guilty because I was like, oh crap it's a library book! and had to douse the thing in Lysol.

I also read it while being sick (my own copy though), and it was easy and fast-paced enough for my sick brain to manage, which is good. I liked it a lot, though I figured out some things a couple of hundred pages before the characters did. The world-building was really interesting and I liked the characters ((view spoiler)[except Gregor, who I could never quite figure out, but I suppose there were reasons for that (hide spoiler)]). I will continue the series once the next book is out, I want to know what happens.

I just finished Foundryside. I really enjoyed it. I loved the world building and magic system. The plot is fast paced and keeps your attention the entire time. Some of the characters fell a little flat for me but I did really like Sancia. I ended up giving it 4.5 stars.

I just finished reading this book and it's made it into my favourites list. The magic system is awesome, and the characters interesting, even the villains, or at least some of them. Now I need the next volume asap.....

I overall have discovered I really enjoy Robert Jackson Bennett's writing and this was no exception. I really liked the world and the sigildry in this and how our main character interacted with objects (I cannot remember her name right now...I read this a while ago). I read this as an ARC and was very impressed and I cannot wait for the sequel!

I enjoyed this one a ton, the world is fully realized, the characters and politics feel like they have depth and history. I especially liked the handling of a huge portion being internal voices, it managed to always came across clear, but I'm also just partial to that as a trope. This category is going to be a tough vote.

I really liked this! Loved the idea of those in power who confuse people for things. And the idea that those who are subjugated begin to believe they are things.

As I like to say: In life, love people, not things. Use things, not people. I'm surprised how many people get that wrong in the real world.

I'll be reading the next book for sure.