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Shorefall

Written by: Robert Jackson Bennett
Narrated by: Tara Sands
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Publisher's Summary

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

“An absolutely wild ride...Foundryside blew me away, and this is a perfect sequel.” (Amal El-Mohtar, The New York Times Book Review)

A few years ago, Sancia Grado would’ve happily watched Tevanne burn. Now, she’s hoping to transform her city into something new. Something better. Together with allies Orso, Gregor, and Berenice, she’s about to strike a deadly blow against Tevanne’s cruel robber-baron rulers and wrest power from their hands for the first time in decades.

But then comes a terrifying warning: Crasedes Magnus himself, the first of the legendary hierophants, is about to be reborn. And if he returns, Tevanne will be just the first place to feel his wrath.

Thousands of years ago, Crasedes was an ordinary man who did the impossible: Using the magic of scriving - the art of imbuing objects with sentience - he convinced reality that he was something more than human. Wielding powers beyond comprehension, he strode the world like a god for centuries, meting out justice and razing empires single-handedly, cleansing the world through fire and destruction - and even defeating death itself.

Like it or not, it’s up to Sancia to stop him. But to have a chance in the battle to come, she’ll have to call upon a god of her own - and unlock the door to a scriving technology that could change what it means to be human. And no matter who wins, nothing will ever be the same.

The awe-inspiring second installment of the Founders Trilogy, Shorefall returns us to the world Robert Jackson Bennett created in his acclaimed Foundryside...and forges it anew.

©2020 Robert Jackson Bennett (P)2020 Random House Audio
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What the critics say

“The book I’ve most thoroughly and uncomplicatedly enjoyed this year so far. It shocked and delighted and upset me from page to page, managing to thread humor and pathos and intrigue together with the speed and precision of a loom. Its comments on our present moment are so deft and sly that when they turn earnest it’s deeply affecting....[and] sometimes brought me to tears...I’m so excited to see what happens next.” (Amal El-Mohtar, The New York Times)

"Bennett’s characterization...strikes a perfect balance between terror and allure. This thrilling installment will leave readers eager for the series finale." (Publishers Weekly)

"An expertly spun yarn by one of the best fantasy writers on the scene today." (Kirkus Reviews)

What listeners say about Shorefall

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    4 out of 5 stars

Great series

I have really enjoyed this series so far. I cannot wait for the next one. Keep these going.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Whoopee

This was a very good book. I loved the magic system the author has created.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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Thoroughly Unentertaining

I’ll try to keep this brief.

The sequel was just not as exciting as the first book (and I truly did like the first book).

The majority of the story was supremely boring and consisted mostly of a group of people in a basement talking about a plan.

The narration was decent with the exception of the AI construct character. The narrator talked like a computer whenever that character was speaking, and unfortunately there’s a lot of monologuing that occurs there.

The conflict that exists was just not engaging. The main character and some secondary characters were often portrayed as in extreme emotional distress, and yell a lot about how they don’t want to do something.... and I mean a lot. And the whole time they were going through this I just realized I really didn’t care. I had just not bought in to the conflict and I wasn’t invested in any of the characters.

Then.... the book ends... and the ending is actually a pretty great ending!!! Which is frustrating for me, because I really thought I would quit the series after this book; however, I still kind of want to see how it ends.

We will see.... my honest advice is just to skip this book and read some summary of it and hope for a better third book. It really was painful to listen to.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Questionable sequel. Frustrating elements.

I stopped caring about the series, the world, and the characters based on this book.
Instead of being a story about interesting capable characters and found family in a world of corruption it becomes just another fate of the world/future of humanity/defeat the big bad guy type story. The big theme of humanity and it's self destructive tendencies takes over everything.
In my opinion the villains of all this are pretty generic and not compelling.

The characters become inconsistent to what they were in the first book in my opinion, and not in a way that makes sense or feels like growth.
No spoilers, but the main character in particular has a scene where she witnesses some difficult things and becomes emotionally overwhelmed and incapacitated in a way that feels totally out of character considering the horrific stuff she saw and experienced in the first book.
In general there is a surprising amount of time given to characters talking about their feelings of pain and helplessness. Things like that aren't automatically bad at all, but are executed here in a way that often drags and feels out of place in my opinion.
It feels like there is a lot less action then in the first one too.

The magic "system" kinda stops being interesting here as well. The supposed rules and limitations of it get glossed over and become meaningless to the point where the magic can basically do anything the plot need it to do and any kind of magic rig can get made however just in time the plot requires it to be available.

Mine seems to be the minority opinion, most people appear to still love the series. Which is fair enough. Just know that it is a very different type of book and it never hurts to lower your expectations a little. I wanted to like it way more than I did.

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