Foundryside: A Novel (The Founders Trilogy Book 1)

Berenice tried to comfort him as the rest looked on, hugging Sancia’s body close as Clef wept. “To imagine it,” said Orso. “To imagine that the discovery you’ve sought for so long is…is this ghastly mutilation of the human body and soul…” “And to imagine what the other houses would do,” said Gregor quietly, “if they were to make the same discovery.

Every innovation—technological, sociological, or otherwise—begins as a crusade, organizes itself into a practical business, and then, over time, degrades into common exploitation. This is simply the life cycle of how human ingenuity manifests in the material world. What goes forgotten, though, is that those who partake in this system undergo a simi

Suddenly Sancia laughed. “God. God! As if that was any worse! As if that was any worse than the other things happening out there!” They looked at her, uneasy. “What do you mean?” asked Berenice. “Don’t…don’t you understand what the plantations are?” said Sancia. “Think of it. Think of trying to control an island where the slaves outnumber you eight

“Why do you react with such horror? Don’t you wish this man dead for what he did to you? For capturing you, for beating you, for slashing your head open?” “Sure I do,” said Sancia. “Man’s a shit. But that doesn’t mean you’re decent. I mean, even though I might sympathize with you, that doesn’t mean you’re going to let me go, does it? I’d ruin your

It tried to understand what was wrong, but it couldn’t. Blocking its efforts, blocking all its thoughts, was a single, simple sentiment: You are a tool. You are a thing to be used, and no more. It agreed. Of course it agreed. Because it remembered the wet snap of the whip, and the smell of blood. I was made. I was forged. It remembered the bite and

Captain Riggo possessed the virtue that Tevanne valued most of all: the ability to ignore what was right in front of his eyes for a huge sum of money.

Pride…it’s so often an excuse for people to be weak.” He coughed, and said, “Anyways…if a young person were to ask me advice of a…a personal nature, I’d advise they not sit and passively watch opportunities go by. That’s what I’d say—if, mind, if a young person were to ask me advice, of a personal nature.” There was a long silence. “I see, sir,” sa

“I’ve seen a lot of death, Sancia,” he said. “My father and brother died in a carriage accident when I was young. One I nearly died in myself. I joined the military to bring honor to their name, but instead I got so many young men killed—and, again, I survived. I keep surviving, it seems. It’s taught me many things. After Dantua…it was like a magic

The heat within the foundry was immense, but there was a constant wind in every hall and passage, carrying the hot air out to—well, somewhere, she assumed. It was like being trapped in the innards of some kind of giant, mindless creature.