The Founders Trilogy
#2014.10 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2018–2022 Reading commitment Medium Robert Jackson Bennett Last reviewed 2026-08-11
Overview
Robert Jackson Bennett's The Founders Trilogy (Foundryside, 2018; Shorefall, 2020; Locklands, 2022) follows a heist-fantasy cast in a city where magic works by 'scriving' -- rewriting the rules physical objects believe about themselves. A 3rd, wholly unrelated universe from an author already in this canon twice over (Shadow of the Leviathan, The Divine Cities).
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
The Founders Trilogy Robert Jackson Bennett
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Foundryside | 2018 | core | 4.16 (58,768 ratings) |
 | Shorefall | 2020 | core | 4.03 (27,711 ratings) |
 | Locklands | 2022 | core | 4.00 (16,052 ratings) |
A completed trilogy, confirmed a 3rd, wholly unrelated universe from Robert Jackson Bennett, already in this canon twice over (Shadow of the Leviathan; The Divine Cities) -- no shared setting, characters, or continuity with either. A magic-as-programmable-code ('scriving') heist-fantasy setting. The trilogy itself was a 2023 Hugo Award for Best Series nominee; Foundryside individually was a 2019 Dragon Award finalist (Fantasy Novel, including paranormal), a 2019 British Fantasy Award (Robert Holdstock Award) finalist, and placed 4th in the 2019 Locus Award reader poll for Fantasy Novel.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Founders Trilogy? The Founders Trilogy's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for The Founders Trilogy? Publication order, starting with Foundryside. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Founders Trilogy finished? Complete (2018–2022).
- How much reading does The Founders Trilogy take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books).
- How is The Founders Trilogy ranked? #201 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 102,531 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #201?
Ranked #201 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.10 across 3 core books.
- Backed by 103k reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #200, Dogsbody (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 3 books · Complete · 103k ratings · Ranks #201 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- Foundryside (2018)
- Shorefall (2020)
- Locklands (2022)
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
Related universes
- Same author The Scholomance: Both by Robert Jackson Bennett. Deliberately distinct universes -- no shared setting, characters, or continuity.
- Same author The Divine Cities: Both by Robert Jackson Bennett. Deliberately distinct universes -- no shared setting, characters, or continuity.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.10 across 102,531 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Run 2: 3 admissions -- The Founders Trilogy, The Empyrean, Book of the Ancestor accepted 2026-08-11
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Related universes: see the Related universes section above.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-11
Rule: Core = the 3 completed novels (2018-2022). No Expanded Canon found.