Robert Jackson Bennett

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About Robert Jackson Bennett
Robert Jackson Bennett is a two-time award winner of the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel, an Edgar Award winner for Best Paperback Original, and is also the 2010 recipient of the Sydney J Bounds Award for Best Newcomer, and a Philip K Dick Award Citation of Excellence. City of Stairs was shortlisted for the Locus Award and the World Fantasy Award. City of Blades was a finalist for the 2015 World Fantasy, Locus, and British Fantasy Awards. City of Miracles is in stores now, and the entire Divine Cities trilogy is currently nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Series.
His eighth novel, Foundryside, the first installment of The Founders Trilogy, will be released August 23rd of 2018.
Robert lives in Austin with his wife and large sons. He can be found on Twitter at @robertjbennett. You can subscribe to his Writing Advice newsletter here: https://www.patreon.com/robertjacksonbennett
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Blog postI am not an expert on Catherine the Great. I played her in Civ a couple of times, half-watched a thing on the history channel about her in the 2000s, and listened to a book about her during a really long car trip once.
This means I am glancingly familiar with her, maybe enough to rattle off the arc of her life off the top of my head.
Let’s see how accurate I get here!
Catherine (born Sophia) was a German girl who, for complex and ridiculous problems of lineage, was forced7 months ago Read more -
Blog postIt’s probably not a huge surprise to some of you that I’m a big cleantech booster. One such facet of cleantech that I suspect will soon be a big deal is electric cars.
I could talk for a long time about the impact of electric cars – their value, their effects, and how much of a solution they are for all the various problems we’re facing – but I won’t go into that now. What I’d mostly like to talk about now is what it’s like to make the jump.
And it does feel like a jump. An el3 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe defining moment of Detectorists, for me, is like most of the show’s scenes in that it is quiet, incidental, and not much seems to actually happen.
The two men, Lance and Andy, are walking over Essex farmland with their metal detectors. Lance gets a signal, digs a hole, drops to his knees to investigate, and retrieves something.
“What you got?” asks Andy.
“Carpet stair rod holder,” says Lance, holding it up.
“Yeah, I’ve had a couple of them,” says Andy.4 years ago Read more -
Blog postWhile changing out of wet clothes at the lake this past weekend, I glanced at my phone, saw a good bit of notifications, and realized, “Ah, the news has gone out.”
I am pleased to say that The Divine Cities is nominated for a Hugo Award in the Best Series Category.
Thank you to everyone who nominated the series. And thank you even more to those who simply read the books. I have written books that people have read, and I have written books that people have not read. I4 years ago Read more -
Blog postAlmost anyone who is even tangentially involved with writing has likely heard the phrase, “Murder your darlings.” This advice is oft-repeated for a reason: because it is true. You should be hyper-critical of your most beloved works precisely because you love them. Much like the parent who honestly believes their child can become a sports star, your love is a bias that can blind you to very real failings.
However, it’s not very often that we think of redirecting this figurati4 years ago Read more -
Blog postMarvel’s Black Panther is a huge accomplishment in many, many ways. It’s the first depiction of Afrofuturism I’ve seen produced on such a massive scale, and it’s the first African superhero I’ve certainly ever seen, not to mention one of the first superhero movies to feature an almost entirely black cast – with a significant number of female players, at that.
Even more audacious, Black Panther – a Marvel product that is owned by Disney – actually engages with the systematic historical4 years ago Read more -
Blog postI have been sitting on this one for quite a while, and am happy to finally be able to announce it – my next novel is FOUNDRYSIDE, first of THE FOUNDERS TRILOGY, which will be coming out August 23rd of this year!
In a city that runs on industrialized magic, a secret war will be fought to overwrite reality itself–the first in a dazzling new fantasy series from City of Stairs author Robert Jackson Bennett.
Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a hea4 years ago Read more -
Blog postThere are certain kind of stories where the goal is to create drama, but not so much that you’d have to change characters, locations, or even relationship dynamics. I’ve come to start thinking of these as “soap plots,” in that the goal is to complicate the characters’ lives while avoiding any overall story change. (The origin of the term, of course, comes from soap operas.)
This is different from a story that is about dramatic relationships – who slept with who, who had whose baby in5 years ago Read more -
Blog postIn case you were not aware, CITY OF MIRACLES came out this Tuesday.
It’s a very long time coming. My records show I wrote the first page of CITY OF STAIRS on April 30 of 2012.
When I did that, my son looked like this:
Now, almost five years to the day later, he looks like this:
It is very odd to have a project that tracks time in such a fashion. Children function like clocks, when it comes to time on a larger scale: by changing so rapidly, they let you know tha5 years ago Read more -
Blog postI have heard this comparison before, but it’s worth repeating here.
In a lot of ways, Obama is America’s Fabius Maximus.
Back in the old days, before Julius Caesar and whatnot, the Roman military was super, super macho. You just advanced on the enemy and pounded the shit out of them until they surrendered. And this worked pretty great for a pretty long time, because there were a lot of Romans, they were well trained, and they just kept coming.
But then Hannibal Barca5 years ago Read more
Titles By Robert Jackson Bennett
“Bennett concludes his Founders trilogy . . . with characteristically high-spirited mayhem. Great fun, with nonstop action.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Sancia, Clef, and Berenice have gone up against long odds in the past. But the war they’re fighting now is one even they can’t win.
This time, they’re not facing robber-baron elites or even an immortal hierophant, but an entity whose intelligence is spread over half the globe—one that uses the magic of scriving to control not just objects but human minds.
To fight it, they’ve used scriving technology to transform themselves and their allies into an army—a society—unlike anything humanity has seen before. With its strength at their backs, they’ve freed a handful of their enemy’s hosts from servitude, and even defeated some of its fearsome, reality-altering dreadnoughts.
Yet despite their efforts, their enemy marches on. Implacable. Unstoppable.
Now, as their opponent closes in on its true prize—an ancient doorway, long buried, that leads to the chambers at the center of creation itself—Sancia and her friends glimpse a last opportunity to stop this unbeatable foe. To do so, they’ll have to unlock the centuries-old mystery of scriving’s origins, embark on a desperate mission into the heart of their enemy’s power, and pull off the most daring heist they’ve ever attempted.
But their adversary might have a spy in their ranks—and a last trick up its sleeve.
And to have a chance at victory, Sancia, Clef, and Berenice will have to make a sacrifice beyond anything that’s come before.
“Complex characters, magic that is tech and vice versa, a world bound by warring trade dynasties: Bennett will leave you in awe once you remember to breathe!”—Tamora Pierce
In a city that runs on industrialized magic, a secret war will be fought to overwrite reality itself—the first in a dazzling new series from City of Stairs author Robert Jackson Bennett.
Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle.
But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic—the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience—have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.
Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.
To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.
“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.
The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it—stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy.
Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov's oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country's most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem—and that Bulikov's cruel reign may not yet be over.
A generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions.
Now, the city’s god is dead. The city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings.
So it makes perfect sense that General Turyin Mulaghesh— foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumored war criminal, ally of an embattled Prime Minister—has been exiled there to count down the days until she can draw her pension and be forgotten.
At least, it makes the perfect cover story.
The truth is that the general has been pressed into service one last time, dispatched to investigate a discovery with the potential to change the world--or destroy it.
The trouble is that this old soldier isn't sure she's still got what it takes to be the hero.
Some places are too good to be true.
Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map: Wink, New Mexico.
In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things.
After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different . . .
"Perfect for fans of Stephen King and Neil Gaiman." -- Library Journal
So when he learns that his oldest friend and ally, former Prime Minister Shara Komayd, has been assassinated, he knows exactly what to do—and that no mortal force can stop him from meting out the suffering Shara’s killers deserve.
Yet as Sigrud pursues his quarry with his customary terrifying efficiency, he begins to fear that this battle is an unwinnable one. Because discovering the truth behind Shara’s death will require him to take up arms in a secret, decades-long war, face down an angry young god, and unravel the last mysteries of Bulikov, the city of miracles itself. And—perhaps most daunting of all—finally face the truth about his own cursed existence.
In a world where terrifying, capricious gods once walked the earth, enslaving and brutalizing millions, three unforgettable protagonists struggle to come to terms with the mysteries these divinities left behind— and to make sure these cruel masters do not rise again.
In City of Stairs, an unassuming young woman named Shara Thivani arrives in Bulikov, the city that once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world. Officially, she is just another junior diplomat, dispatched by the city’s new colonial masters; unofficially, she is one of her country’s most accomplished spies, on a mission to solve a murder. As she pursues the killer, she begins to suspect that the gods who once guarded Bulikov are not as dead as they seem, and that the city’s cruel reign may begin anew.
In City of Blades, General Turin Mulaghesh—foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumored war criminal, ally of an embattled prime minister—is pressed into service one last time, investigating a terrifying discovery in the city of Voortyashtan, once the stronghold of the god of war and death. Voortyashtan’s god is most certainly dead, but something is awakening in the city. And someone is determined to make the world tremble at the city’s awful power once again.
In City of Miracles, the formidable, seemingly unkillable Sigrud je Harkvaldsson returns from self-imposed exile on a mission of revenge, only to find himself embroiled in a battle that may be beyond even his abilities to win—a secret, decades-long war that will force him to confront the last mysteries of Bulikov, the city of miracles itself.
Robert Jackson Bennett's Vigilance is a dark science fiction action parable from an America that has permanently surrendered to gun violence.
The United States. 2030. John McDean executive produces "Vigilance," a reality game show designed to make sure American citizens stay alert to foreign and domestic threats. Shooters are introduced into a "game environment," and the survivors get a cash prize.
The TV audience is not the only one that's watching though, and McDean soon finds out what it's like to be on the other side of the camera.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
But sixteen-year-old pianist George Carole has joined vaudeville for one reason only: to find the man he suspects to be his father, the great Heironomo Silenus. Yet as he chases down his father's troupe, he begins to understand that their performances are strange even for vaudeville: for wherever they happen to tour, the very nature of the world seems to change.
Because there is a secret within Silenus's show so ancient and dangerous that it has won him many powerful enemies. And it's not until after he joins them that George realizes the troupe is not simply touring: they are running for their lives.
And soon...he is as well.
In the ruins of the Dust Bowl, thousands have left their homes looking for a better life, a new life. But Marcus Connelly is not one of them. He searches for one thing, and one thing only: Revenge.
Because out there, riding the rails, stalking the camps, is the scarred vagrant who murdered Connelly's daughter.
One man must face a dark truth and answer the question -- how much is he willing to sacrifice for his satisfaction?
The McNaughton Corporation is the pinnacle of American industry. They built the guns that won the Great War before it even began. They built the airships that tie the world together. And, above all, they built Evesden-a shining metropolis, the best that the world has to offer.
But something is rotten at the heart of the city. Deep underground, a trolley car pulls into a station with eleven dead bodies inside. Four minutes before, the victims were seen boarding at the previous station. Eleven men butchered by hand in the blink of an eye. All are dead. And all are union.
Now, one man, Cyril Hayes, must fix this. There is a dark secret behind the inventions of McNaughton and with a war brewing between the executives and the workers, the truth must be discovered before the whole city burns. Caught between the union and the company, between the police and the victims, Hayes must uncover the mystery before it kills him.
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