Locklands is the thrilling conclusion to the Founders Trilogy. An evil being is trying to control the world in this excellent computer programming-based fantasy tale. Just as Lord of the Rings depicted the menacing pre-WWII world at the time of its publishing, so this series depicts our QAnon blockchained world of today. Let me explain.
Berenice, Sancia and Clef are back and fighting evil rather than planning a big heist. Their world is controlled by scribing or instructions causing inanimate objects to carry out commands (like a programming language). Tevanne, an evil being, has discovered how to use scribing to make people bend to his will too. Twinning is used to link people’s minds together, which is how blockchain works on data. Through twinning an enemy can be a spy within a person seeing what they see and controlling the person’s actions.
I admire the creativity of the Founders’ world. It dreams of a world in the future that harkens back to the castles and keeps of the Middle Ages. It envisions a new programming methodology that doesn’t use a computer to control objects but controls the objects directly. I already miss this world and definitely see myself reading the entire series again every few years. 5 stars and a favorite!
While you can read Locklands as a standalone, don’t because you will miss the extensive world and character building of the first two books. By the way, the books can be read simply as a fantasy tale without the analogies with today’s world and it’s still an imaginative, exhilarating read.
Thanks to Del Rey Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.