Please Adapt is back! And it’s time to discuss The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett.
RJB, as all of his fans only I call him, has been churning out top-tier fantasy books for years now. His Divine Cities trilogy is my all-time favorite series (mark my words, I’ll never ask for an adaptation of it).
I will, however, ask for an adaptation of The Founders Trilogy. The series weaves together some of the tried-and-true fundamentals of fantasy with new ideas so seamlessly that it feels like a perfect fit for the pantheon of fantasy content coming to our screens.
The Story So Far
Robert Jackson Bennett’s fiction hasn’t made the leap to visual media…yet. It seems like it’s only a matter of time at this point, considering how reliably excellent his work is. In a 2018 interview with Paulsemel.com, RJB said “there has been some interest” in adapting Foundryside and its sequels. I couldn’t find information on any further developments, so it doesn’t look like a Founders adaptation is coming any time soon.
You know that ain’t gonna stop me from explaining why it should happen, though!
Rogue, Rogue, Rogue Your Boat…
Foundryside, Shorefall, and Locklands star protagonist Sancia Grado. She begins the story as a thief in Tevanne, taking odd jobs usually involving thievery. She uses her magical talents and physical abilities to assist her in these quests, managing to avoid the various Powers That Be in the brutal city.
Buy the Book
Foundryside
My first reaction to Sancia, when I read Foundryside, was a breath of relief. For those familiar with Dungeons & Dragons (or traditional classifications of fantasy characters), she’s a classic rogue. Sancia can slip through shadows unseen. She’s capable of robbing members of Tevanne’s elite without leaving a trace. Sure, she can fight when she needs to, but Sancia’s more of a “take the money and run” type.
All this is to say, Sancia Grado would be a fresh face in a sea of fantasy sameness—rogues (in the classic D&D sense) don’t get a chance to shine as protagonists as often as they should, and Sancia is a main character I can get behind 100%. The same goes for her cadre of friends and enemies—including one of my favorite characters, the eccentric Orso Ignacio (who Bennett has said could be played well by Hugh Laurie).
But I digress. My point here is that Foundryside features an amazing protagonist who would bring something new and refreshing to the fantasy TV/movie pantheon. Sancia is also involved in an LGBT relationship that grows and deepens over the series, and while romance is not the focus of the story, it would be great to see that aspect of the books play out in a potential adaptation.
A Marvelous Magical Menagerie
The magic of The Founders is called scriving, and it’s brilliantly summarized by Martin Cahill in his review of Foundryside here on Tor.com:
Utilizing a complicated alphabet left behind by ancient, almost mythological figures called the Hierophants, mankind has figured out how to imbue everyday objects with something akin to sentience and convince these objects to do work for them. Some scrivings can convince wheels to move across flat surfaces as though they were rolling downhill. Others tell a sword that it is as sharp as ten blades in one, capable of cutting through nearly anything. Others tell a candle that it can never burn out.
I think of scriving as a sort of magical coding, almost cyberpunk in its delivery, despite existing in a fantasy setting. Bennett brings the magic system to life with brilliant prose, and I think it would translate well and really pop on screen.
With the right director and creative team in place, scriving could make for some unprecedented viewing. How would a director depict Sancia talking to a mildly sentient door, requesting that it open when it’s been instructed not to? I don’t have the answer, but I think the right minds could find a way to portray these magical undertakings with a distinct cinematic flair. It also gives the creators a means of inserting some humor into the proceedings, as well, which could only be a good thing—we’d need a healthy dose of levity in a Founders adaptation, especially in light of my next point…
Fusing Fantasy And Horror
If you’ve read any Robert Jackson Bennett, you know he doesn’t shy away from terror. Bennett has written a handful of horrifically gruesome moments throughout the series. He’s more than capable of pushing your psychological buttons in juuuust the right way and making you squirm, particularly in the case of some of the death scenes.
When I think about how a Foundryside adaptation might work, I tend to think of Netflix’s Nightmare of the Wolf (a Witcher anime movie). That film features similarly terrifying scenes staged in vivid detail. Now, should a Foundryside adaptation lean that far into the horror elements? Not necessarily. But it would benefit from honest portrayals of scriving’s dark side, melding fantasy with a touch of horror.
Tevanne’s Harsh Political Landscape
Finally, I want to touch on Tevanne, a brutal setting that’d make for an amazing on-screen fantasy playground.
Tevanne is ruled by four Merchant Houses, always locked in competition with each other. These Houses fight for supremacy of all sorts by researching new scriving techniques with which they can outmaneuver the others. Their campuses are walled off, leaving Sancia and others to fend for themselves in the cutthroat regions between.
A ruling class divided into various factions seeking only to gain greater status and power and fill their coffers? Sounds familiar. Bennett uses The Founders Trilogy to explore themes of power, greed, and corruption with great care. If an adaptation were to happen, the series would have the opportunity to grapple with the harsh realities of capitalism while introducing us to the intricacies of Foundryside’s incredible setting.
Outlook: Mildly Promising
As I mentioned above, Robert Jackson Bennett has previously hinted at potential adaptations. Those hints dropped five years ago, though, and in that time we’ve received many adaptations of popular properties. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say any fledgling Founders adaptation may have fallen to the wayside, at least temporarily. Then again, these projects take years to become reality. Without a rights-acquisition announcement or a writer attached, I’m keeping my hopes tempered…but still very much alive.
For the reasons I described here (and many others), this trilogy would make for an excellent TV or film series, so until there’s further news, I’ll keep my scrivings ready and my fingers crossed.
Cole Rush writes words. A lot of them. For the most part, you can find those words at The Quill To Live or on Twitter @ColeRush1. He voraciously reads epic fantasy and science-fiction, seeking out stories of gargantuan proportions and devouring them with a bookwormish fervor. His favorite books are: The Divine Cities Series by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, and The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
